Application Process

Health Professions Applicant Handbook

IV. Letters of Recommendation: The HPRC, Individual Letters, The Composite Letter,
Sending Letters

The Health Professions Recommendation Committee

All medical schools, and many other health professions schools, prefer and often require a composite letter of recommendation rather than individual letters. At most colleges, there is a committee whose role it is to evaluate medical school applicants and write such a composite letter. At Tufts, that committee is called the Tufts Health Professions Recommendation Committee.

You should have a copy of the Health Professions Recommendations Committee Information Packet (available on-line at http://uss.tufts.edu/stuserv at student forms or on the health professions advising website). You must register with the committee, thereby notifying it that you are a student planning to apply to medical or some other health professions school this year. Staff members in Administrative Support in Dowling Hall coordinate the Committee work. The packet includes information about the committee, a registration form, a waiver form, sample individual recommendation form, and sheet requesting letters to be mailed. When you complete the registration form you should submit it to HPRC Administrative Support in Dowling Hall.

It is best to register with the committee as early as possible. You then determine which individuals you would like to ask for recommendations, and which committee member you will ask to compose your composite letter. Students may choose a member whom they know well; a member who is new to them; someone in a field that interests them; someone who shares something in common with them, etc. All committee members do the same work and all letters are signed in the same way – not by the individual committee member.

Deadline for registering is April 1st.


Individual Letters of Recommendation

The HPRC both uses individual letters which you request in composing your composite letter, and mails all those letters to medical schools. You must submit four to five letters to your HPRC file. One of these must be from a Tufts ASE faculty member. It is wise to try and have a letter from your academic advisor and/or a faculty member in your major, if possible. The others should be from other professors, employers, internship sponsors, coaches, Tufts staff members or any other adult who knows you well and can evaluate you objectively. Avoid letters from elected officials and friends of the family. 

Recommenders should be approached early and asked if they feel comfortable writing you a good letter of recommendation. You might offer a copy of your transcript, resume, etc. to help the writer. Your recommender should be given the appropriate form (blanks are in the Dowling Lobby or on the Student Services website) with the confidentiality statement signed. Unless you have very strong convictions otherwise, you should waive your rights to see the letter - it will be given more weight.

TIP: Since you must have a bare minimum of three letters, be sure to ask for 4 or 5 letters.


The Composite Letter

A member of the committee whom you choose will write a composite letter of evaluation for you. S/he will use the individual letters you submit along with your transcript, resume, essay, and interview to pull together as much about you as possible. The end result is a thorough overview of your college years and candidacy that has been reviewed by the entire committee. What is sent to medical schools is this composite letter along with all the individual letters in your file. Individual committee members will begin interviewing candidates on May 1 and finish interviewing on September 15. You should call a committee member early to ask if s/he will be your “writer”. At a certain point, some committee members may refer you to another member if they have already made a large number of commitments. If s/he is able to write your letter you should be able to agree on a mutually convenient time in the future for your interview. The interview should only be done after you have submitted your registration form and completed your file with the required materials and individual letters.

Prior to a scheduled interview you must have all your individual letters in your file. You can check to see if they have arrived by emailing studentservices@ase.tufts.edu and putting “HPRC question” in the subject line or calling 617-627-2000.  In addition, you must submit a copy of your resume, a draft of your personal statement, and a passport size photo to your file. You are responsible for seeing that all materials are in your file and notifying the HPRC assistant to forward it to your committee member. The earlier you are able to gather all your materials and meet with your committee member, the earlier s/he will be able to complete your letter. Medical schools may ask for letters as early as mid-July and you need to build in plenty of time (four to six weeks) for the writing, discussion, typing and duplicating of your letter before it is ready to be mailed.


Sending Letters

Please follow the instructions in the HPRC Information Packet for having letters mailed.