Do we send ref letters to AAMC or to individual schools?

[Jochi1543]

Just wondering how much postage money I should provide my referees with (2 of them won't be able to expense it). Does the AAMC distribute the letters itself or do my referees have to mail letters to each school I applied to?

[xylem29]

No - the LORs are not centralized in for the US. So you would give your referees as many paid-postage envelopes as you have schools.

 

There is however, http://www.interfolio.com - which I used and it was a lot easier for the referees. This acts as a centralized LORs service....I think it may be cheaper to just get stamps and envelopes for your referees, but if you plan on applying to a lot of US schools, then it could get annoying and a little difficult to organize, this is where interfolio helps out.

[Jochi1543]

Oh man. My referees are all outside of Canada, so I'll be sending a check to each instead....I think I'll want them to send the letters by some sort of trackable mail, so I guess with some 40 schools, it means $200 per referee.

 

Hm.

[xylem29]

Holy smokin balls!

 

Wait a minute - if this is the case, I think it would do you much better to use Interfolio. By outside of Canada, do you mean in the US or outside of NA?

 

If it is in the US, then you may not need Interfolio but if they're sending the LORs from outside NA, then it may be better to use Interfolio, just in case letters get lost in the mail.

 

I don't know what your stats are Jochi, but trust a fellow applicant whose going through the process right now - you don't need to apply to 40 schools. You should just take a day and sit down, and research a little bit into the schools that you think that you would both be happy at and have a decent shot at, and then perhaps throw in a few "reach" schools.

 

Interfolio is quite reliable - it allows you to send the LORs electronically too, provided that the schools accept them electronically. The great thing about Interfolio is that it is already based in the US, so the shipping time from them to each school is pretty quick (like 2-5 days). This allows you to hold off from sending the LORs to schools that pre-screen the primary, until they actually ask for them, then you just log-in the interfolio and send the letters in - it gives you different shipping options too: regular mail, express, next day rush, etc. It's much easier for your referees if you just give them one envelope addressed to interfolio (they can also opt to upload the LORs electronically) instead of having them print 40 LORs and send out 40 letters. I applied to about 15 US schools and Interfolio never failed me once...

[Jochi1543]

 

I don't know what your stats are Jochi, but trust a fellow applicant whose going through the process right now - you don't need to apply to 40 schools. You should just take a day and sit down, and research a little bit into the schools that you think that you would both be happy at and have a decent shot at, and then perhaps throw in a few "reach" schools.

I wouldn't be applying to more than 10 or so, but I got a 3.51 cumulative. I have a strong upward trend (3.1, 3.3, 3.8, 3.8) which helps, but my cumulative average may lower my chances quite a bit. If I had a 3.8 cumulative, I wouldn't worry as much. Of course, when I say 40, I am exaggerating - I don't think there are even that many US schools accepting Canadians - but there's definitely going to be at least 20. I'm also gonna apply to a few DO schools.

[xylem29]

There are definitely schools that you will have success with. Some schools that I can recommend from my own knowledge:

 

Wayne State - this is THEE school for Canadians. It is also the most expensive one. They have the fairest admissions process, whereby spots are set aside for each interview period so that someone interviewing in March has the same chance as someone who interviewed in September. With 300+ spots, the odds are good at this school if you can manage to get an interview. This leads into a very important point about US schools - the MCAT can really offset a mediocre GPA. So if you haven't written it yet, make sure that when you do - prepare seriously for it.

 

Albany, EVMS, UVermont are good too. The rest you will have to look into yourself

 

I should give you a heads up with the DO schools - I think that you will have to contact the schools directly and explain to them that there are no/few DOs in Canada - b/c most require that at least one LOR be from a DO. I'm sure they will allow you to substitute this with an MD, but you'll need a LOR from a physician for sure. Most MD schools require that at least two of your LORs be from science faculty. I know that for UVermont, 2 be science and 1 be from humanities/social science. It's not like how it is in Canada where your LORs can be from anyone who knows you well. Lastly, I should mention that US schools are quite understanding and accomodating to your specific situation - so you really do need to contact each school directly and explain (if there is anything to explain, like for me, I couldn't get the humanities LOR for Vermont, and I explained to them that I never formed any good relationships with my non-sci profs, and they were cool with it). Most schools will accept additional LORs too (not so in Canada).

 

Yeah, it's SO different applying in the US - it seems almost militaristic here in Canada where if you don't meet a certain cut-off, or miss a prerequisite, or make a mistake in your PS, you are done - whereas in the US, it's not so cut and dry.

[sonyvaio2700]

I wouldn't be applying to more than 10 or so, but I got a 3.51 cumulative. I have a strong upward trend (3.1, 3.3, 3.8, 3.8) which helps, but my cumulative average may lower my chances quite a bit. If I had a 3.8 cumulative, I wouldn't worry as much. Of course, when I say 40, I am exaggerating - I don't think there are even that many US schools accepting Canadians - but there's definitely going to be at least 20. I'm also gonna apply to a few DO schools.

 

blah all xylem says is correct. but if you are MCAT is above 30+, which i am sure it will be . Dont bother applying to DO schools. Your GPA will not stop you from getting accepted, if you have a 30+ MCAT, especially if you apply early.

[xylem29]

he speaks wise words!

[The Law]

So many wise people on these boards!

[Jochi1543]

 

Most MD schools require that at least two of your LORs be from science faculty.

That's impossible for me....I majored in Humanities with a heavy social science background, and will end up with half of my pre-reqs (i.e. the science courses) from distance ed, where there's pretty much 0 interaction with profs.

[eise]

That's impossible for me....I majored in Humanities with a heavy social science background, and will end up with half of my pre-reqs (i.e. the science courses) from distance ed, where there's pretty much 0 interaction with profs.

 

I spoke to the schools and they allowed me to use MD research supervisors instead (as they were university professors, albeit not mine). If you have any science-related people who could write you a reference, call the school and ask if it's ok.

[xylem29]

Yea, what eise said - you'll have to contact the schools individually and explain your situation and I'm sure they'll make exceptions for you.

[sonyvaio2700]

Yea, what eise said - you'll have to contact the schools individually and explain your situation and I'm sure they'll make exceptions for you.

 

some schools dont make exceptions: NYMC, Mount Sinai.

 

I still urge everyone to get a NON-Science-Class and Science-Class letter...remember you can add additional letters (up to 3 more!). So if you have an AVERAGE letter, then simply add another crouch grabbing one.

 

P.S Science CLASS letter is from a prof who taught you IN a class setting.

[Jochi1543]

I spoke to the schools and they allowed me to use MD research supervisors instead (as they were university professors, albeit not mine). If you have any science-related people who could write you a reference, call the school and ask if it's ok.

Not really, I don't have any science-related people. It's not really something you can do if you are not a science major....I mean, even the science classes I took the regular way, there'd be like 80+ people in the class. What's the prof gonna say "Jochi did well, came to class, and submitted assignments on time"? You could deduce that from my grade in the class.

[eise]

I agree that not everyone can get a letter from a science prof who taught you in class. My science classes had 200-300 students per class. All my prof could say was that I did well in the class (as shown on my transcript). weak letter. Especially if you are not a science major and thus have limited science classes to choose from. I don't think it's necessarily fair to place a restriction on who can write you a reference. I do appreciate that most schools allow exceptions and that you can at least submit multiple letters to make up for the extremely weak science letter (or for some schools, multiple science letters ).

[sonyvaio2700]

I agree that not everyone can get a letter from a science prof who taught you in class. My science classes had 200-300 students per class. All my prof could say was that I did well in the class (as shown on my transcript). weak letter. Especially if you are not a science major and thus have limited science classes to choose from. I don't think it's necessarily fair to place a restriction on who can write you a reference. I do appreciate that most schools allow exceptions and that you can at least submit multiple letters to make up for the extremely weak science letter (or for some schools, multiple science letters ).

 

thankfully there are only 2 that i came across: NYMC and Mount Sinai. that require you from a prof who taught you in a science classroom. As for a non-science-classroom setting letter I dont remember of top of my head but there are couple...but again most schools are understanding other than those two.