Which Allopathic U.S. Medical Schools Require Pre-Health Committee Letters?

When preparing to apply to medical school, there are lots of details to consider! One major area of the application that causes a lot of stress is the letters of recommendation. To make the process of deciding which letters to collect easier for you, I did the research! (You’re welcome.)

What is a pre-health committee letter?

A pre-health committee letter is a composite letter of recommendation typically written by a school’s pre-health advisor and one or more additional faculty members who oversee premed advising. It differs from a regular letter of recommendation which is written by a single writer of your choosing. As I mentioned in a previous blog post, most medical schools do not require a pre-health committee letter (see table).

Total number of allopathic U.S. med schools	143
Schools that require a committee letter	12
Schools that prefer a committee letter	29
Schools that have no preference	102

Seventy-one percent of all allopathic medical schools located in the continental U.S. do not have a preference for the types of letters you submit. Twenty percent of schools prefer the committee letter, but do not require an explanation if you use individual letters. On the other hand, only eight percent require a committee letter from your pre-health advising office or an explanation is required if you do not have one.

Medical schools that require a pre-health committee letter

As  of Feb. 26, 2019, the medical schools that require the pre-health committee letter this application cycle include:

Albert Einstein

Boston University

Creighton

Icahn

Loma Linda

Uniformed Services

University of Arkansas

University of Chicago

University of Kentucky

University of Louisville

University of Maryland

University of Vermont

Medical schools that prefer a pre-health committee letter

Albany

Cooper

Hofstra

Drexel

East Tennessee

Eastern Virginia

Florida International

Georgetown

Louisiana State in New Orleans

Louisiana State in Shreveport

Loyola University Chicago Stritch

Meharry

New York Medical College

Pennsylvania State

Renaissance

Rutgers New Jersey

Saint Louis

Sidney Kimmel

University of Alabama

University of Connecticut

University of Massachusetts

University of North Carolina

University of South Alabama

University of Tennessee

University of Virginia

Vanderbilt

Wake Forest

Weill Cornell

Wright

This data can change so check the schools’ web sites when you apply.

In my opinion, the pre-health committee letter simply serves as an additional hurdle for applicants to complete. Unless you are a resident of the state in which these schools are located (because you should apply to every medical school in your state) or have your heart set on applying to any of these schools, you may not want to spend the time, energy and nerves collecting a pre-health committee letter, depending on how complicated the process is on your particular campus. Some pre-health offices have an application and interview process that adds an additional layer of stress for students preparing to apply.

I hope this information is helpful and will make the process of preparing to apply to medical school less stressful.

Check out our Letters of Recommendation Services for more information on how we can help you secure a strong committee letter or LOR and get ACCEPTED. Learn more here.

Recommendation letter preferences according to school

School name	Require committee letter	Prefer committee letter	No preference
Albany Medical College		X
Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University	X
Baylor College of Medicine			X
Boston University School of Medicine	X
Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University			X
California Northstate University College of Medicine			X
California University of Science and Medicine School of Medicine			X
Carle Illinois College of Medicine			X
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine			X
Central Michigan University College of Medicine			X
Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University			X
Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science			X
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons			X
Cooper Medical School of Rowan University		X
Creighton University School of Medicine	X
Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell		X
Drexel University College of Medicine		X
Duke University School of Medicine			X
East Tennessee State University James H. Quillen College of Medicine		X
Eastern Virginia Medical School		X
Emory University School of Medicine			X
Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine		X
Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University			X
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth			X
George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences			X
Georgetown University School of Medicine		X
Harvard Medical School			X
Howard University College of Medicine			X
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai	X
Indiana University School of Medicine			X
Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine at Marshall University			X
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine			X
Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California			X
Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University			X
Loma Linda University School of Medicine	X
Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans		X
Louisiana State University of Medicine in Shreveport		X
Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine		X
Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine			X
Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University			X
Medical College of Wisconsin			X
Medical University of South Carolina College of Medicine			X
Meharry Medical College		X
Michigan State University College of Human Medicine			X
Morehouse School of Medicine			X
New York Medical College		X
New York University School of Medicine			X
Northeast Ohio Medical University			X
Northwestern University The Feinberg School of Medicine			X
Nova Southeastern University College of Allopathic Medicine			X
Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine			X
Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health			X
Oregon Health and Science University School of Medicine			X
Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine		X
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania			X
Ponce Health Sciences University School of Medicine			X
Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University		X
Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine at the University of Vermont	X
Rush Medical College of Rush University			X
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School		X
Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School			X
Saint Louis University School of Medicine		X
San Juan Bautista School of Medicine			X
Sanford School of Medicine The University of South Dakota			X
Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University		X
Southern Illinois University School of Medicine			X
Stanford University School of Medicine*			X
State University of New York Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine			X
State University of New York Upstate Medical University			X
TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine			X
The Commonwealth Medical College			X
The University of Toledo College of Medicine			X
The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University			X
Tufts University School of Medicine			X
Tulane University School of Medicine			X
UCLA/Drew Medical Education Program			X
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine	X
Universidad Central del Caribe School of Medicine			X
University at Buffalo State University of New York School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences			X
University of Alabama School of Medicine		X
University of Arizona			X
University of Arizona College of Medicine Phoenix			X
University of Arkansas College of Medicine	X
University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine			X
University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine			X
University of California, Riverside School of Medicine			X
University of California, San Diego School of Medicine			X
University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine			X
University of Central Florida College of Medicine			X
University of Chicago Division of the Biological Sciences The Pritzker School of Medicine	X
University of Cincinnati College of Medicine			X
University of Colorado School of Medicine			X
University of Connecticut School of Medicine		X
University of Florida College of Medicine			X
University of Hawaii, John A. Burns School of Medicine			X
University of Illinois College of Medicine			X
University of Iowa Roy J. And Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine			X
University of Kansas School of Medicine			X
University of Kentucky College of Medicine	X
University of Louisville School of Medicine	X
University of Maryland School of Medicine	X
University of Miami School of Medicine			X
University of Michigan Medical School			X
University of Minnesota Medical School			X
University of Mississippi School of Medicine			X
University of Missouri, Kansas City			X
University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine			X
University of Nebraska College of Medicine			X
University of Nevada, Las Vegas School of Medicine			X
University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine			X
University of New Mexico School of Medicine			X
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Medicine		X
University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences			X
University of Oklahoma College of Medicine			X
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine			X
University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine			X
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry			X
University of South Alabama College of Medicine		X
University of South Carolina School of Medicine			X
University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville			X
University of South Florida College of Medicine Morsani College of Medicine			X
University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine		X
University of Virginia School of Medicine		X
University of Washington School of Medicine			X
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health			X
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine		X
Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine			X
Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine			X
Wake Forest School of Medicine of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center		X
Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine			X
Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine			X
Wayne State University School of Medicine			X
Weill Cornell Medicine		X
West Virginia University School of Medicine			X
Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine			X
Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine		X
Yale University School of Medicine			X
University of Utah School of Medicine**

* If a committee letter is used it will not count towards total number of letters. 

** Does not accept committee letters.

Alicia McNease Nimonkar worked for 5 years as the Student Advisor & Director at the UC Davis School of Medicine's postbac program where she both evaluated applications and advised students applying successfully to med school and other health professional programs. She has served Accepted's clients since 2012 with roughly a 90% success rate. She has a Master of Arts in Composition and Rhetoric as well as Literature. Want Alicia to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch!

 

Related Resources:

• Navigate the Med School Maze: 12 Tips from Start to Acceptance, a free guide
• Applying to Medical School Without a Committee Letter
• What Does an Excellent Medical School Letter of Recommendation Include?

Last updated on March 24, 2019.