Letters of Recommendation

Beginning with applicants for Fall 2010, SUNY Upstate Medical University will participate in the AMCAS Letters of Recommendation/Evaluation Service.

This service allows medical schools to receive all letters of recommendation electronically via AMCAS.  It will allow letter writers to send letters of recommendations directly to AMCAS rather than to each individual school (currently 114 medical schools are participating in this service). 

There are several ways your letter writer can send your letter of recommendation to AMCAS—through VirtualEvals, Interfolio, and via the mail. In addition, letter writers can upload letters directly to AMCAS through the AMCAS Letter Writer Application.

Your letter writer must include your AMCAS Letter ID found on your Letter Request Form when sending letters to this service.

SUNY Upstate Medical University requires the following letters of recommendation:

• MD/PhD Applicants: Applicants must submit a letter of evaluation from their Health Professions Advisory Committee or Pre-health Advisor AND three (3) additional letters of recommendation from people familiar with their academic background, their interest in research and their suitability for the MD/PhD Program.
• Current Undergraduate Students: Applicants must submit a letter of evaluation from the Health Professions Advisory Committee or the Pre-Health Advisor from their undergraduate institution. In the absence of such a committee, two letters of recommendation from faculty members in different departments are acceptable, although one of the departments must be a science department.
• Current Graduate Students: Students in a degree-granting program must submit a letter of recommendation from a graduate advisor or department chairperson. This letter is in addition to the Health Professions Advisor or Committee letter for undergraduate students (see above). For those applicants who have recently started their graduate program, we are looking for a letter of "good standing" from your graduate advisor or department chair.  Non-matriculated students taking graduate courses do not need to submit this letter. 
• Non-Traditional Students: Applicants who graduated from an undergraduate college more than 5 years ago, and are currently employed full-time, may submit one letter of recommendation from a science faculty member with whom a medical school prerequisite was taken and one letter of recommendation from a current supervisor.

It is your responsibility to be sure that all letters of recommendation have been received by our office by the application deadline, December 1.

We will not accept letters of recommendation via fax or email.