Letters of Recommendation
The main focus of the Pre-Health Sciences Advising Team is to individually mentor students and alumni through the process of applying to professional programs in the health sciences. With the advent of centralized application processing services such as AMCAS, AACOMAS, CASPA, or AADSAS, and changing admission requirements, the team does not produce a composite letter.
Typically, letter writers are faculty, work or volunteer supervisors, coaches and professionals in your intended field who know you well. Signed and dated letters, using stationery with a personal or professional letterhead, are to be submitted to the appropriate application processing service (or sometimes directly to the school itself) by the letter-writer. These letters should discuss the applicant’s academic abilities, personal qualities, clinical experience, and overall suitability for the health profession.
By early spring, please request letters from your recommenders, and mention to each recommender that the letter needs to be submitted as early as possible, and keep them apprised of any deadlines. Even if you are taking a summer course, performing a job-shadow, or holding a summer internship or research position with a potential recommender, it will be helpful for them to know early that you will be requesting a letter.
Application Preparation Form
This electronic form gives the Pre-Health Sciences Advising Team, especially your PHSAT advisor, pertinent information to mentor you through the application process. In order to give the advisors enough time to do their best work, please submit the completed form to the Pre-Health Sciences Advising Team when prompted in early spring entering your desired application cycle.
The form can be found at this link. If you are a PLU alum and your PLU email address has expired, please contact us by email at prehealth@plu.edu and we will send you a link.