Rach Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 I am going to be applying to US schools this summer and want to start asking some profs for letters in case some of them refuse and I need time to scramble for other profs. My question is about Interfolio. One of my profs is in the US and I need to give him lots of time to write something but do not have an interfolio account yet. Is it possible/ok for me to give him my home address for his letter, then send it on to interfolio myself once I open an account? Or will interfolio not accept letters from us directly, and only from universities? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KennethToronto Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 Simple solution: get an interfolio account now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classic Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 Why don't you just get an Interfolio account? It takes 2 seconds to sign up and your subscription lasts >1 year, doesn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rach Posted January 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 well I was hoping to be able to use it for 2 application cycles so I wanted to sign up closer to application time. Not sure if that's likely to work depending on how long the account lasts with one payment. Guess I need to look into that a bit more. ETA: I thought that subscriptions lasted a little over a year, but I just read that it only lasts one year so I suppose it will serve no purpose to wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 Check out the website...I think there's a 3-year option Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rach Posted January 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 Check out the website...I think there's a 3-year option Eek! I hope to only have to do this once so I might just get it for one year. You know, positive thinking and all. p.s. for those of you who have had an account in the past, do you get a chance to read the letters that get submitted directly to interfolio? I would assume yes, but just checking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mashmetoo Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 Eek! I hope to only have to do this once so I might just get it for one year. You know, positive thinking and all. p.s. for those of you who have had an account in the past, do you get a chance to read the letters that get submitted directly to interfolio? I would assume yes, but just checking. no, you don't get to see any of the letters that are submitted on your behalf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rach Posted January 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 no, you don't get to see any of the letters that are submitted on your behalf. bummer, I was planning on asking an extra person for a letter and choosing the letters based on which ones were best, or which ones were more suited to specific schools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpanishFly Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 haha man if you could actually see the letters, that would kind of defeat the whole purpose If you are really not sure of the quality of letter your getting, its better to go with someone you are sure of. Also, if you have no other choice (like say you only know so many science profs who know you well enough to write you a letter) you can try and change that. One of my profs knew me really well since I've kept in touch with him long after I took his course, but my other two profs knew me by name and a little bit about me but really not enough, so they both asked to meet with me, and we talked for a few hours where they asked me everyyyyytthing (it felt like a mini interview). I even discussed adoption wiht one of my profs haha..weird. I appreciated it because it meant they were making an honest effort to write me a better letter! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rach Posted January 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 haha man if you could actually see the letters, that would kind of defeat the whole purpose lol totally but I thought I read on here that someone was trying to figure out which letters to send to which schools based on the letter in interfolio. Figured it might have been possible! Either way you said it, I don't have much choice in who writes my letters, and even those profs are iffy at best. One of them I haven't even seen in 4-5 years so will have to email him and see if he remembers me (I was one of his fav students but he is so spacey he might not remember me by name only which means I'll have to fly to the US to meet him face-to-face). AHH what a mess! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THX Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 lol totally but I thought I read on here that someone was trying to figure out which letters to send to which schools based on the letter in interfolio. Figured it might have been possible! Either way you said it, I don't have much choice in who writes my letters, and even those profs are iffy at best. One of them I haven't even seen in 4-5 years so will have to email him and see if he remembers me (I was one of his fav students but he is so spacey he might not remember me by name only which means I'll have to fly to the US to meet him face-to-face). AHH what a mess! Reference letters are easier to get than you would think, it just takes a bit of persuation. I got a letter from a non-science prof I knew 4 years ago and she barely remembered me. But she wanted to help me out so I gave her all the points she needed to address and bang, a letter of reference lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rach Posted January 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 Reference letters are easier to get than you would think, it just takes a bit of persuation. I got a letter from a non-science prof I knew 4 years ago and she barely remembered me. But she wanted to help me out so I gave her all the points she needed to address and bang, a letter of reference lol. hehe hopefully it goes as well for me! I think I will email him parts of my OMSAS application so he can get a sense of what I've been doing for the last few years (is this what you meant by "points" she should hit, or are there guidelines of things that make a good LOR) It just sucks to be so far b/c I would love to be able to beg him in person! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youngdad Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 Best thing to do is ask potential refs what they would say about you in a letter. Then pick whoever gave you the best responses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpanishFly Posted January 26, 2009 Report Share Posted January 26, 2009 hehe hopefully it goes as well for me! I think I will email him parts of my OMSAS application so he can get a sense of what I've been doing for the last few years (is this what you meant by "points" she should hit, or are there guidelines of things that make a good LOR) It just sucks to be so far b/c I would love to be able to beg him in person! Actually one of my profs asked me if there were specific things he should mention. I had this guideline that I found from Penn State that was created specifically for med school referees on how they should write a well-written letter, so I e-mailed the PDF to him since he asked because he had never written one before (strange since he was the chair of BMI). My other prof had written several before and even served on the committee one year so he told me exactly what he needed from me when we met and we ended up talking for a few hours until he felt he had everything! Like THX said, be persuasive, let them know you'll do all the leg work and give them everrrrrything they need to write you a good letter, and all they really need to do is essentially fill in the blanks. Profs are busy (and some are inherently lazy, while others are space cadets), so you've really got to do the work for some of them. This part of the application is by far the most annoying, but once its over, you can save them all on interfolio for the rest of your life lol. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
premed11 Posted January 26, 2009 Report Share Posted January 26, 2009 i had a question about LOR's. Say you get 3 letters for this upcoming cycle and put them on interfolio. Will those be stored forever? Would I be able to use them again for next year? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classic Posted January 26, 2009 Report Share Posted January 26, 2009 I used the same letters for 2 cycles. It's less than ideal, but it still seemed to work for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alastriss Posted January 26, 2009 Report Share Posted January 26, 2009 I used the same letters for 2 cycles. It's less than ideal, but it still seemed to work for me. Wait so you didn't bother to ask the same referees for another letter? Or you did, but they gave you the same letter for both cycles? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rach Posted January 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2009 Wait so you didn't bother to ask the same referees for another letter? Or you did, but they gave you the same letter for both cycles? I hope he meant he didn't bother asking for another letter. The thought of bugging these profs more than once is scary! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classic Posted January 26, 2009 Report Share Posted January 26, 2009 EXACT same letters ... first time around I had a set of letters dated August 2007 and then I used then again for this past application. Maybe it helped because *technically* when I applied early this cycle the letters still were not one year old? In addition, I asked one more prof for a letter this cycle, so I had 3 "old" letters and one brand-spanking-new letter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rach Posted January 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2009 EXACT same letters ... first time around I had a set of letters dated August 2007 and then I used then again for this past application. Maybe it helped because *technically* when I applied early this cycle the letters still were not one year old? That is probably what I'll end up doing if I have to apply again. I would imagine it doesn't matter too much (with GPA and MCAT being the main thing that gets you an interview in Canada, and your essay plus stats getting you interviews in the US), and that the letters serve to make sure you aren't a complete freak. Does this sound right? ETA: Your comment about them technically being less than a year old makes me want to delay asking profs to write my letters or else they will be very out-of-date by next year's summer cycle in the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classic Posted January 26, 2009 Report Share Posted January 26, 2009 Further clarification: I don't want to lead any of you astray .... keep in mind that I applied to OMSAS 3-4 times in the past. Thus, I have already asked these profs for 3-4 letters PRIOR to asking them for letters for Interfolio. I have surpassed my lifetime allocation of letters from these profs! I noticed that profs generally keep a copy of the letters they send. If you ask them to change the date and give them a pre-addressed-stamped envelope, I don't think it's a big deal for them .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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