Letters of Evaluation
Letters of Evaluation are an important portion of the dental school application. You should familiarize yourself with the types of letters of evaluation each dental school requires well before you head into the application cycle.
The Associated American Dental Schools Application Service (AADSAS) allows for up to four letters of evaluation to be electronically submitted. You should check the website of each school where you intend to apply for letter requirements. If there are strong preferences of types of letters, it will be indicated. If the school does not give any guidance about the letters they expect, the "model" typically followed by our successful applicants is two hard science professors, one general dentist and another “professional” reference.
As of January 2016, the Pre-Professional Advising Office no longer serves as a repository/submission service for letters of evaluation to dental school. The absence of a "committee" or "pre-dental" letter will not adversely affect your application.
Click here for AADSAS Instructions for Letters of Evaluation.
Individual dental schools are quite specific in the types of letters of evaluation they expect from applicants. Therefore, you should be selective in whom you ask to submit letters on your behalf, and you should always double-check the individual requirements of each school to which you want to apply. Remember, in satisfying the requirements of these schools, it is equally critical that you obtain letters from evaluators who know you well and can speak positively on your behalf.
You will submit a maximum of four letters of evaluation. Two should come from faculty members that you have taken hard science courses with, and one should come from a general dentist with whom you have shadowed or volunteered. The Pre-Professional Advising Office recommends that for the fourth letter should come from someone you have worked closely with (including as part of your double-major, minor, or certificate program), other physicians or healthcare professionals you have shadowed under or worked with, volunteer coordinators, research mentors, etc.
You should NOT use personal references such as friends or family, nor should you use professional references from evaluators who do not know your character or work ethic
When asking for a letter of evaluation, it is important that you do so in person.
Emailing or calling to set up a meeting or appointment is acceptable but you should
request the letter face to face. Further, you should schedule an appointment with
each of their evaluators by early Spring (no later than May) of the year you wish
to apply to dental school. Your evaluator will need time to work on your letter,
so be courteous and respectful. Do not forget that they are likely receiving requests
from other students as well.
Due to the size of UGA, it can be difficult to generate strong letters from college
faculty and staff who know you very well and can offer significant insight into your
character traits and capacity for entering the profession of dentistry. Therefore,
it is important that you not only work actively to build relationships from early
on, but also that you provide your evaluators with as much information as possible
when you do request a letter:
- Recent copy of your resume (with picture)
- Detailed instructions for how to submit the letter (AADSAS or Interfolio)
- Brief statement of your educational goals
- Rough draft of your personal statement
- Guidelines for how to write a letter of evaluation
Note: Always waive your right to view your letters of evaluation.
Using Interfolio (Recommended)
We encourage you to consider using Interfolio to collect and submit your letters of evaluation. Interfolio's primary purpose is letter storage, so you can begin collecting letters before the application cycle opens. You can set up an Interfolio account for free to begin storing documents. However, in order to transmit your letters to the application service (AADSAS), you must pay to upgrade to Dossier Delivery for a flat rate of $59.99 per year. Your letters will be maintained even if your delivery account expires and you can renew your account any time.
How to use Interfolio:
Using AADSAS
If you do not opt to use Interfolio to store your letters, your evaluators will need to upload their letters directly to AADSAS. When the application opens in early May, you will be able to add new evaluators in the "Supporting Information" section of the application, but you will not be able to submit your application until the first week of June. Be sure that all of the information that you enter about the evaluator is accurate and that you include the correct email address for that person. Once you complete an entry, AADSAS will send an email to your evaluator with an upload link for their letter. It is your responsibility to make sure that your evaluator is expecting this email. (Don't forget to have your evaluator check their spam folder since the email sometimes gets filtered out!)
Interfolio is a paid service that will store your letters indefinitely and allow you to upload them to the following application systems: AMCAS, AACOMAS, AADSAS, and TMDSAS.
As soon as you create an account, you can enter letter writer information and they will receive an e-mail from Interfolio with a link to the upload page.
Begin by clicking on the "Request a Letter" link.
You will be prompted to fill out some information about your new recommendation request. This includes information about the recommender and will allow you to add a due date for the letter. You have the option to include a message for the recommender, and you can also upload your CV/Resume and any additonal documents you would like to provide.
Once you have completed the forms and clicked "Send Request," your letter writer will receive an email with an upload link.
When your letter writer clicks the link in the email, they will be taken to Interfolio's website and will be able to see the details of the request and upload the letter.
You should always waive your right to view any letters of recommendation, including those uploaded to Interfolio. As a result, when letters are uploaded, you will receive a notification that the letter is stored in Interfolio, but you will not be able to open the file and read the letter.
Once your letters are in Interfolio you can follow their step-by-step guide for how to upload letters to your application system.