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Letters of recommendation is a requirement for any GC program. Letters of recommendation are an important piece of your application, as it helps program leadership get a better understanding of your skills, accomplishments, and capabilities from the perspective of someone who has worked closely with you.
Advice for Choosing Recommenders
Advice for Choosing Recommenders
When choosing who to get recommendations from, pick individuals who know your skills and accomplishments, and can speak to your character. Having your supervisor, who has worked closely with you for years, write you a recommendation will most certainly have a much bigger impact than getting a recommendation from GC you shadowed for a day. Someone who worked closely with you can write a more well-rounded letter of recommendation, which is something programs like to see, which can speak volumes to the admissions committee. It's clear in a letter of recommendation if a recommender is only listing accomplishments and achievements, versus a recommender who truly knows the applicant.
While your friends and family know you well, they should not be used as recommenders because you need someone who can speak about you objectively, and in a professional or academic context.
It's also important to have a good mix of recommenders. While you could ask 3 professors to write you letters, that can result in 3 letters that sound very similar and contain the same information. You want your recommendation letters to provide insights about you from different points of view. You are a dynamic person, and your recommendation letters should reflect that.
How many letters of recommendation are needed?
How many letters of recommendation are needed?
This will vary from program to program. The most important thing here is that you send the correct number of recommendation letters to each program you are applying to. Do not send more or less than what is asked. There are special circumstances where an additional letter of recommendation is requested, such as a GPA lower than a 3.0. Sending more recommendation letters than requested will not increase your chances of getting an interview or matching, and, actually, it could reflect poorly and hurt your chances.
Also, pay close attention to what types of recommendation letters are being requested by the program. Some programs specifically want at least one academic and one professional recommendation letter.
Is an Academic Letter of Recommendation Required?
Is an Academic Letter of Recommendation Required?
Generally, you need to provide what the program is asking for. The purpose of an academic letter of recommendation is for someone to attest to your academic abilities and readiness for a graduate level education. There are prospective applicants who are entering the GC field as a second career, and have been out of college for a significant amount of time. One option is to take a class or two (maybe prerequisites for the program) and obtain a letter of recommendation from one of those instructors. While uncommon, there are instances where an applicant can ask a program to waive the academic letter of recommendation. This is done on a case by case basis, and it's at the program's discretion if they will offer that waiver or not.
If you are currently in college, it's highly recommended to attend office hours regularly for professors/instructors you would like a letter of recommendation from. You want your academic recommenders to know more about you than just your grades, you want them to know you as a person.
Tips for Managing Letters of Recommendation
Tips for Managing Letters of Recommendation
As stated earlier, letters of recommendation can be one of the most stressful parts of the application process. This is because someone is writing a letter about you that you likely won't see, and you have to trust they will submit it on time. Applicants typically apply for multiple genetic counseling programs, which requires recommenders to submit their letter to different programs, with different due dates, and different methods of submission. Here are some tips to help organize this process, and make it easier for you and your recommenders.
Give your recommenders plenty of time to write your letter. Ideally, you will want to ask months in advance, because you want to make sure they have the time to write your letter, and to make sure you have time to find a new recommended if they choose to decline. Ideally, aim to reach out to your recommenders by September or October.
Provide your recommenders a document outlining which programs you need a letter for, along with when the recommendation letter is due. This will help keep your recommender organized, and will make it clear what is expected of them. You want to make this process as simple as possible for them. Here is an example spreadsheet.
Set the due date for the letters one week before the deadline. This is to provide a buffer in the event your recommender forgets or got busy with other things.
You should provide documents requested by your recommenders. Some recommenders will request information from you to help write their letter, and you should be prepared to supply that documentation or information. You can also be proactive, and provide information when they agree to recommend you. For example, if your recommender is not familiar with the field of genetic counseling, it can be helpful to provide them with a synopsis of genetic counseling and why you want to be a genetic counselor. Sarah Brandenberger wrote an article "Getting into a GC Program: 10 things to do!" where she outlines documents she provided to her recommenders:
A personal letter explaining why you chose them to recommend you, what you learned from them, and why you are passionate about genetic counseling
Your resume
A list of schools you are applying for
Details on how to submit the recommendation letter for each program, deadlines, and other relevant information
These documents are not required, but could help your recommenders write you a stronger letter of recommendation.
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