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Pre-Health Committee

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On This Page:

  • Committee Letter Application Process
  • The Letter Packet
  • MSAR Medical School Letters Policies
  • Committee Letter Recipient Data

Committee Letter Application Process

How to Apply for a Committee Letter

The Committee Letter is a multi-page document, signed by the Pre-Health Committee, that highlights an applicant's background and accomplishments, explains setbacks and outlines overall preparation and motivation for pursuing a career in medicine, dentistry or optometry.

The Committee Letter includes quotations from course evaluations and letters of recommendation, as well as impressions derived from the personal statement and your Committee Letter interview.

Strong letters of recommendation will be appended to your Committee Letter at the discretion of the Pre-Health Committee. A Committee Letter serves as the official endorsement of your application by the Pre-Health Committee at Hunter College.

The cover letter included with the Letter Packet does not summarize the candidate's qualifications, nor does the Letter Packet provide a level of endorsement of the candidate by the Pre-Health Committee at Hunter College.

Committee Letters are provided to degree-seeking Hunter students who are applying to Medical, Dental and Optometry Schools. Students applying to Veterinary Schools may also apply for a Committee Letter.

The Pre-Health Office does NOT provide Committee Letters for the following health professions: Podiatric medical schools, Pharmacy schools, Physical Therapy programs, Occupational Therapy programs, and Physician Assistant programs.

The Pre-Health Office does NOT provide Committee Letters to: 

  • Non-Degree Students at Hunter College
  • Students who graduate with a CUNY Baccalaureate BA
  • Second degree students who will not complete a Hunter College degree

Committee Letter Requirements

    • Meet with a Pre-Health Advisor at least once per academic year while enrolled at Hunter College. Group Advising or Drop-In Advising sessions do not satisfy this requirement.

      Schedule an Appointment

    • Have an open and active Pre-Health File prior to submitting a Committee Letter Application.
    • Attend PPAP 1003 Application Planning Seminars for the medical, dental or optometry track.
      • Register for all PPAP 1003 Seminars through our website under Upcoming Seminars and Events or through our Listserv.
      • Attend each seminar in full on Zoom, and submit the reflection statement assignment by the stated deadline.
    • Attend the Committee Letter Application seminar in the Fall prior to the cycle in which you plan to apply.
    • MCAT, DAT or OAT scores must be submitted to the Pre-Health Office by October 30th, prior to the Committee Letter Application Deadline of January 15.
Committee Letters will only be processed for students who have earned competitive test scores by October 30th prior to the cycle in which you plan to apply. Competitive test scores are:
—MCAT: 514 (Allopathic)
—MCAT: 507 (Osteopathic)
—DAT: 22
—OAT: 340
If you are unable to meet the competitive scoring metrics above, we strongly recommend that you postpone your application until the following cycle.
  • Have a minimum 3.45 BCPM (Bio, Chem, Phys, Math) and cumulative 3.45 GPA at the time you apply for the Committee Letter.
  • For second degree-seeking students, the minimum requirements are a 3.75 BCPM and cumulative GPA at Hunter, and a minimum 3.0 BCPM and cumulative GPA at your first degree institution. You must complete the Hunter second degree. You can only receive a Committee Letter after graduating from Hunter College.
  • Have completed (or are in the process of completing) at least 38 BCPM credits including 4 labs at Hunter College. Transfer students must complete a minimum of 30 BCPM credits including 4 labs at Hunter College by the time the Committee Letter Application is submitted.
  • Minimum of 14-16 evaluative documents in your Pre-Health file by January 15th of the year in which you plan to apply.
    • At least 6 letters of recommendation
      • Two (2) letters from science faculty members (if you have a recommendation from an ePermit course, one letter must also be from Hunter College Biology, Chemistry or Physics faculty)
      • One (1) letter from a clinical supervisor (letter from MD/DO, DDS, OD, DVM or DPM preferred)
      • One (1) letter from a PI or research supervisor (for dental, optometry and veterinary applicants: if you have no research experience, a third science faculty letter of recommendation is required). MD/PhD candidates must have letter from PI.
      • One (1) letter from a non-science faculty member
      • One (1) letter from a community service volunteering supervisor
    • 8-10 course evaluations (at least 3 course evaluations must be from biology, chemistry, physics instructors, TAs, lab or recitation instructors or professors)

Please do not submit a letter of recommendation and course evaluation from the same instructor for the same course. 

The Pre-Health Office will only process two Committee Letter Applications per student.

A Hunter student or Hunter graduate who has previously received an offer of admission to medical school or other health professional school and has turned it down in order to apply again in a different cycle will NOT be eligible to receive a Committee Letter as a re-applicant.

If you plan to take your entrance exam in May prior to the application cycle, you will automatically receive a Letter Packet.

The Letter Packet

How to Apply for the Letter Packet

A Letter Packet consists of a Cover Letter from the Hunter College Pre-Health Committee, followed by the full content of all recommendation letters held in the student's Pre-Health File or in the Pre-Health database.

The Pre-Health Office will upload the Letter Packet to the student's appropriate application platform.

The Letter Packet 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.

A Pre-Health student who does not qualify for a Committee Letter or is applying to a health professions graduate school that does not accept Committee Letters, may be eligible to receive a Letter Packet if they are completing a degree at Hunter College.

The health professions programs that do not accept Committee Letters are:

  • Podiatric Medical Schools
  • Pharmacy Schools
  • Physical Therapy programs
  • Occupational Therapy programs
  • Physician Associate programs
  • Veterinary Medical Schools

Letter Packet Requirements:

  • Attend a Letter Packet Application seminar.
    NOTE: Students applying for Special Master's, Post-Bacc, or EAP programs are not required to attend.
  • Submit the Letter Packet Application to the Pre-Health Advising Office.
    Letter Packet Application seminars are offered only in November and February.
  • Have a science and overall 3.0 GPA
    NOTE: If you're applying to post bacc or special masters programs, there is no GPA requirement to receive a Letter Packet.
  • Have an MCAT score of 498 or above, a DAT score of 19 or above, or an OAT score of 310 or above
  • Have all requisite letters of recommendation uploaded by the Letter Packet Application deadline in the year in which you are applying.
  • 2 letters from science professors (physics, chemistry or biology)
  • 1 letter from a practicing clinician in the area of healthcare to which you are applying (preferred) OR 1 letter from a clinical supervisor
  • 1 letter from a research supervisor, if applicable
  • 1 letter from a community service supervisor
  • Other letters can come from Community service supervisor or non-science faculty

All letters of recommendation must include a letterhead and the signature of the letter writer.

Provide a Letter of Good Standing from each academic institution attended since high school by the deadline for the Letter Packet Application.

Submit Your Instructor Evaluation Request

Send an email request to your instructor for an evaluation. Remember to email your Professors after you've submitted the request, so that they have a heads up and can keep an eye out. Remind them to check their spam folder in case it gets delivered there.

Submit Your Letter of Recommendation Request

Send an email request for a Letter of Recommendation to individuals within and outside of the Hunter College community. Remember to email your recommenders after you've submitted the request, so that they have a heads up and can keep an eye out. Remind them to check their spam folder in case it gets delivered there.

 

You are responsible for making certain that all letters of recommendation have been received by the Pre-Health Office. Please check with our office to ensure that the letters have been received, are on letterhead, and are signed.

NOTE: Letter Packet applications do not roll over from cycle to cycle. Accordingly, if you decide to postpone for the cycle in which you applied for a letter packet, you will need to submit a new letter packet application the following cycle.

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 (FERPA) of 1974, to view the Letter Packet, including the cover letter and the contents of their letters of recommendation on file with the Pre-Health Advising Office.

stethoscope.

MSAR Medical School Letters Policies

Medical School Letters of Evaluation Policies
Medical schools have different policies on letters of evaluation regarding their committee letter requirements and whether individual letters or letter packets are acceptable.

  • MSAR Letters of Evaluation Policies

Committee Letter Recipient Data

School Medical Dental Optometry
Applied 44 8 1
Accepted 44 8 1
% Accepted 100 100 100
School Medical Dental Optometry Veterinary
Applied 34 5 3 0
Accepted 34 5 3 0
% Accepted 100 100 100  
School Medical Dental Optometry Veterinary
Applied 40 3 2 0
Accepted 38 3 2 0
% Accepted 95 100 100  
School Medical Dental Optometry Veterinary
Applied 40 4 2 0
Accepted 37 4 2 0
% Accepted 93 100 100  
School Medical Dental Optometry Veterinary
Applied 59 11 0 0
Accepted 57 11 0 0
% Accepted 97 100    
School Medical Dental Optometry Veterinary
Applied 43 11 0 1
Accepted 40 11 0 1
% Accepted 93 100   100
School Medical Dental Optometry Veterinary
Applied 54 6 0 0
Accepted 49 6 0 0
% Accepted 91 100    
School Medical Dental Optometry Veterinary
Applied 46 6 3 1
Accepted 38 5 3 1
% Accepted 83 83 100 100
School Medical Dental Optometry Veterinary
Applied 75 11 1 0
Accepted 60 10 1 0
% Accepted 80 90 100  
Application Year Allopathic Osteopathic
2015-2016 53 17
2016-2017 31 7
2017-2018 38 11
2018-2019 33 7
2019-2020 40 17
2020-2021 27 11
2021-2022 34 4
2022-2023 31 3

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