LoRs

A Letter of Recommendation (LoR) is a letter you request recommending you to the programs of your choice. You will need several letters of recommendation for your application. You may save as many letters as you like in ERAS, but each program requests a specific number - usually 3 or 4. Send only that number, no more, no less. Some programs request that one of the letters be from the Department Chair. Our departments know of this requirement and schedule appointments with students to craft a Chairman's Letter. For the other letters, choose someone who knows you and your work and can write passionately about your candidacy. If there is an attending in the third year you had a great experience with, ask them if they would be comfortable writing you a strong LOR. Your LORs become an important reflection of your academic performance and serve as a source of information on your non-cognitive qualities. It is important to identify faculty members who are in a position to state your suitability for a career in that specialty. You will want to request a letter from a rotation in which you did well, one that relates to your chosen field and/or one that is specifically requested by the program. Some programs will put stock in letters from nationally known faculty, and our program directors should be able to alert you to that. When you identify a faculty member you think will write you a good letter, it is acceptable to ask if he/she would be willing to write a letter. Indicate that you will contact them again close to the time of application to confirm their ability to assist you.

When the time comes for you to request the written letter, contact the faculty you have chosen to refresh their memories about who you are and what you did. You could also help your letter writers by sending them a copy of your personal statement, CV and Letter of Recommendation Portal (LoRP).

Finalizing Letters of Recommendation in ERAS

The Letters of Recommendation tab allows you to create a list of people who will write letters on your behalf. You also have the ability to print Letter Request Forms and view a list of programs to which you have assigned your LoRs. 

To generate a Letter Request Form through ERAS, you will need to finalize your LoR Authors. LoR Authors can submit LoRs using the ERAS LoR Portal to upload LoRs themselves. You will need to provide a Letter Request Form to each LoR Author you finalize.

You may enter and finalize an unlimited number of LoR Authors; however, no more than four (4) letters may be assigned to any individual program.

To Finalize your LoR Author(s):

1. Click on the Documents tab.
2. Click on the Letters of Recommendation tab.
3. Enter LoR Author information: LoR Author Name, LoR Author Title/Department, and Specialty(s) to which this letter will be assigned (optional field).
   Programs will be able to view the LoR Author Name, Title/Department, and the "I waive my right to view my Letter of Recommendation" response you select. However, the specialty you enter is visible ONLY to you, the Office of Student Affairs, and your LoR Authors. The purpose of the specialty field is to help you identify your LoR(s) when assigning them to programs. 
4. Select Yes or No for “I waive my right to view my Letter of Recommendation.” We strongly encourage you to waive your right to view.
5. Finalize your LoR Author(s).
6. A Unique Letter ID is generated for each Letter Request Form
7. Click on the “Actions” button and choose if you’d like to download the letter request or email the letter request.
8. You may hand deliver, mail, or email your Letter Request Forms

Repeat this process for each LoR Author that will be writing a letter for you.

You will have the opportunity to edit and delete before finalizing your LoR Author(s). Once you finalize a LoR Author, you cannot delete it. If it contains errors, you will need to enter and finalize a new LoR Author.