FAQs Related to Referrals and Letters of Recommendation
Q: Is there a place to indicate on the application a relationship status of the applicant to an alum?
A: The applicant has the option of indicating, on the American Medical College Application Service application as well as the supplemental application, their relationship status to a Baylor College of Medicine alum.
Q: An applicant for medical school was never invited for an interviewed at Baylor College of Medicine. Do applicants related to alumni receive interviews?
A: Baylor College of Medicine does not grant courtesy interviews. Baylor received over 7,600 applications and interviewed more than 820 students for 185 positions in the 2017 entering class. There are many variables that are used in our holistic assessment of each applicant. The admissions committee carefully selects applicants from a diverse and talented pool of students from throughout the country.
Q: How many Letters of Recommendation can a medical school applicant send?
A: Three letters are required; Baylor College of Medicine will accept four at the most. We prefer quality in-depth letters from people who know you well, rather than giving preference to the number of letters received. Baylor participates in the AMCAS Letter of Recommendation service. All letters must be processed through AMCAS.
Please do not send letters of recommendation to our email account; they will not be considered in your application.
It is important to keep in mind our requirement to follow Standard 10.2, Final Authority of Admission Committee, of the LCME Standards for Accreditation of Medical Education Programs Leading to the M.D. Degree. This standard states:
“The final responsibility for accepting students to a medical school rests with a formally constituted admission committee. The authority and composition of the committee and the rules for its operation, including voting privileges and the definition of a quorum, are specified in bylaws or other medical school policies. Faculty members constitute the majority of voting members at all meetings. The selection of individual medical students for admission is not influenced by any political or financial factors.”
Our admissions committee welcomes letters that advocate for applicants. All letters of support for applicants to the medical school are forwarded to the associate dean for admissions. The associate dean places the letters of support in the applicant’s file as a reference for the admissions committee. It is important for you to let those requesting a letter of support know that, as an alum, you can provide a letter of support however, neither you nor any other leader at Baylor, can have any influence over the decisions of the admissions committee.
We follow the same process for applicants to the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and the School of Health Professions. This assures that we are in compliance with all of our accrediting organizations.
**For a more detailed list of admission requirements and questions. Please visit the Baylor College of Medicine Admission FAQs web page.