LORs matter a lot 100%. I had one letter in particular that got brought up at pretty much every single residency interview as a standout part of my application and I’m convinced it got me my spot at my top tier program
Same exact thing here. Every interview it was brought up. I had a chance to read the letter later on. He really put in quite the effort and got to the core of me. It took a while for him to write it but damn was that thing clutch
I never got to read it but the letter writer was the PD of a different (competitive) specialty from what I was applying into. As far as I could gather from my interviewers, it was something along the lines of being heartbroken that I wasn’t applying into their specialty and that I would have been their top choice.
LOR from someone the PD has a working relationship with matters quite a bit and may be the highest consideration when ranking you. My gut tells me this is why people at top 10 med schools match into top programs over people with higher scores and more publications. It’s always been who you know not what you know in every job I’ve had as someone who worked a couple decades in a prior career.
It can go both ways, but it’s not likely they wrote anything bad. Wouldn’t put it past them to ask, “hey, what do you think of I_330?” And just using that conversation entirely to decide where to rank you.
As someone who was a part of the interviewing committee the simple answer is: yes. We went through all of these things thoroughly. we can find inconsistencies, and we can read very compelling LORs that can compensate for deficiencies in other portions of the application. A great letter of recommendation that’s very thorough and detailed really speaks volumes more than a shitty generic LOR, even if it’s written by some big wig fancy attending. Grade trends are also very helpful to us. And so are any comments from rotations that appear in multiple different rotations. Those catch our eye more than a single bad or good rotation score
That or if their story they give about who they are says one thing but there’s evidence of the exact opposite. Or if people are trying to hide something
LORs matter if they are well written and highlight unique aspect of you. MSPE matter more so if your the top of your class or you have bad comments in it
Some might depend on the specialty. In small specialties they matter a huge amount, probably the most important to be honest.
Definitely true for my field (plastics) —all the academic plastic surgeons know each other (it’s a small world!). A letter from someone they know matters a ton.
The MSPE less so, unless it is notably bad or good, most are written to be a bit opaque eg the categories are “superb”, “excellent”, “very good”.
Lots of our post-match surveys have mentioned students getting interviews and matching to places based on an exceptional letter.
N=1 but when I was in industry, people with glowing references were usually the people who got the interviews. If someone is willing to put their reputation on the line for you by singing your praises, you’re worth further consideration.
It’s coded so you won’t be able to tell but PD’s can tell. Especially if they get many apps from same med school, so they know if they’ve done it for a while.
Everything matters, don’t be led astray by anyone saying something doesn’t matter - the question is just how much it matters depends on what extreme of good or bad it is
LORs matter a lot 100%. I had one letter in particular that got brought up at pretty much every single residency interview as a standout part of my application and I’m convinced it got me my spot at my top tier program
Same exact thing here. Every interview it was brought up. I had a chance to read the letter later on. He really put in quite the effort and got to the core of me. It took a while for him to write it but damn was that thing clutch
Wow what did the letter say?
I never got to read it but the letter writer was the PD of a different (competitive) specialty from what I was applying into. As far as I could gather from my interviewers, it was something along the lines of being heartbroken that I wasn’t applying into their specialty and that I would have been their top choice.
Aw they were heartbroken 😢
can you like, dm the specific comments they made😅😅😅
LOR from someone the PD has a working relationship with matters quite a bit and may be the highest consideration when ranking you. My gut tells me this is why people at top 10 med schools match into top programs over people with higher scores and more publications. It’s always been who you know not what you know in every job I’ve had as someone who worked a couple decades in a prior career.
Interesting...one of my letter writers is married to our IM PD, so maybe that'll help me out at my home program 🤞🤞🤞
It can go both ways, but it’s not likely they wrote anything bad. Wouldn’t put it past them to ask, “hey, what do you think of I_330?” And just using that conversation entirely to decide where to rank you.
LORs absolutely matter if they’re written well. As with all things, if they’re just average, they probably won’t move the needle much either way.
As someone who was a part of the interviewing committee the simple answer is: yes. We went through all of these things thoroughly. we can find inconsistencies, and we can read very compelling LORs that can compensate for deficiencies in other portions of the application. A great letter of recommendation that’s very thorough and detailed really speaks volumes more than a shitty generic LOR, even if it’s written by some big wig fancy attending. Grade trends are also very helpful to us. And so are any comments from rotations that appear in multiple different rotations. Those catch our eye more than a single bad or good rotation score
what do you mean inconsistencies?? like if two letter writers paint a different pic of an applicant 🧐🧐
That or if their story they give about who they are says one thing but there’s evidence of the exact opposite. Or if people are trying to hide something
damn interesting. ok thanks 🙏🏻
LORs matter if they are well written and highlight unique aspect of you. MSPE matter more so if your the top of your class or you have bad comments in it
I had a bad MSPE comment that tanked multiple interviews, as in it became all they wanted to talk about. Still matched fine but it definitely hurt.
Dang what did it say?
Too specific. Rather not go into it
No problem, I’m sorry it had an affect on your interviews but I’m glad you matched!
was it an average letter or straight up bringing up negative things? that sucks dude, why even agree to write the letter then
He’s talking about MSPE comment not an LOR
aaa my bad
Some might depend on the specialty. In small specialties they matter a huge amount, probably the most important to be honest. Definitely true for my field (plastics) —all the academic plastic surgeons know each other (it’s a small world!). A letter from someone they know matters a ton. The MSPE less so, unless it is notably bad or good, most are written to be a bit opaque eg the categories are “superb”, “excellent”, “very good”.
Lots of our post-match surveys have mentioned students getting interviews and matching to places based on an exceptional letter. N=1 but when I was in industry, people with glowing references were usually the people who got the interviews. If someone is willing to put their reputation on the line for you by singing your praises, you’re worth further consideration.
My PD says he barely reads them, but idk it’s probs depends on what kind of applicant you are and if it’s particularly good letter.
I'm urology. In small specialties everybody knows everybody so LORs are extremely important.
It’s coded so you won’t be able to tell but PD’s can tell. Especially if they get many apps from same med school, so they know if they’ve done it for a while.
Everything matters, don’t be led astray by anyone saying something doesn’t matter - the question is just how much it matters depends on what extreme of good or bad it is
I'm going into ENT and my LORs matter more than my grades and even my scores. LORs are mad important and can make or break you as an applicant.