Kevin's opinion

Who to ask for LOR:

• Research supervisor - Do research. Summer projects work well.
• Professors from undergrad who know you well - Get to know your professors. Go to their office hours and speak to them.
• Volunteer supervisors - Preferably clinical volunteering.
• Physicians - A good letter from a physician says a lot more than letters from other non-medically related sources. Get to know physicians through clinical volunteering or research.
• Lay person who know you well (i.e. employer).

Asking for LOR:

LORs aren't hard get. Many people are willing to write them for you. If you ask a professor who only knows you as a person who asks a lot of questions in a class of 300 people, chances are he will still write one for you. But honestly, what kind of quality of LOR will you be getting? I've heard horror stories of two line LOR that goes something like, "so and so is a great student who expressed interest in organic chemistry. He achieved an A in my so and so class which demonstrates his strong work ethics." Obviously the referee has little to say about the applicant. This LOR not only will not add to your application, it will actually take away from it. A flop of a LOR such as this shows that you have no one who has nice things to say about you. Your aim here is QUALITY letters, so choose wisely.

• Approach your referee courteously and ask if the individual is willing to write a STRONG LOR for your medical school application. The key is to communicate to the referee your need of a QUALITY letter. Say to your referee, "its very important for the referee to be able to comment on my character, strengths, and also convey why I would be a good fit in medicine. Please let me know if you are comfortable with that. If you feel that you don't know me well enough to write a strong letter, feel free to say no. I will understand." This will serve as quality control and a screen for bad letters. It's better to have no letters than bad ones.

• Often it's nice to provide an format for the referee to follow. For example, I asked one of my referees (research supervisor to structure the letter as the following:

P1 - Explain how we've come to know each other and the degree of interaction.
P2 - Explain what I've accomplished in the lab and find examples that exemplifies my character/abilities.
P3 - Explain why I would make a great doctor with examples to support it.

This way, the referee found the letter much easier to write, and I had less to worry about the content.

• Give the referee ample time to write the letter (1 month should be sufficient). Remember, your referee has a life and your needs aren't on top of their priority list.
  
  
• When asking for LOR, provide your referee with your CV (serve as an extra source of information and a refresher on things that they may have forgotten about you. However, their letters shouldn't be based on your CV). If the referee will be mailing the letter directly, provide a stamped envelope with the address of the admissions office pre-written on the envelope. It's just the courteous thing to do. You can also retrieve the letter from the referee and mail it yourself.
  
  
• Ask the referee to keep an electronic version of the letter. In case a problem occurs, you will have a backup. Another efficient way to manage and deliver your LORs is  INTERFOLIO. It is an online system that manages documents. You can ask your referee to submit their letter electronically or via mail to their system. From their system, you can then submit your letter to which ever school you choose with a small fee per letter. However, due to the variability of the LOR system within Canadian Universities (i.e some require unique reference forms separate from the LOR), the use of this service may be limited. However, if you are applying to American schools, this service becomes VERY handy.
  
  
• Don't be afraid to remind your referees to submit your letters! Since your application is incomplete without the LORs, make sure your referees submit your letters before the deadline.

When it comes to LOR, be careful of bad ones. If you exercise poor judgement and chose someone with negative things to say about you, it can severely harm your application.  LORs will not get you into medical school, but it can be enough to make you not get in. At most schools, the weight of LORs is ~ 5 to 10%. However, this may be deceptive. If its a school that has a panel interview, the interviewers may have access to your LOR, and they may view them prior to your interview. If this is the case, the letters will contribute greatly to their pre-conceived image of you as a person. Since first-impressions influence you interview evaluation enormously, and knowing interviews are often weighted 40-50% of your application, these LOR can potentially play a big role in your application. That being said, most schools are under the MMI format where your LORs aren't accessible to your interviewers. Therefore, their 5-10% influence on your application are fairly minor.