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Letters of Recommendation

The following information outlines the steps involved in processing letters of recommendation. Students are also encouraged to review instructions for the new AMCAS Pilot Letter Program.

Step 1

Complete and submit applicant information form. A student applying to medical school must submit a $20 money order (medical school applications only). No fee is involved for dental school applicants.

  • Student's file will hold this form and the letters of recommendation as they arrive at our office.
  • An index card, organized by student's last name, will be placed in a rolodex at the front desk for student's review. As letters received, they will be documented on the student's index card for the student to check.

Step 2

Obtain letters of recommendation from professors, volunteer supervisor, health professionals, employers and/or other individuals who could write a strong personal letter.

  • It is best that students provide the recommender with a resume, personal statement and/or biography. The more information the recommender has about the student the better.
  • Student waiver forms are available for students to submit to the recommending person who is writing a letter. The recommender will send a copy of this waiver form to the Pre-Health Professions Advising Office along with their letter.
  • It is recommended that students obtain a minimum of two science faculty letters, one non-science faculty, one health professional and one undergraduate research letter (if applicable). There is no limit on the number of letters submitted.

NOTE: It is the student's responsibility to find out the types of letters each school requires or prefers.

Step 3

Once all letters have been received, students may request letters of recommendation to be sent to the schools of choice.

  • Complete and submit a request for letters of recommendation to be sent form. Student must provide their full name, Social Security number, AMCAS number (for medical schools), complete addresses, identify the letters to be sent to the listed schools and a deadline date, if applicable.
  • Although not mandatory, it is advantageous for the student to type up mailing address labels for the various medical/dental schools they are applying to once they have received their secondaries.
  • The original/master copy of the letters are kept in the student's file, while copies are made and sent off to the schools.
  • Students applying to medical school or osteopathic school must submit a $20 money order made out to Arizona State University for VirtualEval processing fee.
  • Postage stamps for mailing of letters to dental school must be provided. The Pre-health Professions Advising Office provides the envelopes. It is recommended that students bring in two-three books of stamps and leave them in their file. Each request could use up to three stamps per envelope. A cover letter is included in the mailing (provided by the Pre-health Professions Advising Office office).
  • Once a mailing request has been fulfilled it is documented on the reverse side of our rolodex card for confirmation.
  • Students must provide a minimum two-week notice for letters to be mailed.

Note: Advisors will not divulge, nor are they responsible for, the content, quality, length or other characteristics of a letter.

Letters of Recommendation Processing

The ASU Pre-health Professions Advising Office utilizes VirtualEvals, a secure Web system, to process and send letters of recommendation.

In brief, the office collects the letters into one document, scans that document and saves it as a single PDF file. When a student requests that we transmit the letters, the file is uploaded to the secure Web system, VirtualEvals. The VirtualEvals system then sends the student an email to let them know that their letters are available to medical schools. And it alerts medical schools to which the student is applying that their letters are available on VirtualEvals. The packet of letters includes the following: a copy of all letters the student has indicated on the list of evaluators filed in our office.

Medical schools have individual passwords to access the VirtualEvals site. They can see and download only the files for applicants who have applied to their particular school. Likewise, an advisor using VirtualEvals can only see the records for applicants from his/her school.

What is the advantage of VirtualEvals to you, the applicant?
This system is more cost-efficient and more time efficient. Using VirtualEvals allow letters to reach the medical schools quicker than traditional mail.

When do you request us to transmit your letters?
After a student submits their application to AMCAS, AMCAS will verify the student's application and then transmit it to the student's designated schools. At that time, students will begin to receive requests from schools to complete their secondary/supplemental application.

In addition to the request itself, we will need to know the following:

  1. if the student is applying to TMDSAS or a non-AMCAS school (e.g., the University of North Dakota)
  2. if the student has added any schools to the list they included when they initially submitted AMCAS
  3. if the student is applying to any osteopathic schools, and if so, which ones

We have access to an "Advisor Information Service" from AMCAS, through which we can get the student's AAMC ID and a list of the schools the student designated when they initially filed their AMCAS application. But we will not be alerted if the student adds any schools after their initial designation. And we will not know about TMDSAS or osteopathic schools unless the student makes that clear to us.

TMDSAS is a bit different. TMDSAS does not use a secondary application process. Rather, at the time the student submits their TMDSAS application, the student can request that we transmit their letters (if all of letters have been received). However, students are advised that the TMDSAS application usually goes live May 1 and we will not be ready to write and transmit letters at that time.

A special note on transmitting letters to osteopathic (D.O.) school. Osteopathic schools use VirtualEvals to access letters of evaluation for applicants. Osteopathic schools require that applicants have a letter from an osteopathic physician. Thus, if applicants are applying to both M.D. and D.O. schools, they will have two files of letters in our office. Students will need to arrange to have a letter from an osteopathic physician they have shadowed or with whom they have discussed osteopathic medicine sent to the file of letters we post for osteopathic schools.

For further information, students may contact the Pre-health Professions Advising Office directly.