PART 7
Recommendation Provider
http://med.umkc.edu/bamd/apply/ (Go to “Step 4: Reference Forms”)
So the UMKC SOM does not ask for actual letters of recommendation. As you can imagine, letters can be very variable in terms of the person’s prose in describing you specifically, and not very standardized in terms of being able to directly compare applicants. Instead, they will have your recommenders fill out a reference form, see pages 17-18: https://www.umkc.edu/admissions/docs/2009MedApplication.pdf (Note: This application is from the 2008-2009 application cycle, but at least you can see, more or less, what are the parameters and characteristics being looked at, as well as the spectrum of the type of scale you’re evaluated on, more or less).
Teachers, counselors, school administrators or others who can speak to your academic ability AND personal character can complete the online UMKC School of Medicine Reference Form (No family members, your neighbor, etc.).
DO NOT have your references send in a letter of recommendation, in addition to filling out and submitting the online form. They fill out the reference form on the online form platform and that’s it. It even says, “Letters of recommendation will not be accepted in place of or in addition to the official Reference Form. References will not be accepted by email or mail, but must be submitted online.”
When I applied, you got 3 hardcopy reference forms to give directly to 3 people and they mailed the form in. Now they have you enter in the recommender’s email on the application so that the form goes directly to the person, who then submits it online. A minimum of three fully complete reference forms are required for a complete application, although you’re allowed a maximum of 6.
As a general rule (since you guys will be applying to other places) in this area:[ol]
[]Bring in a typed CV with listing your accomplishments from 9th-12th grade to give your recommenders. This is a good start: http://www.mass.edu/gearup/documents/WritingaResume.pdf. Write down your academic accomplishments, your ECs, etc.
[]Please give your teachers/counselors/principals enough time, plus some, in which to be able to write your letters of recommendation or fill out college reference forms. I recommend the first week of August when you get back to school. Contrary to what you may believe, your teachers, counselors, principals, have lives outside of their careers - personal, their own families w/children, etc. It’s basic human courtesy and respect to give someone enough time to fill out something for your application to a school, internship, job, etc.
As someone who has written letters of recommendation for people, it really does take time to sit down, clear your head, and write well about you and often it’s not in just one sitting. You give me less time to write your letter/fill out a form, I can’t write about you as well as I’d like. So at best, it can end up being a lukewarm letter, which isn’t helpful.
[*]If you want to know whether you’ll get a strong recommendation, when requesting, you should ask the question like, “Do you think you’d be able to write me a strong letter of recommendation/reference form for applying to [School X]/UMKC’s 6 year combined BA/MD program”? It gives people who wouldn’t feel comfortable writing you a strong letter for a variety of reasons (but who don’t want to hurt your feelings) a good “out”, so to speak, so that you can look for an alternative person. I repeat, you DO NOT want either a lukewarm or a mediocre recommendation on the reference forms. You want them to be a strong advocate for you.[/ol]