Letters of Recommendation (LOR) Information for Writers
Writing Strong Letters of Evaluation
All medical and dental programs require letters of recommendation (also called letters of evaluation) as part of the application process. These programs are focusing on a holistic review process of all applicants. The specific competencies these programs are looking for are included below. VCU pre-professional health students have been discussing their competency development with their pre-professional health and stem career advisor.
Core Competencies for Medical and Dental School Applicants
- Thinking & Reasoning Competencies
- Critical Thinking
- Quantitative Reasoning
- Scientific Inquiry
- Written Communication
- Intrapersonal Competencies
- Ethical Responsibility to Self and Others
- Reliability and Dependability
- Resilience and Adaptability
- Capacity for Improvement
- Science Competencies
- Living Systems
- Human Behavior
- Interpersonal Competencies
- Service Orientation
- Social Skills
- Cultural Competence
- Teamwork
- Oral Communication
Holistic review metrics for Pre-Medical and Pre-Dental Students
- Cumulative GPA
- Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Math (BCPM) GPA
- Grade trend
- Health care experience
- Shadowing hours
- Community service
- Leadership experience
- Research experience
- Life experience
- Diversity (broadly defined)
- Obstacles overcome
- Maturity/Respect
- Motivation
- Inquisitiveness/Intelligence
- Intrapersonal skills
- Interpersonal skills
How to use the core competencies and holistic review metrics for writing letters
Please note that letters of recommendation are not required to include information about a student’s core competencies or their metrics – these are optional. The information provided above is for letter writers to utilize in a way that makes sense to them and to each individual student. These are the measures that the Pre-Health Advisory Committee will use when providing feedback to students.
Medical and dental schools do not expect any one letter writer to provide information about every characteristic of an applicant. In fact, they require multiple letters from different letter writers specifically because no one letter writer is expected to showcase every aspect of each applicant.
Confidentiality of Letters of Evaluation
Admissions officers and staff, admissions committee members, and pre-health advisors have a mutual responsibility in keeping the information conveyed in letters confidential, unless explicitly indicated otherwise by the letter writer. A confidential letter signals to the reader the letters writer’s expectation that his/her comments will be shared only with the audience for whom they are intended and not shared with the applicant or anyone else for whom the information is not intended.
Submission Process for Letters of Evaluation
You will receive an email on behalf of the student from VECollect, a system for collecting letters of evaluation. Details regarding the submission process are outlined in the email that you will receive. Letters of evaluation must be on official letterhead and contain a written signature.
Address letters to:
Sonya L. Barnes, M.Ed. Chair, VCU Pre-Health Advisory Committee VCU Career Services, Pre-Professional Health and STEM Career Advising Virginia Commonwealth University 907 Floyd Avenue, Room 143 Richmond,VA 23284-2007
If you have any questions or concerns, please email preprofadv@vcu.edu or call 804-827-1645 to speak with a Pre-Professional Health and STEM Career Advisor.