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Letters
of Recommendation:
WHAT IS REQUIRED?
Dental schools require letters of evaluation or recommendation to
support your application. There are usually two types of letters
of recommendation requested by dental schools.
PRE-HEALTH PROFESSIONS COMMITTEE
LETTER
This committee will also request three supporting letters of
recommendation from individuals or organizations written on your
behalf. Information from these letters will be used by the
committee to compose a letter of evaluation for you. Copies of
this committee letter will be sent to the dental schools of your
choice. The time frame necessary to prepare a committee evaluation
letter will take at least a month from the time your request is first
made.
INDIVIDUAL LETTERS
Letters from two or three individuals may be requested by dental
schools, in addition to the committee letter. These letters should
not be copies of the same letters sent to your school's Evaluation
Committee, since the committee may quote parts of those letters when
composing the letter they send. It is all right to have the same
people write letters to both the committee and the separate dental
schools, but the content and emphasis should be different.
Pre-dental students are responsible for having the necessary  letters of
recommendation or evaluation written. Choose letter writers who
know you well and let them know why you selected them -academic
achievement, work and career-related experiences, integrity,
reliability, special skills, etc. - and what you want them to convey in
the letter. Suggest to them that they use examples rather than
general statements about your experiences, training, character,
etc. Letters from professors who know you are particularly useful;
plus the dental selection professors who read the essays generally feel
academic letters to be a stronger reflection of the student. Be in
the habit of regularly visiting your professors during their office
hours to discuss the classes you are taking and to get to know
them. I personally gave each writer a short personal vignette on
myself, this gave them some information they could use to build a
stronger, personal letter for me.
NEED MORE INFORMATION?
You may wish to contact your pre-health professions advisor during
Winter Quarter for further suggestions and ideas concerning what
constitutes a good letter of recommendation.
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Last modified: August 09, 1999
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