Premedical Advising: Evaluation Letters

If you plan to enter a professional program in the fall of 2009, then beginning in February of 2008, you can call 864-3500 to schedule an application meeting with Paul Crosby.

As part of the meeting, you'll open a file for evaluation letters which will be kept at the University Career Center (UCC). They provide this service, so you will not have to repeatedly seek letters, and your writers will not have to repeatedly send letters. For information about their Medical Credential File Service, see www.kucareerhawk.com/credentials.

Most schools require at least three letters, most candidates get five or six, and more than seven would usually be seen as excessive.

Aim for both depth, substantial letters from people who know you well, and breadth. For example, two letters from natural sciences faculty, one letter from a social science or humanities faculty member, and additional letters from health care experience supervisors, members of the profession who've mentored you, long-term employers and/or supervisors of other significant activities (research, social service, leadership, internships, etc.).

Some schools expressly forbid letters from family, friends, neighbors, relatives, your elected representatives, or people who cannot speak for your abilities after high school.

Most schools ask for a letter from a health sciences committee or advisor, because they want to make sure you don't go around a central evaluation system, if it exists. Like most large, public universities, there are far too many candidates at KU for a central evaluation by a single advisor or committee. If your letters are sent through our UCC, Charlotte Leonard attaches a cover sheet explaining that there is not a central evaluation process for KU students, just individual letters from direct supervisors in the classroom and profession-related activities.

Suggestions for seeking letters

1. Go to www.kucareerhawk.com/credentials, scroll down the page, and click on the "Medical Recommendation Letter Cover Sheet," edit the top part of the form, and print a copy for each evaluator.

2. Make appointments to meet with potential evaluators at least one-month before you need their letters.

3. Explain why you would like to become a health professional, and how your activities have informed and prepared you for this profession. Then ask if they are willing and able to write letters supporting your admission.

4. Give each of your writers a folder with your ARTS form, a resume listing relevant experiences, test scores and percentile values (if you have them), a draft of your personal comments essay, an evaluation form, and a stamped envelope addressed to the University Career Center.

5. Check with Charlotte Leonard, cleonard@ku.edu, in the University Career Center to make certain all of your letters arrive!

6. Thank your evaluators in writing for their help, and let them know if you are accepted.

In addition, if you apply to any of the medical schools in the AMCAS Letters of Evaluation Pilot Program:

Baylor College of Medicine
Boston University School of Medicine
Creighton University School of Medicine
East Tennessee State University James H. Quillen College of Medicine
Florida International University College of Medicine
Georgetown University School of Medicine
Harvard Medical School
Meharry Medical College
Mercer University School of Medicine
Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
Temple University School of Medicine
Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine MD/PhD program only (MD program uses TMDSAS)
University of Arizona College of Medicine
University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine
University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine
University of Michigan Medical School
University of Mississippi School of Medicine
University of South Florida College of Medicine
University of Virginia School of Medicine
University of Washington School of Medicine
Weill Medical College of Cornell University

In the "6. Letters of Evaluation" part of the AMCAS application, you should:

Indicate that your letters will be in the form of a “committee letter/letter packet.”
Indicate that your letters will be from the "University of Kansas."
Put "Charlotte" for the "Primary Contact/Author's First Name."
Put "Leonard" for the "Primary Contact/Author's Last Name."
Put "cleonard@ku.edu" for the "Primary Contact/Author's Email."
Put "785-864-7680" for the "Primary Contact/Author's Phone."
Put "University Career Center" for "Organization."
Put "1601 Irving Hill Road" for "Address."
Put "110 Burge Union" for "Address 2."
Indicate that the "Country" is the "United States."
Select "Kansas" for the "State."
Put "Lawrence" for the "City."
Put "66045-7557" for the "Postal Code."
You do NOT need to fill in optional fields or list additional authors.
Click on the "Continue" button.
Click on the "Yes" button to print a "Letter Request Form."
Send an e-mail message to Charlotte Leonard at "cleonard@ku.edu" with BOTH your "AAMC ID" AND the AMCAS Letter ID" numbers.
Save the "AMCAS Letter Request Form" with your other printed application materials.

If you are not applying to any of the medical schools in the AMCAS Letters Pilot Program, you do not need to fill out anything in the "6. Letters of Evaluation" part of the AMCAS application.

Releasing or sending letters

Before filing a request to send letters, you must check with Charlotte Leonard, cleonard@ku.edu, (785) 864-7680, 110 Burge Union, to make certain all the letters are on file.

If you're applying to medical or optometry schools that participate in VirtualEvals, www.virtualevals.org, an electronic letter transmission service, when your file is complete, go to www.kucareerhawk.com/credentials, scroll down the page, and complete the “Medical Student’s Request to Send Form." Give the completed form and the $35 fee to Charlotte Leonard, University Career Center, University of Kansas, 110 Burge Union, 1601 Irving Hill Road, Lawrence, KS 66045. Your file will be uploaded into the VirtualEvals system and the schools you wish to have access to it, will be attached and notified. You can pay with cash, check or credit card. You may pay in advance, or at the time you submit your request. A returned check results in a service charge and loss of check writing privileges with UCC.

Each student is allowed only one VirtualEvals file. You will not be able to add or delete from this file. Therefore, you must have all your letters in your file before UCC uploads it into VirtualEvals. You may send to one or more schools, and later send to more schools if you wish. These rules are set by the medical schools, not UCC.

If you apply to dental, medical or optometry schools that do not participate in VirtualEvals, you can pay Charlotte Leonard $6 per school to send by U.S. Mail, $15 to send by Federal Express overnight delivery, or $6 + $1 per page to have letters faxed to a school.

Applying to other programs

You may use the letters to apply to closely related scholarship and health professional programs. It is, however, unwise to use letters written for a health professional program to apply for a graduate academic program.

Re-Applying

If you need to re-apply, it is wise to seek new and/or updated letters. You can also re-use some letters. Evaluation letters will be maintained in the UCC for ten years from the time your file was last sent to a school. Files are checked annually, and those that have not been used for ten years are destroyed.