Setting up your Recommendation File

All students applying to graduate schools in pursuit of careers in the health professions should set up a recommendation file through the University Academic Advising Center. Graduate programs preparing students for the health professions consider the letters of recommendation to be a significant component in the evaluation process. Care should be taken in deciding which potential recommenders will be able to provide the most thorough and insightful portrait of you.

Who can use our service?

Current Northwestern University undergraduate students and NU undergraduate alumni who have recently graduated can use our recommendation service. NU undergraduate alumni have five years from the date of graduation to initiate their file if they have not already done so.

When should students set up their file?

A student's file should be set up by the spring of the year in which the student plans to apply. The file may be set up any time after December 1st, but certainly prior to the end of the spring quarter.

How do students set up their recommendation file?

• Obtain the “Worksheet for Applicants to Health Professions Schools” from the University Academic Advising Center (UAAC) website.
  


• The student will be asked to provide the following information on the worksheet:
  
  1. A listing of honors, extracurricular or health-field related activities, and an employment history
  2. A personal one-page essay describing why one wants to pursue a career in the health professions
  3. The name of at least one recommender who has agreed to write a letter in the student's behalf - additional recommenders may be added later, up to a total of six.

In addition to the completed worksheet, a resume may be submitted to provide addtional information for the recommender*
*Note: A resume cannot be submitted as a substitute for completed worksheet responses


• After completing the worksheet, students must e-mail the completed worksheet to Robin Rosenstein at recfile-premed@northwestern.edu in order to set up the file.
  


• The information the student has provided and a ratings form will then be released to each specified recommender.

Waiving Your Rights to the Recommendation File

• You have the option to retain or waive your rights to inspect and review the recommendations. Professional schools generally look more favorably at recommendation letters processed with the student access waived. Evaluators tend to write more candid and meaningful letters under these circumstances. Accordingly, it is likely to be advantageous to waive your rights to review the letters.

How long will we retain your letters?

Recommendation letters are kept for five years from the date your file is set up.

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