Quoted: Recommendation letter

[Doodledog]

I have a rather sticky situation regarding one of my extracurriculars. I was a music performance major for two years, and I imagine letters of recommendation might be desired from my professor for my primary instrument. However, I do not feel comfortable asking him in light of something very personal and upsetting that happened. He recently had serious sexual harassment charges brought against him by at least five females that I know of, myself included. I don't think he knows who complained, but he might have an idea. At any rate, I don't feel comfortable asking for a letter at all, but I really don't feel comfortable discussing any of that in an interview or personal statement. Do you think schools will ask why I do not have a letter of recommendation from the primary professor for the performance degree I was pursuing, as it consumed a large chunk of my time my first two years of undergrad, and if so, how might I address this?

In general, most do not look closely for letters from non-science related professors. As such, it is very likely that no one will notice at all, especially if you have strong letters from science profs and related to other aspects of your career. Under no circumstances do you need to discuss the situation in the interview/essays if you do not wish to. In the unlikely event you are asked about the music backgrond, it would probably be of the form "why did you leave the program?". In that case, simply state that you chose not to pursue that path because you decided on science, medicine, etc.

Good luck

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[nu2004]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but AMCAS reporting does not include professors - only course titles and grades. Unless something else in your application were to bring the issue up, I doubt that med schools would have any idea that you weren't getting a letter from a professor with whom you took many classes.

Let's say you weren't even facing this situation -- this person might just be a horrible letter-writer and that may be why you chose not to ask for a letter. I don't get the distinct impression that admissions committees are overly concerned with the letters that they DON'T receive, as long as the letters that they DO receive are glowing.