<p>My organic chemistry 2 professor offered me to use him as a reference. I scored an A- in his class. But I am only a rising Junior, and won't be applying to schools until after i've taken the mcat, which i won't take till the end of my senior year. I definitely want him as a reference. So what do I do? Because I doubt he'll remember me in two years. And since I will be applying to multiple if not several schools, do I have him make multiple copies of the same letter?</p>
<p>[Interfolio</a> - Dossier, Credentials and Letter of Recommendation Service](<a href=“http://www.interfolio.com/]Interfolio”>http://www.interfolio.com/)</p>
<p>I don’t understand? Is this a reference service that professors use to upload letters of recommendation and then the student can retrieve the letter when needed?</p>
<p>Basically. You won’t be able to look at the letters, but they’ll be secure as long as you pay for the service. It costs something like $6 to send out the letters, but it’s well worth the hundred dollars or so you’ll end up paying for it in the end, from what I hear.</p>
<p>It seems to me that to use the interfolio service, my professor needs to setup a writer account, which it says is free. But, I prefer for letters of recommendation to be handwritten, and even though this service offers that…my professor would have to mail the letter to interfolio which means that they will look at it. Thanks for the suggestions but this isn’t really what i’m looking for.</p>
<p>
What? No .</p>
<p>bluedevilmike. are you advocating interfolio? And why should letters of recommendation be electronic? NO one on here ever helps, they just give their opinions without any elaboration. No wonder China is beating us in the math in sciences, cause no one in the US wants to help one another. I am a student and I want to learn!!! I am the future!!!</p>
<p>Wow. Okay. </p>
<p>Thank you notes should be handwritten (if possible). Letters of recommendation should not.</p>
<p>Letters of recommendation are meant to be read. If they’re handwritten, it’s harder for people to decipher what they say. In addition, typed letters of recommendation are easier to disperse to all the places you’re applying (remember that you might want this professor to send a letter to 10+ medical schools–it’s not fair to ask him to write a letter of recommendation by hand 10 times). Also, the vast majority of medical school applications are now done electronically, and schools are a little more likely to keep your full file together if it all gets submitted the same way. </p>
<p>There are a number of different companies that compile and send letters of recommendation to medical schools (and, I presume, other graduate/professional programs). Rather than going straight for interfolio, try and figure out which one your pre-med advisors prefer to use.</p>
<p>Regarding this individual professor, is there anything that you’re applying for soon for which you could ask for a letter of recommendation? That way he will have already written one letter, and you could just gently request that he please save that letter because medical school applications are ahead.</p>
<p>I have a hunch gibson’s a ■■■■■.</p>
<p>Ginnyvere’s advice is perfect though!</p>
<p>just tell him to write it now, and when you’re ready to apply, it’s already done. all he needs to do is date it, send it to your committee or upload it onto interfolio. easy peasy</p>
<p>One more thing. Do I need to give the professor my resume? I think the answer would be yes and no, because he will most likely be writing about how well I performed in his class, but on the other hand…?</p>
<p>Give it to him and tell him, “here’s my resume in case you’d like to know a little more about my background.” Whether he reads it or not is his business, but he can’t be upset that you sent/gave it to him.</p>
<p>just thought of something else. I am a rising Junior, and my cumulative gpa as of now is only a 3.22. I am taking college physics 1 (without calc) next week which is 4 credits, and IF i score an A my cumulative gpa will only raise to a 3.27. The reason I say this is because I’m worried the professor will think negatively of me since my gpa is so low? And this would possibly result in the letter of recommendation not being as strong as I need it to be. Cause God knows I’m gonna need as many strong letters of recommendation as I can get.
P.S. I have been taking all my med school prereqs; the hard classes for the first two years of college. Next semester I’m taking a lot of gen ed reqs which should raise my gpa.
Thanks.</p>
<p>gibson–what is your sGPA?</p>
<p>Med schools will want both a cum GPA and sGPA. If you sGPA is weak simply raising your overall GPA won’t be enough.</p>
<p>When D1 got a LOR from her OChem teacher, he didn’t even mention her GPA (which was a weak 3.4)–so I wouldn’t worry about getting a lesser LOR if you send the prof your resume with your GPA on it.</p>