Obtaining Strong Letters of Recommendation

Who should you ask to write a letter of recommendation for a health program, and when should you ask them? How does the letter get submitted? This week, PHSRC career counselor Scott Simpson breaks down some of the most commonly asked questions about the process of obtaining letters of recommendation.

Does the thought of asking for a letter of recommendation (LOR) make you break out in a cold sweat? If so, consider your time in college and the process of obtaining LORs as the start of your professional networking career. This is your opportunity to connect with people, develop relationships, and ask for help; a skill that will be important throughout your life!

How can I make a strong impression when my classes are so large?

Yes, health professional programs want to fill their classrooms with students who have demonstrated the ability to get good grades, but that certainly isn’t everything! They seek students who are engaged in the classroom, are intellectually curious and have demonstrated the core competencies that are important as a student and future professional in a health career. One class that I teach typically has over 100 students and you would be surprised how little a student has to do for me to attach a name to a face. Here are some ideas:

Sitting toward the front of the class
Introducing yourself at the beginning of the semester
Coming up after class to ask questions or get clarification
Participating in class
Going to office hours
Being considerate of other students opinions in the class
Taking advantage of any opportunities to get involved with projects/research/teaching (TA) within the class or department.
Showing interest in the content of the course
Doing well in class!
Pro tip: stay in touch even after the class, research, job, or volunteer experience, etc. has ended! Send your future letter writer an email to keep them up to date with what you have been doing, stop in and say hello, etc. It's important to keep the relationship current and strong.

When should I ask for LORs?

You don’t have to wait until you start filling out your application to approach and ask your potential letter writer. Ask early! Ask in the moment! Don't put yourself in a situation where you are asking a professor, "I took your class two years ago, do you remember me?” By asking early, use that time in between needing the letter for your application to further strengthen your relationship. Stop by and say hello, send the person a note, share with them what you have been up to–manage your professional relationships.

Ask Personally

It's to your advantage to ask your letter writer face-to-face. This conveys just how important this letter is to you. You can connect with them again at a later date, sharing a resume and/or your personal statement to provide some context and background information. Talking through the letter writing process can be important especially if your writer hasn't written many LORs before.

I encourage you to share the AAMC Guidelines for Writing a Letter of Recommendation with all your letter writers. While this document focuses on the core competencies important for medical school, these core competencies cross over nicely with all health professions. So, have a conversation with your letter writer about how you have demonstrated these core competencies. Ask them how they have witnessed your demonstration of any of the core competencies and ask if they would be able to incorporate those thoughts and stories into their letter.

How does a letter of recommendation get submitted?

For many health professional programs, you’ll apply through a centralized application service (CAS). You’ll want to visit the applicant help center of the centralized application service you’ll be applying through to find out how your letters of recommendation need to be submitted. (Students applying to medical schools can find information about uploading letters of recommendation on this AMCAS FAQ page. Many centralized application services also have a Liaison applicant help center with instructions for uploading letters of recommendation. For example, here is the PA school application help center).

For most health programs, once you create an account in the CAS, there will be a section for you to put in the emails of your letter writers. Upon hitting “submit,” the CAS will send instructions for uploading a letter of recommendation directly to your letter writer. Your letter writer will then submit the letter directly back to the CAS–you will not see the letter before they submit it.

We wish you luck! Embrace the process of asking for letters of recommendation–consider it a jump start on developing your professional network.

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