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Health Professions Advising at Mason |
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Information for ApplicantsLetters of EvaluationIntended applicants should print the Letters of Reference Bundle documents (Word). Page One must be returned to Dr. Chuck by February 1. For each reference, Page Two and Three must be filled out by the student with the appropriate waiver signature on Page Two. Each reference should thus receive a signed copy of Page 2, a supplemental evaluation form with the upper box filled out in Page 3, and a copy of Page 4 (instructions). Electronic documentation is preferred, but hard copies of documents requiring a signature need to be delivered to Dr. Chuck. Your references carry significant weight in the application process as they provide insight to an admissions committee on your capacities and deficiencies in your progress to becoming a health professional. For certain health professions programs, a composite evaluation letter may need to be sent rather than individual letters. Please review the admissions requirements for each profession, which should list their policies on evaluation letters. It is very important that each evaluator knows the applicant with insight to the applicant's personal qualities and can return a letter of evaluation in a timely manner (due May 1). The evaluation forms we ask each referee to complete ask for specific insight and examples on the applicant's capabilities as a health professional which admissions committees want to know. It is also important that applicants agree to make their references confidential by waiving their FERPA rights to review or inspect the reference documents (individual letters and the composite letter). Admissions committees do not consider letters that are not confidential as seriously. All reference letters that are confidential documents must be labeled as "confidential" in the header of the letter. Representation of lettersEach applicant should ask for three academic letters from faculty lecturers with professorial status (not teaching assistants or graduate/postgraduate instructors). Any professor who has formally taught the applicant as a lecturer, laboratory instructor, seminar instructor, or research supervisor for credit is eligible. However, the best letters come from evaluators who have specific insight into the personal qualities of the applicant. It is standard that two of the three academic letters represent science faculty from two distinct departments. The third academic letter should come from a non-science faculty member. In general, a diverse representation of a student's academic coursework should be reflected in the three evaluations. Two of the three evaluators must be Mason faculty at the time they interacted with the student. A fourth evaluation is recommended. For many non-allopathic medical admissions processes, a reference from a working non-related member of the represented health profession is required; an osteopathic professional reference is required for the osteopathic admissions process. In general, the fourth evaluation should be from someone in a supervisory or mentoring role who should address the passion and goals you set for yourself in your Personal Statement. Thus the fourth evaluation may be of interest to the admissions committee as it provides greater insight to your knowledge of the health care system and your capacity for service.
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Information for Applicants MSAC Pre-Application Checklist for Applicants Graduate Student or Employee Applicants Difficulty Paying for the Application Process Centralized Application Services Letters of Evaluation MSAC Interviews External Links NIH Graduate Partnership Program Premedical Students Guide to Preparing for Medical Programs (University Career Services) Medical Programs Internet Resources (University Career Services) Nursing and Health Careers Resources (University Career Services) Predental student timeline (University of Kentucky College of Dentistry) |
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