How to Get a Letter of Recommendation for Dental School (6 Easy Steps)

Applying to a new institution means sending a lot of supporting documents like the old transcription, personal statements and other related documents. One such document you should need to send to the institution is the letter of recommendation written by the professor. The process is similar when you are applying to a dental college. It means that you will need a letter of recommendation when you are applying to a dental school. Therefore here we will guide you on how can ask for a letter of recommendation for dental school.

Quick Take 

• A letter of recommendation is like a document written by someone who knows you professionally.
• Following are the steps you need to follow to get the letter of recommendation for dental school-

1. Choose the professor
2. Choose the mode of communication
3. Set a meeting with them
4. Share all the details
5. Give them reminders
6. Send them a thank you note

However, you must read till the end to know in detail about getting the letter of recommendation for dental school. 

What is a letter of recommendation?

A letter of recommendation is like a document written by someone who knows you professionally. A letter of recommendation can be written by anyone like a professor, old employers or your colleagues. It is one of the most important factors that can help in increasing your chances of getting selected. The reason behind it is that the person who has written it will know you properly and can tell more about you.

It includes all your achievements and skills that can help you to get the desired role. As we will discuss more about letters of recommendation for an academic institution, you must take the letter of recommendation from your professor as your professor is also known as a professional referee. 

How to get a letter of recommendation for dental school?

Following are the things that you must follow to write a letter of recommendation for dental school-

1. Choose the professor

The first thing that you need to do is to select the professor whose letter of recommendation you want. Although you can ask any professor even if you don’t know them well, you must choose the one who knows you well. It is because if you choose the wrong professor, he/she may not put all the effort into writing a letter of recommendation for you.

2. Choose the mode of communication

Every professor has their own mode of communication may be through email or through direct face-to-face interaction. Therefore you must know how to connect with your professor.

3. Set a meeting with them

Once you have requested them to write a letter of recommendation for you, you must try to set a meeting with them. You must show how excited you are to get a letter of recommendation from that professor. Make this opportunity to work well at your side.

4. Share all the details

Tell them the name of the institution you are applying to and which program you are involved in. It is important as giving them all the details will help them to understand the requirements of the application. 

5. Give them reminders

Usually, the time you should give to the professor for writing a letter of recommendation is around 2 weeks. Therefore for you must try to send reminders after 2 weeks of asking a letter of recommendation from them. It is because if they are not interested in writing one for you, you can ask another professor to write one for you.

6. Send them a thank you note

Once the letter of recommendation is sent to the dental school, you must send a thank you note to your professor. It is because your professors are very busy with their other work and will have to take out time to write the letter of recommendation for you.

How many letters of recommendation do I need?

The maximum number of letters of recommendation that you can send for your dental college application is around 4. However, how many you will need to get admission may vary with the institution you are applying to. It means that there are some of the institutions that may only ask for at least 2 applications and some may ask for 3. Further, you must also know that almost every institution has a committee letter option. In it letter was only given by a pre-decided committee members. If your institution has that system, you must go for it. This is because in that you will not need to get 4 different applications for you to get admission.

Sample for an email asking for a letter of recommendation from a specific professor

If your professor loves to communicate with the professor through email, then you must know the best way to write an email asking them about the letter of recommendation. Thus we are giving a sample for you to ask one of your professors-

Dear Professor ABC,

I still remember the time when you were helping me with my final project on Depression in younger students. I am still wondering if you remember that I studied how important it is to have healthy mental Health. You helped me a lot by providing extremely important input into the research method, I was using. Not only did you help me understand the research method, but also helped to understand various factors to cause depression and how to deal with it. Now I am applying to dental college and I am very curious to find out if there is any relationship between dental health and depression. 

I reached out to you to ask if you can write a Letter of Recommendation for me as I am applying to dental school. As you know more about how I am in my academics, you can definitely write a perfect one. The deadline for it is the early June of the year.

Thank you 

My best wishes, 

XYZ

How long should a letter of recommendation be in dental school?

Usually, the letter of recommendation should be only one page long as the admission council has a lot of applications to check. However, if required you can extend it up to 2 pages. Further, there may be specific details of some institutions due to which you will have to write the rates of recommendation in a specific word limit or page length.

Conclusion

A letter of recommendation is a letter given by someone who knows you professionally. It can be your professor, ex-employer, and other colleagues. As you are applying to a dental school you will meet to get a one from the professor. To get a letter of recommendation you will need to decide which professor can help you in getting the one. When you have chosen the professor, the next thing is to choose the right way of communication. It can be through an email or through a direct face-to-face interaction.

After that set a meeting and show how excited you are to get a letter of recommendation from them. Give them all the necessary information and send reminders after 2 weeks. When the professor sends the letter of application to the dental school you must send a thank you note to them. The length of the head of the recommendation is usually of a single page but may vary with the institution you are applying to.