What is a Letter Packet?
A Letter Packet is a cover letter from the Pre-Health Professions Advising Office that accompanies a Pre-Health student's application to AMCAS, AACOMAS, AADSAS, VMCAS, CASPA, PharmCAS, PTCAS, OTCAS, or OptomCAS. The cover letter is not a committee letter and does not summarize the candidate's qualifications, nor does the cover letter provide a level of endorsement of the candidate.
Attached to the cover letter is a packet of the three most comprehensive letters of recommendation submitted on behalf of the student from an existing Pre-Health File or from the Pre-Health Advising Office online file. It is the student's responsibility to ensure that all letters of recommendation have been received by this office at least one month in advance of the upload deadline given by the application service(s) of choice.
A Pre-Health student who does not qualify for a Committee Letter or is applying to a health professions graduate school for which a Committee Letter is not provided, may be eligible to receive a Letter Packet if they are completing a degree at Hunter College. The health professions for which Committee Letters are NOT provided are:
- Podiatric medical schools
- Pharmacy schools
- Physical Therapy programs
- Occupational Therapy programs
- Physician Assistant programs
All applicants receiving Letter Packets have been certified as students in good standing at Hunter College and at any other academic institution attended since high school graduation. In addition, each student receiving a Letter Packet must agree to waive their right, under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Acts of 1974, to view the Letter Packet, including the cover letter and the contents of their letters of recommendation on file at Hunter College.
Pre-Health Freshman Class Meeting