Pritzker Letters of Recommendation FAQ Letters of Recommendation Getting

							                                                               Pritzker Letters of Recommendation FAQ


Letters of Recommendation: Getting the Letters
•       How Many Letters of Recommendation Do I Need?

    Categorical
       - 3 letters of recommendation are required.
       - ERAS will not allow more than 4 letters per program
       - Some specialties may require a Chair’s letter

         -   General rule:
                3 clinical letters of recommendation
                1 supplemental research letter (if relevant)

    Prelim + Advanced
        - 3 letters of recommendation are required for the prelim application
        - 3 letters of recommendation are required for the advanced application
        _______________
        6 total letters

    •    Letter writers can use a modified version of the same letter for both applications. For
         example, a faculty member from the Department of Medicine’s can used the same letter for
         both the preliminary year in Medicine and the categorical application in Anesthesia. They
         will just need to change the opening sentence in the letter: “I am delighted to recommend
         John Doe for a preliminary year in medicine.” “I am delighted to recommend John Doe for
         advanced training in Anesthesia.”

    •    You need to be extra careful in naming/assigning your letters in ERAS so that Pritzker staff
         attach the correct letter to the correct program. For example, a letter that Dr. McDade writes
         for a prelim medicine application could be named: LOR-McDade-Prelim-Med

•   Whom should I ask?

    Faculty members who know you best and can strongly support their application. Clinical letters
    are preferred. Research letters can be used as supplemental letters but not as primary letters.

    It is more important for you to receive a detailed letter from a faculty member who knows you
    well than from a “big name” faculty member who does not know you well.

•   Which Specialties require a chair’s letter?
    The Department of Medicine requires a chair’s letter for everyone going into Medicine
    (including Prelim Medicine). Please see below for more detail about the Department of
    Medicine’s process.

    The informal survey we do of University of Chicago programs in January found that the
    following specialties require letters from Chairs or Section Chief’s: Anesthesiology, Obstetrics
    & Gynecology, Otolaryngology (Section Chief), Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery (Chief),
    Urology (Chief). Contact their assistant for more information about how to get this letter.

•    Department of Medicine Chair Process
    Dr. Garcia does not write the Chair’s letter. It is written by a faculty member and co-signed


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                                                               Pritzker Letters of Recommendation FAQ


    by Dr. Garcia. Some students applying in medicine think that they only need to ask 2 faculty
    members to write letters because Dr. Garcia will write the third. In actuality, you need to ask 3
    faculty members to be letter writers, one of whom will co-sign the chair’s letter with Garcia.

    Junior Faculty Member: If you would like a Chief Resident or junior faculty member
    to write a letter of recommendation for you, the junior faculty member should write the Chair’s
    letter. That way Dr. Garcia’s signature can balance out the junior position of the co-signer.

•   How do I get a Chairman’s Letter if he/she doesn’t know me?

    It is best to contact the secretary in the department to determine (1) if the Chairman sends a
    letter, and (2) what process has been established for completing this process.

•    What information do I need to provide to letter writers?
    We recommend asking your letter writers in person and bringing the following with you:
       •       Draft of your CV
       •       ERAS Cover Letter or SF Match Cover Letter
       • AAMC identification number. This the same number as your AMCAS number. You
           can access this AAMC number once you have registered for ERAS. ERAS tokens
           will be distributed on July 1.

Letters of Recommendation: Logistics
•   Where should my letters be sent?

    ERAS – Office of Graduate Medical Education
    ATTENTION: EILEEN WAYTE
    The University of Chicago Medical Center, MC 7109
    5841 South Maryland Avenue, Room J141
    Chicago, Illinois 60637
    Tel: (773) 834-3757; Fax: (773) 834-3119
    Email: ewayte@bsd.uchicago.edu

     *The address can also be found on the ERAS cover sheet.*

•   When should all my letters be in?

    Generally faculty will deliver their letters within 8 weeks of being asked by students. We
    recommend that students begin asking letter writers in June/July.

    We hope to get all letters in by the end of September. Last year we gave faculty members an
    estimated deadline of September 15, recognizing that many letters will come in
    approximately one to two weeks later. Most program deadlines (but by no means all—this
    varies by discipline and by program) are around November 1st. However, we found that
    sometimes a program will not invite students for interviews until all of their letters have
    arrived.




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•   What do I do if my letter hasn’t been received, I can’t get in touch with my letter writer,
    and it is well after the 6-8 week period?

    If it has been 8 weeks since a student requested a letter, it is appropriate for students to send a
    reminder to their faculty letter writers. If it has been less than 8 weeks since a student asked
    their letter writers but it is in the middle of September, students should let Eileen/Kelly and
    they will follow up on student’s behalf.

    In early September, Eileen, Caroline, and Kelly will regularly generate reports from ERAS
    and will start reminding faculty if any letters are missing.

    Do I need to have all my letters of reference scanned into the Dean’s Work Station
    before I can apply?

    No, you can send in your application and assign your letters even if the letters haven’t been
    received yet. The letters will “catch up” to your application and programs will be
    automatically notified as pieces of your application become available.

•   Do I have to designate all my letters at the time that I apply?

    No, you can apply without designating any letters at all. You can apply with a few letters
    designated and add letter writers later.

•     I am trying to decide which letter to assign to a certain program. Can you tell me if Dr.
    X wrote a good letter?

    Since you waived your right to see the letter, Pritzker staff cannot share this information with
    students. Pritzker staff only looks at the letters of recommendation to make sure that the
    correct letter is assigned and that there are no flagrant errors (wrong name, etc.)

•     Can I change my personal statement and letters of reference even after I have
    assigned them to programs?

    Yes, you can de-assign both your personal statement and your letters of reference and send in
    new ones. However, do not do this lightly. First, there is no guarantee that programs have
    not already downloaded your documents and have a hard copy already. Second, there are
    dangers associated with “over-tweaking” your application. You have put a lot of thought
    already into writing your personal statements and in selecting your letter writers. A last
    minute change may not be as well thought out as the choices you have already made. Finally,
    programs will see your changes and may interpret your behavior as indecisive.




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