Committee Letter Request

Generally, the process of applying to health profession school begins approximately eighteen months prior to your intended entry date. For example, if you intend to matriculate to medical or dental school in the fall of 2023, you will request the committee letter file in the fall of 2021 and you will you begin the centralized application process at the start of May of 2022. Subsequent to that application, in the summer of 2022 you would complete applications specific to each school (also known as the secondaries). Applying to health professions graduate programs requires: advanced planning, a clear sense of the required timeline, knowledge of how the process works, understanding how your metrics are taken into consideration along with the other criteria that are assessed to measure your competitiveness, and thoughtful consideration regarding from whom you will be requesting your individual letters of recommendation. If you are still assessing your readiness to apply, take time to listen to the All Access: Medical School Admissions podcast offered by the Case Western School of Medicine. You can also check out the “Beyond the White Coat” podcast from AAMC. The podcast “convenes authentic conversations between members of the academic medical community, AAMC leaders, and other health professionals on timely issues.”

To view the health professions admissions outcomes here at Wesleyan, please click HERE. For those applicants that may have DACA status check the LIST of medical schools that will consider your application to their school. Here at Wesleyan, the Health Professions Essential Meeting reviews the details of the admissions process and is conducted on the second Monday of October of each year. Please visit the Handshake Events page for the exact date and location. See the Timeline for the committee letter request process. For those of you interested in applying to medicine, you may benefit from reviewing the Applicants and Matriculants Data. You may review the Medical School Admission Requirements™ Reports for Applicants and Advisors and should also take a look at the AAMC.org website and search for the Medical School 101 webpage for some useful tips. You may also view the Medical School Admissions Guide.

The Gordon Career Center–Health Professions Program provides administrative support for the management of your letters of recommendation for admission to health professional school in a reliable and confidential manner. To request a committee letter of recommendation on behalf of the Wesleyan Health Professions Panel you must register for a committee letter file and review the information below carefully.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Darwin Pappas-Fernandes
Health Professions Administrative Assistant
Phone: 860-685-3376 Fax: 860-685-2181
Email: health.professions@wesleyan.edu

SERVICE HOURS

Monday, Thursday, Friday 8:00am to 1:00pm 

Tuesday, Wednesday 12:00pm to 5:00pm

Request an appointment in advance online on Handshake, or via phone or email. Call or email to request same day appointments, based on availability.

COMMITTEE LETTER FILE REGISTRATION & FEE WAIVER FORMS

Please note: Committee Letter Files will only be provided to registrants who have identified themselves as applicants to health professions graduate programs in medical, dental, veterinary medicine and Letter Packets will only be provided to registrants who have identified themselves as applicants to health professions graduate programs to pursue physician assistant, optometry, physical therapy, pharmacy, etc. Current students registering for a Committee Letter File or Letter Packet file are required to schedule an appointment online on Handshake or via phone or email, to speak with the Health Professions Administrative Assistant.

Registrants may pay for the service by cash or check. Checks should be payable to Wesleyan University, and include the applicant’s name and Wes ID number in the “memo” or “for” section. Credit Cards are not accepted.

See more information about the Committee Letter File below.

THE COMMITTEE LETTER PROCESS INSTRUCTIONS, OVERVIEW, TIMELINE

The applicant is responsible for reviewing the designated deadlines and becoming informed regarding the entire process by carefully reading the “Instructions and Overview of the Request for the Committee Letter Timeline” handout and the veCollect Overview handout. The applicant should also review the information provided on this webpage and on the other links within the Health Professions website.

THE REQUIRED FORMS FOR A COMMITTEE LETTER REQUEST

You will need a request form for each individual letter writer uploading a letter of support on your behalf. Please make two copies of this form – one for each of your letter writers (with your signature indicating you waive your right to see the letter of recommendation, and with the Letter Writing Guidelines) and one for your meeting with the Health Professions Administrative Assistant (HPAA) to set up your committee letter file. Please note that if the HPAA does not receive these signed individual letter request forms, we will not be able to use these individual letters of recommendation for your committee letter file.

THE REQUIRED SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS FOR A COMMITTEE LETTER INTERVIEW REQUEST

  • All transcripts, including Wesleyan (an unofficial copy will suffice)
  • A general resume or your HP Panel Committee Letter Resume (if available)
  • Your typed Activities/Experiences/Extracurricular Details Worksheet (file)
  • 2-4 paragraphs addressing your decision-making process for this health profession, what health-related experiences you pursued and how these have strengthened your decision

HEALTH PROFESSIONS COMMITTEE LETTER POST-INTERVIEW CHECKLIST

For medical, dental and veterinary medicine schools, we facilitate a “Committee Letter File” that includes the committee letter, the set of individual Letters of Recommendation (LOR) in the applicant’s veCollect and the Health Professions Resume. Please review this Check List carefully.

THE LETTER PACKET PROCESS

The applicant is responsible for reviewing the designated deadlines and becoming informed regarding the entire process by carefully reading the “Instructions and Overview of the Request for the Health Professions Letter Packet” handout and the veCollect Overview handout.

THE REQUIRED DOCUMENTS FOR A LETTER PACKET REQUEST

  • Completed Request for a Letter Packet Form (file)
  • veCollect Wesleyan Account Request (file)
  • Completed Letter of Clearance Form (file)
  • Completed Document Transmittal Form (file)
  • Letter Packet Signature Page (file)
  • Request for Individual Letters of Recommendation Form (file)

You will need a request form for each individual letter writer uploading a letter of support on your behalf. This form includes Letter Writing Guidelines which you should provide to your letter writers.

LETTER WRITERS

When you are requested to write a letter of recommendation, it is important for the student/alumna/us to provide you with a signed “Request for Individual Letter of Recommendation” form, a resume, and a short personal statement.

If you need assistance submitting letters to veCollect, please contact the Health Professions Administrative Assistant at health.professions@wesleyan.edu or by phone at 860-685-3376.

THE COMMITTEE LETTER/LETTER PACKET TRANSMITTAL PROCESS

If you have earlier submission deadlines for documents in support of your application to your health professions programs, we will need a minimum of 45 days advanced notice.

By Federal Law as per The Buckley Amendment, your committee letter or letter packet, including the individual letters of recommendation on file with veCollect will only be sent out to the health professions programs after you have submitted a written request to the Health Professions Administrative Assistant containing your signature, your AAMC, AMCAS Letter ID, AACOMAS, AADSAS, VMCAS, and/or TMDSAS ID number(s), your preferred email address, and a list of all medical, osteopathic, dental, or veterinary medicine schools to which you are applying. We will accept signed requests delivered in person, received by postal mail, scanned and sent as a PDF by email, and faxed requests to 860-685-2181, however, telephone and unsigned email requests will NOT be accepted. If faxing, please follow-up with an email message to health.professions@wesleyan.edu indicating that a request has been faxed.

If you have a deadline for the first week of January you MUST have your requests to the Health Professions Administrative Assistant NO LATER THAN the 1st of December of the prior year. Any requests received after that date are not guaranteed to be processed and mailed to meet earlier January deadlines. The Committee Letter File Request will be closed for winter break beginning mid-December and will re-open the second week of January. Please make note of this hiatus.

Recommendation letters marked as “Confidential” may not be read by the student or alumna/us. Registrants are required to sign and waive their right to see their individual letters of recommendation on veCollect. This is highly recommended from the stand point of the admissions committees because it provides a degree of higher credibility to the letters written on your behalf. You must notify the Health Professions Administrative Assistant if there are any changes to your list of letter of recommendation writers.

A committee letter on behalf of the Health Professions Panel cannot be written without at least three individual letters of recommendation on file. Moreover, at least one letter of recommendation must be from a Wesleyan University faculty or staff member.

If you miss the designated deadlines, or do not take the MCAT for the first time by the last test date in July, we will be unable to provide you with a committee letter. However, you may request a Letter Packet by May 31. The Letter Packet consists of a standard cover letter and all of your individual letters of recommendation on file.

INSTITUTIONAL ACTION

When requesting a committee letter of recommendation or a letter packet, you will complete and submit a Letter of Clearance Form, which provides the Health Professions Advisor with a Letter of Academic and Disciplinary Clearance from the Office of Student Affairs. If you have any record of disciplinary sanctions at Wesleyan, you will receive a copy of this letter describing in detail the violation. For complete transparency, a brief description of the violation is included at the end of the committee letter.

Upon completing your centralized application to health professions programs (e.g. AMCAS, AADSAS, VMCAS, PharmCAS, OptomCAS, CASPA, etc.) you will be requested to disclose any incident that pertains to non-academic conduct violations as well as academic misconduct. While discussing the incident(s) you should also reflect on what you learned from this experience and how it may have contributed to your growth.

If a health professions school requests a copy of this Letter of Academic and Disciplinary Clearance, please send the request to Mildred Rodríguez, PhD, Health Professions Advisor/Program Coordinator, who will send a cover letter accompanied by a copy of the Letter of Academic and Disciplinary Clearance to that specific program. Send the request by email to mrodriguez01@wesleyan.edu and copy the email to health.professions@wesleyan.edu. In the subject line of the email please indicate “Letter of Clearance Request.”