Letters of Recommendation Overview
All pre-health professional schools have Letter of Recommendation requirements. There are two main ways to meet these requirements:
- A student waits until their application year and submits those letters individually within the Application Portal. (For more information on your professional school application portal, please refer to the 'Application' Tab in your area of interest).
- Students can utilize the Office of Pre-Health Advising (OPHA) Letter Packet service to store letters until the applicaiton is ready for submission. If students meet the minimum requirements, they can also get an additional cover letter from the OPHA speaking to their application strengths.
Types of Letter Packets
Individual Letter Packet
Multiple letters each written by, and representing, a single letter author. Many applications have this as the 'default' way of submitting Letters of Reccommendation from Faculty and/or Supervisors. Typically schools ask for a minimum of 3 letters. Letters are not to be shared with the student. Students should ask for verbal agreement from the author to write the letter on their behalf and send the request/instructions through their application portal.
Advisor Packet
A packet or set of letters assembled and distributed by your institution. An Advisor Letter Packet includes a cover letter from your pre-health advisor andand the individual letters of recommendation you have collected. However, unlike a Committee Letter, an Advisor Letter Packet does not include a ranking.
- Mainly used for Medical, Dental, Pharmacy Applicants
- Minimum GPA Requirements:
- Pre-Medicine Students: 3.2 Overall GPA and Science GPA
- Pre-Dental & Pre-Pharmacy: 3.0 Overall GPA and Science GPA
- All other pre-health tracks: 3.0 Overall GPA and Science GPA
- Minimum Test Score Requirements:
- MCAT: 502
- DAT: 18/18
- PCAT: 400
Committee Packet
A packet or set of letters assembled and distributed by your institution intended to represent your institution’s evaluation of you. A Committee Letter Packet includes a cover letter from your committee's evaluation of you, including a ranking compared to all other students applying through the process, and the individual letters of recommendation you have collected.
- Mainly used for Medical, Dental, Pharmacy Applicants
- Minimum GPA Requirements:
- Pre-Medicine Students: 3.5 Overall GPA and Science GPA
- Pre-Dental & Pre-Pharmacy: 3.3 Overall GPA and Science GPA
- All other pre-health tracks: 3.0 Overall GPA and Science GPA
- Minimum Test Score Requirements:
- MCAT: 506 (with no section lower than 123)
- DAT: 19/19 with no section lower than 14
- PCAT: 400
To calculate your Overall GPA and Science GPA, please utilize our GPA Calculator Spreadsheet.
Science GPA includes courses in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Mathmatics. For more information about which specific courses are included, please use the Course Classification Guide.
*It is a students responsibility to review all requirements as well as important dates.*
Students planning to utilize any of the Letter Packet Services, are encouraged to work on the required documents as early as possible. By working on your portfolio early, you can build on experiences and finish all requirements in the year you apply to professional programs.
Open a File
- Opening a file costs $65.00
- This allows you to store all documention and Letters of Recommendation until you are ready to apply to your professional program of choice.
- If you are approved for Fee Assistance Program, our fee is waived upon proof of approval (lasting one year). Visit your Career page for any available Fee Assistance Program information.
- We are unable to provide a refund for paid files. If you think you will qualify for the FAP, please wait to open your file until you receive approval from your corresponding application servicer.
Letter Packet Minimum Requirements:
1. Committee Letter
- Minimum cumulative and BCPM GPA (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Engineering, and Mathematics courses)
- Pre-Medicine: 3.5 GPA/BCPM
- Pre-Dental & Pre-Pharmacy: 3.3 GPA/BCPM
- All other pre-health tracks: 3.0 GPA
- Minimum test scores
- MCAT: 506 with no section lower than 123
- DAT: 19/19 with no section lower than 14
- PCAT: 400
- Additional Documentation
2. Advisor Letter
- Minimum cumulative and BCPM GPA (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Engineering, and Mathematics courses)
- Pre-Medicine: 3.2 GPA/BCPM
- Pre-Dental & Pre-Pharmacy: 3.0 GPA/BCPM
- Minimum test scores
- MCAT: 502
- DAT: 18/18
- PCAT: 400
3. Letter Packet Service
- If a student does not meet the GPA and test score requirements set out above but have all other requirements, the documents can be transmitted to the schools of the student's choosing.
- Please contact our office directly for more information.
Letter Packet Additional Documentation Requirements:
*These are required for all students interested in the Advisor and Committee Packets*
The following items are needed to schedule your Committee Letter & Advisor Letter Interview:
- Pre-Heath Waiver Form & Fee
- OPHA Personal History Questionnaire
- Students should be working on this document throughout their pre-health journey. Use this to record your activities and log hours of your experiences.
- Personal Statement
- All Transcripts (unofficial)
- OPHA GPA Calculator Spreadsheet
- Official Test Scores
- Letters of Recommendation
- At least two science faculty and one non-science faculty.
- Letter Request Form
- List of Schools for Application
- Completed Primary Application
For questions on these requirements, please email our office: preprofc@fiu.edu
Re-Applicants:
If you have already applied, and plan to re-apply to your professional school, you will need to notify our office directly. Please e-mail preprofc@fiu.edu
Students are highly encouraged to schedule a re-applicant interview with our office to ensure the most up to date information is included in the packet and a revised letter. This interview will aim to cover any changes and enhancements you have made to your application in order to highlight them in the letter packet.
Students have the option to send in their previous letter packets but there will be no updates included in this submission.
Please contact our office for more information.
All documents are required to be submitted between May 1 and August 31 of your application year.
**NO COMMITTEE OR ADVISOR PACKET DOCUMENTS
WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER AUGUST 31**
Detailed Instructions for All Requirements
Benefits:
While it is not a requirement, our committee will interview you and produce a letter summarizing your academic progress, your personal experiences and your recommendation letters from faculty.
The letter will rate your preparation relative to fellow FIU pre-health students in your career track. Typically, 85 percent of students who qualify for a committee interview are accepted into their professional programs. Students who do not interview with the committee have an acceptance rate closer to 10-20 percent.
The committee usually takes about two weeks after the interview to prepare and send a committee recommendation letter.
Pre-Health Waiver & Fee:
All students must submit a signed waiver form and an administrative fee of $65.00 to the OPHA to officially open their file portfolio. This fee is non-refundable. The administrative fee may be waived if proof of a fee assistance program approval is provided. Review your career's professional program application for more details.
Personal History Questionnaire:
Our Personal History Questionnaire helps you organize the information you'll be submitting as part of your professional program application.
The personal history questionnaire should act as a preliminary version of your actual application to professional school. Thus, it should be completed before you begin your application.
Personal Statement:
Professional applications require a personal statement explaining your motivations for pursuing a career in this profession are and why you are a highly qualified candidate.This statement should be clearly worded, with perfect grammar and spelling.
Use examples from your own experience that demonstrate your leadership, academic excellence, ethics, maturity and other desirable personal qualities. It can take a long time to write a good personal statement, so you may want to write your statement in the fall semester before you submit your application.
Visit your Career page for personal statement length requirements.If you finish your personal statement by March 1, our office will read it and offer comments on its effectiveness, clarity and tone. We will point out grammatical errors, but we do not attempt to perfect your grammar. For further proofreading, you may want to visit FIU's Center for Excellence in Writing.
GPA:
GPA is an academic indicator to schools. The following are commonly accepted student statistics
Transcripts:
Provide unofficial transcripts from FIU and all other institutions attended.
Test Scores & Copy of Application:
You will not be able to schedule a committee or advisor interview without a test score and a copy of your application.
Provide official reports of your test score(s) along with a copy of your primary application. The scores listed below are the minimum for a committee interview. Scores below these minimums are not considered competitive for professional programs. Visit your Career page for preparation resources.
- Dental: DAT score of 19 in both Total Science (TS) and Academic Average (AA)
- Medical: MCAT score of 506 with no individual score below 123
- Optometry: OAT score of 300
- Pharmacy: PCAT score of 400
- PA: GRE score of at least 305 (Combined Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning Scores) & PA-CAT score score 509-522 is the median score range.
Recommendation Letters
You will not be able to schedule a committee or advisor interview without the required letters of recommendation.
Provide at least three recommendation letters. Preferably these come from from regular, permanent faculty members with whom you have taken traditional three- or four-credit lectures (not online courses or labs).
- Two letters from science faculty members
- One letter from a faculty member in social science, humanities or fine arts
- [Optional] A letter from a research mentor
- [Optional] A letter from a professional in your chosen field. Some programs require this letter
- Review the recommendation letter requirements of the professional programs to which you are applying, as they may have unique requirements. *It is still the students responsibility to confirm they are meeting all program requirements.
We recommend that you request letters right after completing the course, research project or other experience. Letter-writing guidelines for faculty are available on the Pre-Health Resources page.
Once you've completed the Pre-Health Committee's prerequisites, you can contact us to schedule an interview.
What's to come?
The Interview
- Committee Interviews: Dress formally for your interview. You will be interviewed for 30-45 minutes by a group of three faculty members and advisors. You may be asked to discuss your academic and performance since high school, your choices of professional experience/volunteering and shadowing, and other relevant topics. The purpose of the interview is to ensure that the committee is completely familiar with your personal and professional qualities.
- The committee usually takes no longer than two weeks after the interview to prepare and send a committee recommendation letter.
- Advisor Interviews: Dress formally for your interview. You will be interviewed for 30-45 minutes by a pre-health advisor. You may be asked to discuss your academic and performance since high school, your choices of professional experience/volunteering and shadowing, and other relevant topics. The purpose of the interview is to ensure that the advisor is completely familiar with your personal and professional qualities.
- The letter usually takes no longer than two weeks after the interview to prepare and send a recommendation letter.
Committee Petition Guidelines
Our Committee understands that the totality of an applicant is not determined by these metrics alone and for that reason the Committee will make exceptions in certain circumstances. An individual who falls short of these requirements for a Committee Interview and Letter but has an application that is otherwise compelling may petition for an exception:
Petition Guidelines
Note this is only intended for students who fall between the Committee Letter and Advisor Letter packet minumum requirements.
For any additional questions about the above requirements, please contact our office at preprofc@fiu.edu
