Blog Archives

Medical School Letters of Recommendation: You Get More Bees with Honey

medical school admissionsMaking the process of letter of recommendation (LOR) writing and submission smooth for your faculty recommenders will likely improve the content and turnaround time of your LORs. Your medical school LOR writers have several options for submitting to AMCAS. Because you want to make the process as convenient as possible, and because different faculty members may have varying preferences, you should offer each writer all feasible alternatives.

Below are the options. Note that your AAMC ID and AMCAS Letter ID (found on your Letter Request Form) are required, regardless of the means of submission:

1. AMCAS Letter Writer Application: This site enables letter writers to upload documents to AMCAS securely.

2. Interfolio: AMCAS can receive letters sent to Interfolio if the applicant is an Interfolio user or if the faculty member’s institution/organization uses the program.

3. Snail mail:
AMCAS, attn: AMCAS Letters
AAMC Medical School Application Services
P.O. Box 18958
Washington, DC 20036

(If your recommender plans to send the letter by snail mail, be courteous and provide him/her with a self-addressed, stamped envelope.)

4. VirtualEvals (VE): VE is available to members of the National Association of Advisors for the Health Professions (NAAHP).

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Thank You Notes: A Plug for the US Postal Service

I was recently asked by a client about the best way to send post-interview thank you notes – email versus snail mail. This client said he had read conflicting advice online.

As a former Harvard admissions decision-maker who used to receive thank you notes, I can tell you that I strongly advise sending your thank you notes by good old USPS. The reasons are twofold:

1) Email may be viewed as lazy. Hand-written thank you notes take more time, which shows.
2) To put an email thank you note in your file, the receiver needs to take the time to print out your email. You don’t want any barriers between you and your good impression.

I do recommend getting those handwritten thank you notes in quickly. The night after you’ve completed your interview or the next day is a good time to write and send.

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About Dr. Michelle Finkel

Dr. Michelle Finkel

Dr. Finkel is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Medical School. On completing her residency at Harvard, she was asked to
stay on as faculty at Harvard Medical School and spent five years teaching at the world-renowned Massachusetts General Hospital.
She was appointed to the Assistant Residency Director position for the Harvard Affiliated
Emergency Medicine Residency where she reviewed countless applications, personal statements and resumes. Read more

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Listen to Dr. Finkel’s interview on the White Coat Investor podcast:

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