The Premed Folder
After the student has submitted the initial (primary) application to the medical school, they may receive a request for a “secondary”. This means the medical school is interested and wants you to submit additional materials. One of the items they will normally request is a letter of recommendation (LOR) from the pre-medical advisor or pre-medical committee at your undergraduate institution. Berry College has a pre-medical committee, which is chaired by the pre-medical advisor. Requests for letters of recommendation must be made in writing to the committee at least two weeks prior to the date the letter is due to be in the student’s file. Many medical schools collect student LORs through on-line sources such as Virtual Evals or AMCAS. If the school to which you wish to apply accepts LORs electronically, make that clear in the written request submitted to the committee.
Prior to writing a letter of recommendation for a student who is applying to medical school, the Pre-medical Committee requires that the student assemble a Pre-medical folder. The folder will contain information that the Committee will need in order to write the best possible recommendation for the student. The student may start his/her folder at any time. To be considered complete, the folder must include the following items.
- Current set of unofficial transcripts
- MCAT scores
- Personal statement telling why you want to become a physician (no more than two pages)
- A current resumé, including shadowing and volunteer experience
- A copy of the student’s AMCAS file when it is complete
- The student’s AMCAS ID and the Letter ID numbers
- Stamped and addressed envelopes for the medical schools that are to receive letters of recommendation via snail mail.