Asking for a dental school letter of recommendation can be super stressful, but having a plan can make things go much more smoothly. In this post, we’ll go over who to ask, when to ask, and how many letters of recommendation you need for dental school. I’ll even show you how I sent emails and prepared my documents.
Who to ask for a letter of recommendation
To cover your bases with most schools, you will need four letters of recommendation. One from a Biology professor, one from a Chemistry professor, one from a dentist, and one from a non-science professor/boss/supervisor.
Some schools, like Columbia, have different requirements. The ADSAS portal only lets you enter four letters, so if you need an additional one sent, you’ll need to have your recommender send it by mail.
For the dentist letter, try to get one from the dentist you shadowed the most. I waited until I’d shadowed at least 30 hours before asking for a letter.
Make a list of all the possible people you could ask for letters in each category, so you have backups if they say no.
When to Ask for Letters
You can really ask for letters at any time honestly, but the earlier the better. Most people I knew asked for letters of rec throughout their time at college and saved them in Interfolio. I didn’t even know about Interfolio until I was a senior so it was too late for me then. But asking earlier definitely would have saved me some stress.
Typically, you should give your professors about 3 months to get your letters finished. Make sure to give them a due date so you know when to follow up.
How to Ask for a Letter of Recommendation for Dental School
Make a connection
You should already have a bond with a professor/mentor/dentist. If not, make one! If there is a potential recommender who you respect or admire, tell them that! If you genuinely like the recommender, it will be easy to build a relationship about their class, research, hobbies, etc. Just be genuine.
Ask for a letter
Just ask! The worst they can do is say no. It’s best to ask in person, but because I’d already graduated (and it was at the start of the pandemic), I generally emailed them with this formula.
[Greetings]
[Updates about things you both have been talking about]
I’m getting my application together to apply to dental school this cycle, and I was wondering if you would be willing to write me a strong, positive letter of recommendation. The deadline is [date]. I would be more than happy to set up a video call to chat in person and send you a packet containing my personal statement, resume, a special document that I made to help recommenders, and anything else to make your job as a recommender as easy as possible.
[Sign off]
[Your Name]
Having an email formula really helped with the nerves of asking for a letter and made sure I didn’t leave anything out. Aside from the last paragraph, my emails were completely different for each recommender, based on our relationship and how we normally speak to each other.
Send Documents
Once they agree to write your letter, send them a couple things. First, send the latest draft of your personal statement. You’ll also definitely need to send your résumé. Something extra that my recommenders really liked was my “recommender sheet”. I first heard of this from Sydney Dong’s YouTube video, How to Ask for a STRONG Letter of Recommendation, where she talks about making a “LOR Packet.”
The recommender sheet was a document with the following information:
- How you know me
- My grade in their class + how the class impacted me
- My recent accomplishments
- Skills
- Student organizations
- Major(s), Minor(s), Certificate(s)
- My goal as a dentist
- How I spent my gap years (optional)
My recommender sheet functionally looked like this:
Follow Up
When you enter them as a recommender in the ADSAS portal, they will automatically get an email with a link to submit the letter. When they offer to write your letter, let them know to expect that email.
About 2-3 weeks before your deadline, follow up to make sure they haven’t forgotten and to see if there is anything else you can do to help.
The ADSAS portal tells you when letters of recommendation are submitted. If your deadline is less than a week away and they haven’t submitted, follow up again and kindly remind them of the deadline.
Thank Them!
Never forget to say thank you! You couldn’t have gotten into dental school without their help! I also thanked them again once I accepted my school with updates on how the application cycle went.
Conclusion
So that’s all you need to get your dental school letter of recommendation! Once you find your four recommenders, give them all the time and resources for them you write you a great LOR. Always remember to thank them!
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