What are medical schools’ stipulations on letters of reference?
Letters of reference are a required component of the admissions process. References should be from people who know the applicant well enough to write valuable and relevant comments. Most schools desire three letters in support of each candidate, two of these from science instructors. Many schools further specify that the required letters are written by lecture and laboratory course instructors, not lab job supervisors. Some schools specify that the third letter should be written by a non-science instructor, while others accept a third letter from any teacher or supervisor. A few schools either require or recommend four or five letters. Letters from personal friends or acquaintances are usually not of interest to admissions committees. UCSD Career Services offers a guide to letters required by individual M.D. programs. The handout, a guide to obtaining reference letters, is available in Career Services. (Margene Wight, 2007.06.
