Are you a proactive, top-performing high school student who is already sure they want to study medicine and become a doctor? While any path to becoming a fully licensed, board-certified physician is a long one, BS/MD programs are early admission pathways that combine bachelor and medicine degree programs together to streamline the journey from high school to medical school.
An essential component of your BS/MD application is your letters of recommendation. These letters are written by qualified professionals and advocate for your ability to succeed in a BS/MD program due to your maturity, unique skillset, and aptitude for medicine.
In this post, we break down the importance of BS/MD letters of recommendation, how to choose your letter writers and tips for how to secure strong letters.
BS/MD Letters of Recommendation
Letters of recommendation offer an objective summary of your character and unique skills from a qualified professional, as opposed to your own claims or the opinion of a friend or relative. While your grandma or best friend would likely be overjoyed to write you a glowing letter, their notable bias disqualifies them in the eyes of an admissions committee.
A quality letter written by a professional that speaks to your maturity and well-rounded strengths, whether they be a teacher or extracurricular supervisor, holds a great deal of weight with admissions committees, making these letters a key piece of your application.
How to Choose Letter Writers
Your letter writer(s) should be qualified professionals you have worked closely with. Depending on the program’s requirements, this could also be an employer, a physician you have shadowed, the Principal Investigator (PI) of your research lab, a school teacher, a coach, a tutor, or a private music teacher. Show that you are confident in the range of your skills and that there are qualified people who will vouch for those skills.
But by far, the most important part is choosing a professional who knows you well and will speak highly of you.
On the other hand, choosing someone who doesn’t have much to say about you could easily end in disaster, as a bland or lukewarm letter can completely derail your application.
This is why you must approach this process with plenty of time, organization, and planning. Choose your letters wisely.
How to Get Strong BS/MD Letters of Recommendation
While securing strong letters of recommendation isn’t easy, there are several steps you can take to ensure you earn letters that will help you stand out to admissions committees.
1 | Research the Program’s Specific Requirements
Every BS/MD program has different requirements. Some will ask for a single letter, while others will ask for more.
Some will tell you specifically who to ask for a letter from, such as a STEM teacher (science, technology, engineering, or math), a humanities or English teacher, a guidance or college counselor, an extracurricular supervisor, a medical professional, and so on. Some programs require you to apply to the undergraduate program first before applying to the medical program.
For example, for the BS/MD program at Augusta University in Georgia, students first need to apply to the undergraduate institution, which includes submitting two letters. Students who meet the GPA and SAT requirements will be given an optional secondary application to apply to the BS/MD program, which includes another letter.
To submit a letter at Augusta, you must enter your letter writer’s email into the online system on the application page, and it will send a request to the writer to submit on their end. Only this third letter is considered for the BS/MD supplementary application, while the first two letters to the undergraduate institution are not.
Every BS/MD program is different, which is why it’s vital to deeply research each program’s specific requirements. If you’re able to include multiple letters, demonstrate your well-rounded talents and experience by seeking a variety of letters from teachers and supervisors in different fields.
2 | Start Building Relationships Early
Start building relationships throughout high school and regularly interact with your teachers as well as your extracurricular supervisors. Ask engaging questions, be accountable, and offer to help out where you can. Let your personality shine while remaining professional.
Leverage the relationships you have to open doors to new opportunities. For example, if you have a family doctor, ask if it would be possible to shadow them for an afternoon every week. Do they need any additional help around their office? If you have a friend or contact who is enjoying their volunteering experience, and it sounds interesting to you, ask how you can get involved.
Don’t wait until application season rolls around to begin engaging with potential mentors and letter writers. It’s imperative that your letter writers know you well, so get started as soon as possible. Be helpful but not pushy, express gratitude, and take every opportunity to demonstrate your enthusiasm and maturity.
Set reminders in your calendar to follow up with mentors and teachers who may be a good fit for a recommendation letter. Utilize the snooze feature on your email to ensure you keep in touch on a regular basis without being overbearing or annoying.
3 | Choose People Who Know You Well
It is essential to choose letter writers who know you well and think highly of you. If your letter writers praise your strengths, maturity, and aptitude for medicine and back it up with tangible examples and personal observations, BS/MD adcoms will take notice.
If you’ve only had a handful of superficial conversations with a teacher or supervisor, do not ask them for a letter. They won’t be able to add any valuable insights into your character, skillset, or qualifications.
Choose someone you have a good rapport with and who has seen your skills in action. For example, do you have a teacher you have a strong bond with who always gives you excellent grades? Are you the captain of a sports team you’ve played on for years? There’s a good chance your coach has noticed your work ethic and leadership abilities and thinks highly of your character.
Think of the adults in your life you’ve worked with. Who do you get along with? Who believes in you? These are the people to think about when choosing your letter writers.
4 | Give Letter Writers Everything They Need
BS/MD programs are much more rare than straightforward medical schools. It’s likely that whoever you ask won’t necessarily know what a BS/MD program is.
Be clear and informative. Explain what you’re asking for and why and exactly what will be required of the letter writer. Make the writing and submitting process as easy as possible, as these are busy people with many other responsibilities beyond writing you a letter.
Provide all technical details and materials they need. These will vary depending on the program, so once again, do your research. This will streamline the process while also demonstrating your professional attitude and approach.
Be sure to give your writers two or three months to write you a letter. And keep in mind that the deadline you give them should be about a month before you plan to submit your application. For example, if you want to submit your application at the beginning of July, tell your writers you need their letter by June 1st. You don’t want something as simple as a late letter to delay your application.
And beyond the technical requirements, it’s okay to be direct. Let the writer know what qualities and character traits the program is looking for specifically and why you feel you meet those criteria. If the program is looking for maturity and teachability, how do you feel you have demonstrated those qualities to the person you’re asking? Do they agree, and if they do, would they be willing to write a letter saying so?
Remember, bland letters won’t get you anywhere—strong letters are the name of the game. There is nothing shameful or unethical about asking a potential letter writer if they are willing to write you a strong letter that highlights the exceptional qualities you feel you possess and demonstrate on a regular basis.
5 | Follow Your Passions and Interests
Don’t force relationships with mentors in the hopes they’ll give you a strong letter. Pursue what you’re truly passionate about, invest in growing that passion, and find a mentor in that field who will help you do that.
When you and your potential letter writer share a genuine interest in and enthusiasm for something, your relationship will grow organically. Generally speaking, when someone is truly passionate about something, they want to share it with anyone who will listen and are grateful when someone does. Be that person.
On the other hand, if you participate in an activity or class for the sole purpose of enhancing your application or securing a letter, you won’t enjoy it, which means you won’t put your best foot forward. You won’t ask engaging questions; you’ll daydream about being somewhere else, and your lack of interest will be painfully clear to your potential letter writer. You’ll come across as immature, self-serving, and apathetic—exactly the opposite of what BS/MD programs are looking for.
Plus, when you pursue an activity you deeply care about, you’ll be able to speak about it in your essays and interviews that much more authentically. You’ll be able to recall fun and insightful anecdotes because they were meaningful to you, and this genuine passion will be undeniable to admissions committees.
6 | Consider Your Overall Application Narrative
It’s also vital to consider your overall application narrative when selecting your letter writers. Your application is considered holistically—strong academic scores are far from the only consideration. What do you want an admissions committee to know about you beyond your hard skills? How do you plan to describe yourself in your essays? What evidence do you have to support your claims?
Saying you love research without any tangible research experience doesn’t look good.
For example, if you write an essay about how much you loved a specific extracurricular volunteering experience and what an impact you made but don’t include a letter written by your supervisor, it will strike adcoms as suspicious. By the same token, if you speak about how much you love AP biology but don’t include a letter written by that teacher, it also raises red flags.
Each piece of your application must complement the other. If you’re going to write your personal statement or another essay about how inspiring a certain class or activity was or the vital role you played, back it up with a strong letter from the professional who supervised and mentored you. It will have an immensely greater impact on an admissions committee and contribute to your cohesive application narrative.
Navigating the Complex BS/MD Application Process
BS/MD programs offer a fast-track path to medical education for top-performing, well-rounded, and mature high school students who are already certain they want to become doctors. Admissions committees need to be convinced that you have the grit required to excel within their rigorous course curriculum.
But no matter how deeply you want to dedicate your life to medicine, earning acceptance into these prestigious programs isn’t easy. This is why it’s to your advantage to work with expert consultants who went the BS/MD route themselves and can help you navigate the ins and outs of the complex and competitive application process.
We’ll show you what to work on when, how to stand out as an applicant, and how to hone study strategies that will catapult you to the top of your class.
Med School Insiders offers strategic advising that pairs you with a physician advisor who can answer your questions about BS/MD programs and the BS/MD application process, what to do with the time between your studies, and much more. It’s our mission to help you create a future that aligns with your vision, which includes your studies, career goals, lifestyle, hobbies, and habits.
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