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Health Professional schools (e.g., medical, dental, veterinary) have high standards of conduct and therefore require well-informed and broad letters, which profile an applicant in many facets. It is important to be able to reach beyond the GPA and admission scores (e.g., MCATs, DATs, GREs) to create a total picture of each individual with their complexities and talents. Relying on personal knowledge and using real illustrations, letter writers reveal the qualities of character of the student needed to maintain the excellence of the health professions. Components of a good letter will profile the applicant's resourcefulness, integrity, motivation, drive, altruism, and intellectual capabilities, which are characteristic of success in the health professions.
Admissions committees use letters to screen for interviews, evaluate candidates after the interview, and perhaps, to select individuals from the "waiting list". A critical letter for the admissions committee is the letter written by the undergratuate school's Pre-Health Advisory Committee. Admissions committees often look to letters for screening in cases, for example, where the applicant has an "average" GPA or MCAT score.
Any one writing a letter of reference for a Health Professional school bears an obligation of candor to both the person about whom the letter is written and the person to whom it is addressed, as well as to the institution the writer represents by the letter. It is the writer's responsibility to determine whether to respond to a request for a letter under guidelines provided by the institution and to determine the information needed and ensure its reliability and to communicate these sources within the letter.
Confidential letters are preferred because writers tend to be more candid in their evaluations under the condition of confidentiality. In addition, non-confidential letters may be perceived by admisssions committees as being "screened" by the applicant.
Please note that the letter written by the NU PreHealth Committee is more than a composite of individual letters. The Director of the PreHealth Program has the same obligations as individual letter writers in determining the applicant's suitability for his/her chosen discipline.
