Frequently Asked Questions

Absolutely no exceptions can be made for deadlines; they are firm. Procrastination isn’t advisable as it doesn’t reflect strong organizational skills or motivation. Unexpected events can occur, so it’s crucial to submit all application materials as early as possible to avoid any last-minute issues.

Yes. If you decide you no longer want to apply EDP, you must notify the committee in writing of this change and provide a list of the additional schools to which you now plan to apply. If you decide that you DO want to apply EDP after submitting your committee packet, you must notify the committee in writing and indicate to which school you are planning to apply EDP. The committee will make every effort to have your committee packet submitted by the August 1st deadline; however, we only guarantee this if your packet is submitted and you have taken the MCAT by the early decision deadline (the MCAT scores maybe uploaded when received, but the test must be taken by this deadline).

For various reasons, students sometimes decide not to complete the medical/dental school application this year or decide to apply on their own without the committee evaluation. You must notify the committee in writing if you plan to withdraw from the committee evaluation process. If the committee receives your completed packet by the deadline date, you will be reviewed unless you notify us in writing of your change of plans. If the committee completes the review process before we receive your written request to withdraw, this review will count as your one-time only use of the committee, regardless of whether you apply to medical/dental school that year. If you are considering withdrawing, it is very important to notify the committee of your decision as early as possible.

If you do not have the minimum two faculty letters by the specified date, you will not qualify for this cycle, and we will not review your application. It is your responsibility to make sure that the letters arrive on time. You can still apply to most medical and dental schools by meeting their letter requirements stipulated for those who do not have a committee letter. However, your letter writers must send the letters directly to the application services.

The committee uses the same criteria that the medical/dental schools use to evaluate applicants. We look at the academic record (i.e. GPA, semester course loads, course selection), MCAT/DAT/OAT scores, impression of the evaluators who submit letters on your behalf, involvement in extracurricular activities, leadership skills, demonstration of commitment to a career in the health professions (i.e. volunteer/work experiences in a clinical setting), demonstrated commitment to service and helping others, character traits, professionalism in interaction, and maturity, as well as other elements that demonstrate the applicant can handle the rigors, stress, and demands of professional school.

The committee packet we submit to the professional schools includes:

• Cover sheet to notify the admissions offices that your evaluation packet is being submitted on behalf of the LSU Review Committee
• Sheet of statistics of past LSU application classes and committee ratings for the past five years
• Personalized letter written on behalf of the committee
• Copy of ALL letters that were submitted to the committee on your behalf.

Note: All letters from LSU faculty members, as well any letters from outside LSU (i.e physicians, dentists, employers) that are received by the committee are forwarded, regardless of content. We do not screen for negative letters or comments. The committee sends all letters we receive to each professional school you list. The committee DOES NOT send transcripts or copies of your personal statement, résumé, or any other items submitted as a part of the committee application.

No. Students must request that the University Registrar's Office send their official transcripts to the application services. You will need to have an official transcript sent to the application services (AMCAS, AACOMAS, AADSAS ) from the Registrar of each college or university attended. Most of the application services have a "Transcript Request Form" that you can print out and bring to the Registrar. This is the preferred method to request the transcript, since your identifying number (AAMC ID number, DENTPIN) will automatically be printed on the form, as well as the mailing address. Using this form will ensure that your transcript is properly processed.

The committee does not release the date when you will be reviewed or on what date your committee packet will be sent to the medical/dental school. We guarantee that we will have your packet sent to the professional schools by their published deadline dates. You should receive an e-mail from Virtual Evals or application services notifying you that the committee has submitted your packet.

The committee begins meeting in May and will not conclude their reviews until late September. Since we typically review more than 200 students per year, it takes a considerable amount of time to write and submit the packets. Once you register for the committee by the deadline, we begin a file to collect your information.

Students are then reviewed in the order in which their packets are completed. Your packet is considered "complete" when the committee has received your personal information form, release of information form, a résumé, a copy of your personal statement, and the minimum two faculty evaluation letters; however, we cannot review you until we have received your official MCAT/DAT scores.
Be aware that students who take the MCAT/DAT/OAT on the final deadline date to take the tests will not be placed in a review round until you have uploaded a copy of your score report on the Committee website. (Remember, it typically takes 30 days for MCAT scores to be released.)

We will continue to accept letters of evaluation through the deadline dates; however, you must have a minimum of 2 letters from faculty members on file before you are placed in round to be reviewed. The committee meets every two weeks beginning in May and reviews 25 students per meeting. So, be aware that the earlier you submit your materials, take your admissions test, and have your faculty evaluators send their letters, the earlier you will be reviewed and have your packet sent.

While we guarantee that we will submit your letters to meet all deadline dates for all medical schools, it will likely be late September or early October before your packet will be sent, if your letters were submitted on the deadline date, or if you do not take your admissions test until the deadline date. So, submitting all your material as early as possible is in your best interest.

We will send an email to all applicants when we complete the letter writing process denoting that the process has finished. On occasion, there is an oversight, which leads to a letter that has not been submitted. If you have not received a confirmation that your letter has been sent when you receive the letter writing completion email from reviewcommittee@lsu.edu, typically sent in late September, please email reviewcommittee@lsu.edu ASAP.

No one. We do not release information about the timing of letter submission. Direct or indirect questions regarding the timing of letter submission (i.e. has/when will my letter be sent, I just wanted to make sure everything is okay because my letter has not been sent, etc) delay letter writing and submission for all applicants and will not be answered. If you choose to inquire about the timing of your letter, it could negatively influence your committee evaluation. The best way to ensure that your letter is written and submitted in a timely manner is to submit your committee application materials (i.e. application, letters, test scores, and letter matching information) are submitted early and that you have chosen the correct institution on your professional school application.

The review committee creates a PDF file of the committee letter of evaluation and all other letters submitted on your behalf from faculty or other personal references. This PDF file is uploaded directly to the application service (AMCAS/AACOMAS/TMDSAS/AADSAS/OPTOMCAS/AACPMAS) who in turn distributes the letters to the admission offices at each professional school you have selected on the application. These letters are typically documented as received by the application services and available for download by the admissions office the following morning.

If you are applying to Caribbean schools or other professional schools that do not participate in electronic letter submissions, the committee will forward the letter according to the policy of each individual admissions office instructions.

Yes. You will receive an auto-generated e-mail each time an evaluation letter has been submitted for you.

A “completed” application for the Committee includes the following:

1. Your complete and submitted Committee registration page.
2. Your complete and submitted Committee application (which includes the Personal Information Form, the Personal Statement and the Résumé).
3. Your TWO required letters of evaluation.
4. Your scores uploaded (all students MUST upload a copy of your score report).

A green check mark will appear next to completed items on your Review Committee home page.

No, the Review Committee has access to your transcripts, and you do not need to have transcripts sent to the Review Committee; however, you are responsible for having official copies of your transcripts sent from each university you have attended to any applicable application services (AMCAS/AADSAS/TMDSAS/AACOMAS).

Committee applicants are REQUIRED to submit a minimum of 2 letters from LSU faculty members with whom you have taken a class or with whom you have done research. The committee will accept evaluation letters from faculty from any subject area. (For example, you may submit both letters from English faculty members, and that will meet the qualifications.) However, medical/dental schools place greater emphasis on letters from faculty members from the sciences (biology, chemistry, or physics). Our recommendation is that you try to obtain letters from science faculty, if possible. This is merely a recommendation, not a requirement.

You are allowed to obtain a maximum of four letters, if you wish. The third and fourth letters are optional and may come from faculty members or outside evaluators. Many students will choose to obtain a letter from a health professional with whom they have shadowed or worked. Some will obtain a letter from an employer, a clergy member or personal friend/character witness. These are fine, but they do not replace the two required faculty member letters.

No. Unless this faculty member taught you in the classroom, or your job is as a student researcher in her/his laboratory, this letter will count as an optional third/fourth letter. They are welcome to write you a letter, but their letter will not fulfill the requirement for two LSU faculty letters.

You must have a minimum of two letters from faculty members who taught you at LSU. Faculty members from your former campus are welcome to write you a letter, but this letter would be considered an optional letter and would not fulfill the requirement for two LSU faculty letters.

Yes. As long as they taught you at LSU or you worked in their research lab on this campus, their letter will count as one of the two faculty evaluations. You will need to be certain they submit the letter by the deadline date.

Yes. As long as the research laboratory is affiliated with the LSU-Baton Rouge campus, this letter will fulfill one of your required faculty evaluations.

No. We will not accept letters directly from students and you should never handle your letters at all, even by email. If a faculty member tries to send the letter to you, you should make them aware that the committee does not accept letters from students. Faculty members/researchers can upload the letter for you using the email request sent to them. The letters should be confidential. Most medical/dental schools will only consider letters that are submitted confidentially.

No. The evaluation letters are the property of the LSU review committee and are confidential. You must sign and agree to this stipulation on your committee application. We do not share the letter contents with students, and we do not edit or screen the letters for negative comments. Be very careful in selecting your evaluators. All letters, regardless of content, are sent to the medical/dental schools as part of the committee packet.

If a faculty member is no longer willing to provide a letter of evaluation for you or if you are unable to contact them, you can replace them with another faculty member. You must notify the committee in writing of this change. You are still held to the published deadlines if you change evaluators. It is your responsibility to follow up with evaluators to ensure that letters are submitted by the deadline. If you are concerned about your evaluator, choose someone else or utilize one of your optional letters for a backup mandatory evaluator.

As soon as you complete and submit your Registration page, the evaluators you have listed will receive an auto-generated e-mail to the e-mail address you listed for them. You must ask the evaluator what e-mail address he/she would like you to input, as this is the e-mail address they will have to use to log in and submit your letter. They will receive an e-mail at that address providing them the link for completing your evaluation and uploading your letter online. No hard copy letters will be accepted this year; all letters must be submitted online. This e-mail will also allow them to decline writing the letter, in the event you have not first confirmed they are willing to write a letter for you.

All Committee deadlines can be found on committee deadlines page. Make sure you check the deadlines applicable to you.

As long as we receive the new score before you have been evaluated, we will include the new score in your committee file, and it will be available for the committee members when they evaluate your application. You should provide the committee with a new copy of your score report from the testing service as soon as it is available.

While you are encouraged to notify the committee in writing that you plan to take the test again after the deadline date and to upload the new score report form as soon as possible once you receive it, we cannot guarantee that your new score will be received before your committee application has been reviewed. Professional schools are beginning to schedule interviews earlier in the application cycle and it is in your best interest that the committee letter be submitted as soon as possible. If we receive your new score before your review is completed, it will be added to your packet for review but we no longer delay your committee review solely for the purpose of waiting for a new score. You should devote sufficient time and effort into being prepared to take the examination by the published deadlines.