4. Quality is more important than the length of the letter.
5. Only include information on grades, GPA or MCAT (or other professional exam required) if you
are providing context to help interpret them. Remember – grades, GPA and MCAT (or other
professional exam required) are already available within the application for the admissions
committee.
6. Focus on behaviors that you have observed directly when describing applicants suitability for
professional school. Please review the “Core, Entry-Level Competencies” below for some ways to
brainstorm your specific, evaluative letter content.
7. Admissions committees find comparison information helpful. If you make comparisons, please be
sure to provide context and include information about:
- The comparison group. (e.g., students in a class you taught, students in your department, co-
workers, etc.)
- Your rationale for the final comparison.
Areas of Interest to Health Professional Schools
Professional School Admissions Committees find great value in:
Unique contributions to the incoming class.
Describing obstacles that the student has had to overcome, and if applicable, how those obstacles
led to new learning and self-growth.
Explain how the applicant may contribute to a professional schools diversity, broadly defined. (e.g.,
background, attributes, experiences, etc.)
Core, Entry-Level Competencies:
Thinking and Reasoning Competencies – critical thinking, quantitative reasoning, scientific inquiry
and written communication abilities.
Science Competencies – abilities to apply knowledge in the living systems and human behavior.
Interpersonal Competencies – service orientation, social skills, cultural competency, teamwork and
oral communication abilities.
Intrapersonal Competencies – ethical responsibility to self and others, reliability and dependability,
resilience and adaptability, capacity for improvement.
For full context, please review the “Additional Sources” below.
Letter of Evaluation (Recommendation) Submission Tips:
1. Often it is a very straight-forward process to quickly upload your completed letter. Please have a
brief conversation with your candidate about which professional schools and/or application
portals that you will likely be submitting/uploading their letter of recommendation to online.
(Note: the majority of schools nationally use electronic, online submission through a professional
application portal).
2. Please ask your candidate to email you the brief instructions/overview of what to expect when
the letter of recommendation application request(s) arrives to you digitally via email submission (or
a different method) per individual professional school instructions. Note: there may be more than
one request IF your candidate is applying through multiple application portals or schools.