Number of LORs Question

[jennysong]

Hi all! I'll be applying to PA school for the first time this year and am hoping someone can clarify how number of LORs work with CASPA and the schools. 

 

Most schools require 2-3 LORs (academic, clinical, work, etc.) but CASPA allows you to upload a max. of 5 letters. Since all letters get sent with your application to each program, how do schools determine which letters to evaluate towards their requirement count and which to disregard (ex. your CASPA app has 1 clinical letter, 1 work, and 1 academic but the program only looks at 2 letters). Do they just evaluate all of them?

 

I am currently on track to get 1 from my MD clinical supervisor (who I work daily with), 1 professor, and 1 from a PA I've been shadowing. The reason I ask is I am wondering whether I should get another academic letter (my sGPA is on weaker end) or a letter from my undergrad research PI? Are 5 LORs overkill?

 

Any insight/clarification would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[Allegro]

The 5-letter thing is to allow applicants who have conflicting requirements (ie. school A requires a PA, professor, and employer and school B wants a PA, clinical supervisor, and research advisor) to be able to meet each school's requirements within the limits of the CASPA app. Before last year it was restricted to 3 letters which caused issues for applicants who only had 3 slots and 4 different requirements.

 

With that in mind,it isn't intended to pad your application with letters your school isn't asking for as the ad com usually isn't looking to have more to read, and most likely will disregard the extraneous ones. However, plenty of apps use all five slots, so there really isn't any harm in it. You do want to make sure you aren't using all 5 slots for extras and then decide to apply down the road to a program who requires something and you'll wish you had an open slot.

[jennysong]

Thank you so much for the clarification! That makes a lot of sense.

 

The 5-letter thing is to allow applicants who have conflicting requirements (ie. school A requires a PA, professor, and employer and school B wants a PA, clinical supervisor, and research advisor) to be able to meet each school's requirements within the limits of the CASPA app. Before last year it was restricted to 3 letters which caused issues for applicants who only had 3 slots and 4 different requirements.

 

With that in mind,it isn't intended to pad your application with letters your school isn't asking for as the ad com usually isn't looking to have more to read, and most likely will disregard the extraneous ones. However, plenty of apps use all five slots, so there really isn't any harm in it. You do want to make sure you aren't using all 5 slots for extras and then decide to apply down the road to a program who requires something and you'll wish you had an open slot.

[DiggySRNA]

The individual who is writing a LOR on your behalf will put in their Professional Title. So this is where programs can see who is who and pull whichever LOR they want to read (that fulfills the requirement). 

 

I found this out after looking at who has accepted and are in progress of completing the letter. 

[AliB]

I HIGHLY -- repeat HIGHLY -- recommend you submit only 3 or 4 letters initially, ensuring they meet the requirements of the programs where you are applying initially.  Reserve that last slot (or 2!) for future needs ... or mistaken, misapplied requirements!  

 

One of the schools where I applied required LORs from Physician/Physician Assistant, Employer/Supervisor, University/College Professor, which I provided.  However, because of the way my Professor worded his recommendation (in addition to being my instructor, he chaired my graduate committee, served as faculty advisor to the university organization I was officer of, enlisted me to help on a book he authored, and hired me as his graduate teaching assistant), the program chose to consider his letter as another "Employer/Supervisor".  I had to scramble and jump through a lot of hoops to get another letter from a different professor.  Luckily, they allowed me to, but it was a lot of extra effort and stress!  

 

Make things easier for yourself.