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Pre-Health Interfolio File Information

The Office of Pre-Health Advising, supports students applying to a variety of pre-health professional programs. We are excited to be part of your journey and provide you with guidance! With an Advisor Letter or Committee Letter, you can practice your interviewing skills and work on crafting a complete, well-rounded application. Obtaining one of these letters will showcase your commitment to being a competitive applicant.

Please read this Introduction in its entirety to understand the letters of recommendation process and how to best utilize this resource. 

This process was designed to aid students with the process of collecting letters of recommendation for medical or dental school. It allows students to request letters from their recommenders prior to applying to their programs and have them stored rather than having to request all of their letters at the time of application. All documents must be uploaded to Interfolio, and the pre-health office will handle submitting all letters to the student’s medical or dental school application. There is no minimum Undergraduate GPA or MCAT/DAT requirement to have letters of recommendation uploaded by our office.

In addition to having individual letters uploaded, students who meet Undergraduate GPA and MCAT/DAT criteria can also request a  Committee Letter or Advisor Letter from our office.

Our office offers two distinct letters – the Committee Letter and the Advisor Letter. The letters are very similar in content and differ only in that students who receive a Committee Letter will also receive a recommendation ranking in comparison to their peers. For additional information on our Committee and Advisor letters, please reference our FAQs.

The Committee/Advisor letter does not substitute for individual letters of recommendation; it is an additional letter from our office that discusses a student’s medical/dental school journey, background, and accomplishments.

Eligibility for a Committee and an Advisor Letter is highlighted below:

     

 (Eligibility is subject to change at anytime).

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  • How to get started
    • Students who are requesting only a letter packet (no Committee or Advisor letter), need to complete only the Pre-Health Waiver and Administrative Fee. Once the wavier form is uploaded and the administrative fee is paid, students can contact our office or email to request that their letter packet be uploaded to their medical or dental school application. Letter packets can be uploaded year round. 
    • Students who are requesting a Committee or Advisor Letter Packet from the office need to submit additional documents.
      • Completion of Pre-Health Waiver and Administrative Fee, will give students access to the rest of the course and allow them to submit the remainder of the required documents.
      • Students who meet undergraduate GPA and MCAT/DAT criteria for a Committee or Advisor letter, and have all letters of recommendation submitted, will be able to request a Committee or Advisor Letter from the office.
    • Once a student's file is complete, they must email preprofc@fiu.edu to schedule their Committee/Advisor Letter Interview.
    • The Interview is required for students receiving a Committee or Advisor Letter. The Interview allows our office to get to know each student well enough to write them a strong letter of recommendation. Committee Interviews take place every year from May 1st through August 31st - we will not write these letters after August.
    • Students should request the Committee/Advisor letter in the year they are applying. 
  • Interfolio Instructions

    All letters of recommendation for your letter packet should be submitted through Interfolio. 

    • Create a FREE account with Interfolio.
    • Select "Log In" at the top of the page and then select "Create an Account" when prompted to sign in.
      • For the "I am" section, select undergraduate/premed even if you are on a different pre-health track.
    • Once your Interfolio account has been created, contact Interfolio and ask them to affiliate your account to FIU's admin account in order for us to access your letters.
      • You can request this by calling Interfolio customer service at 877-997-8807 or using the Live Chat feature on their website.
    • Use Interfolio to send out individual recommendation requests to your chosen recommenders.
    • Do make sure you select the box that says "This request is for a confidential letter or evaluation."
      • When requesting a letter of recommendation, please let your letter writer know in the message that you send through Interfolio that the letter must have
        • 1) a letterhead
        • 2) a signature
        • 3) a date.

    *For your reference, please review our Recommender Entry Guideline for Letter Packets  which has the instructions for AMCAS, AACOMAS, and AADSAS Letter of Evaluation section of your primary application. 

  • Required Documentation

    Students should be working on the required documents as early as possible. By working on your file early, you can build on experiences and finish all requirements in the year you apply to professional programs. 

    Students must also submit the following documents:

    • Signed Guidelines Acknowledgement
    • Pre-Health Waiver
    • Proof of payment:
      • Either the Administrative Fee  or enrollment in a Fee Assistance Program (FAP)

        • Applicants must pay a one-time, non-refundable administrative fee of $65 prior to uploading documents required for the letter packet process. This payment is used to cover the cost of document and administrative processing as well as the committee interview process. We appreciate your support in continuing our services for FIU students. Please visit the following link to pay your fee: Administrative Fee Payment

        • This fee is waived for pre-med students who qualify for the AAMC Fee Assistance Program (FAP) and for pre-dental students who qualify for the Fee Assistance Program for dental school applications. Click the following link for information on the Dental School Fee Assistance Program:  Dental FAP . To learn more about the FAP for medical school and to apply, please visit the following link: AAMC Fee Assistance Program

          To complete this, do one of the following:

        • Pay your administrative fee and submit a screenshot/text entry confirming that you have paid and the date the payment was made.
        • Or upload a screenshot of your approval email for the FAP if you have been approved for the program and would like your file fee waived. Please ensure that both your name and application service ID are visible in the screenshot.
        • Also, please follow-up with us via email at preprofc@fiu.edu confirming that you have done so for the fee to be waived
    • Headshot

      • Please submit a current professional headshot from the chest-up or shoulders-up with a neutral background.

      • This will be asked for by most, if not all, secondary applications from medical/dental programs so this will be useful to you in the near future, as well!

    • Test Scores (MCAT or DAT)

      • Please upload a screenshot of your entrance exam score(s). If taken more than once, please upload a copy of each score received. 

    • Personal Statement:

      • Please upload the final draft of your personal statement for your professional health program. 

    • OPHA Personal History Questionnaire
      • Any and all activities listed on your primary application for medical or dental school must be included in your PHQ. It is recommended that your PHQ be uploaded close to the submission of your primary application to medical or dental school so that it reflects all activities on your application. 
    • All Transcripts
      • Please upload unofficial transcripts for FIU and all institutions through which you received college credit.
    • OPHA GPA Calculator Spreadsheet

    • Letters of Recommendation

      • Use Interfolio to send out individual recommendation requests to your chosen recommenders.

      • Most professional programs require three letters of recommendation from faculty members that have taught you in a 3+ credit course. Most programs also limit students to a maximum of 6 letters of recommendation of which the remaining letters can come from physicians, research mentors, volunteering coordinators, etc. However, these requirements differ between programs and some might additionally require a letter of recommendation from a professional in the field you are applying to (i.e. a physician, a dentist, etc.). We highly suggest you look into your specific programs of interest for more information as it is the student's responsibility to ensure they meet all requirements. You can view what the AAMC classifies as a science vs a non-science course here.

        • Pre-Medical: 
          • Two letters from science faculty who taught you in a 3 or more credit course 
          • One letter from any faculty that taught you in any 3 or more credit course (science or nonscience)
          • [Optional] A letter from a research mentor 
          • [Optional] A letter from a professional in your chosen field. Some programs require this letter.
        • Pre-Dental:
          • Two letters from science faculty who taught you in a 3 or more credit course 
          • We encourage you to get a letter from a dentist you have shadowed to show your commitment. If you can’t, consider another faculty or supervisor.
          • [Optional] A letter from a research mentor.
    • List of Schools for Application 

      •  If you are a pre-med student, include both MD and DO programs.

    • Completed Primary Application

      •  To obtain a copy, visit your professional school application and download (or print to PDF) your primary application. If you are applying to both MD and DO programs, please only submit a copy of the AMCAS application.

    The deadline to submit all documents is August 31 of your application year. 

    Once you have uploaded all the required documentation for either an Advisor or Committee Letter Packet and all of your letters of recommendation have been submitted to our office via Interfolio, please email us at preprofc@fiu.edu to officially request an Advisor/Committee Letter Packet.

    Once we receive your email, we will begin processing your request.

    If you have any questions, please email us or call us at 305-348-0515.

  • Requesting a Reapplicant Letter Packet

    Reapplicants are students who have already submitted a complete application and would like to send another application in a new cycle. 

    • If you have already applied with the Committee or Advisor letter process, and plan to re-apply to your professional school, you will need to notify our office directly at preprofc@fiu.edu.

    The Reapplicant process includes:

    Option #1 (Resending a previous packet):

    • If you prefer not to undergo the interview process and would like your previous packet sent to schools for the current application cycle, please email our office to request that your packet from a prior cycle be forwarded to your selected institutions.

    Option #2 (Obtaining a Reapplicant Letter):

    • Submitting new/updated documentation.
    • Noting if there are newer letters that you'd like included in the packet.
    • Completing a Reapplicant Letter Interview
    The Reapplicant Letter is a letter written by a committee member speaking to your growth and increased competitive qualities since you last applied.
    • The interview is mainly to gain insight into changes and enhancements you have made to your application from the previous cycle.
    • The deadline to submit all documents is August 31 of your application year.
    To request a reapplicant letter packet, please email us at preprofc@fiu.edu for further instructions.

    Important:

    If you are a reapplicant but did not use a Committee/Advisor Letter Packet during your first application cycle and now qualify for one, you must complete all the required steps for the Committee/Advisor Letter Packet process.

    The interview will follow the same format as for students applying for a Committee/Advisor Letter Packet for the first time. However, our office will place particular emphasis on discussing the changes and improvements you have made to your application since your previous cycle.

    Please be sure to notify our office that you are a reapplicant when scheduling your interview so we can ensure the appropriate process is followed.

  • Requesting an Individual Letter Packet

    To request an individual (NOT Advisor or Committee) letter packet:

    Once you have all your letters of recommendation submitted to your Interfolio file and you are not expecting any more to come in, you can officially request your letter packet here only if you have not previously filled out the form (first-time applicant), or by emailing us at preprofc@fiu.edu.

    • Please do not officially request your letter packet from our office until you have created your evaluation requests on AMCAS, AACOMAS, or AADSAS. 
    • If you are a reapplicant requesting an updated letter packet, please email us at preprofc@fiu.edu for further instructions.

     

    Administrative Fee 

    • Applicants must pay a one-time, non-refundable administrative fee of $65 prior to uploading documents required for the letter packet process. This payment is used to cover the cost of document and administrative processing as well as the committee interview process. We appreciate your support in continuing our services for FIU students. Please visit the following link to pay your fee: Administrative Fee Payment
    • This fee is waived for pre-med students who qualify for the AAMC Fee Assistance Program (FAP) and for pre-dental students who qualify for the Fee Assistance Program for dental school applications.

    To complete, do one of the following:

    • Pay your administrative fee and submit a screenshot/text entry confirming that you have paid and the date the payment was made.
    • Or upload a screenshot of your approval email for the FAP if you have been approved for the program and would like your file fee waived. Please ensure that both your name and application service ID are visible in the screenshot. Also, please follow-up with us via email at preprofc@fiu.edu confirming that you have done so for the fee to be waived.

    Typical processing time for letter packets is about one week. We appreciate your understanding that there are multiple requests our office receives. Requests are processed in the order they are received.

  • Committee Petition Guidelines

    If you do not meet one or more of the minimum requirements for committee but believe you have a strong application, you can petition to receive the Committee Letter Packet Interview.

    • Please review the Committee petition guidelines.
    • You must meet the minimum requirements for an Advisor Letter Packet to be eligible to petition for a Committee Letter Packet.
    • We do not accept petitions for the Advisor Letter Packet. 

    Please note that the last day to submit a petition is August 14th!

  • Additional Resources