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As a premedical or predental candidate in our program, you have the opportunity to secure a composite letter of recommendation for your professional school application through sponsorship. The composite letter of recommendation is a narrative highlighting your overall academic and personal strengths, and includes excerpts from the individual letters of recommendation you receive.

Most veterinary schools do not require such a letter. However, we will provide the pre-health advisor committee letter required by Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University.

The sponsorship composite letter is not recommended for pre-PA students. Physician Assistant/Associate schools require a specific number of recommendation letters; the composite letter only counts as a single letter, regardless of how many individual recommendation letters it includes.

Sponsorship Requirements

Once you are admitted to the Premedical Program, you must meet the requirements listed below to qualify for sponsorship.

  • Complete your assigned number of credits with grades of B or higher in specific medical sciences courses at Harvard Extension School or Harvard Summer School. The assignment (made at point of admission) is based on your undergraduate GPA and prior experience in the sciences, and reflects what we believe will be required to make you a competitive applicant to medical or dental school.
  • Consult the Premedical Program (PMP) office at least once every term. We need to get to know you as an individual in order to write a strong, personalized letter. It is critical that you meet with us often and attend as many PMP webinars and on-campus events throughout the semester as possible.
  • Notify the Premedical Program (hcp@extension.harvard.edu) in writing of your intent to apply to medical or dental school, listing courses completed and courses to be completed, no later than September 30 of the year preceding application.
  • Finish all prerequisites by the end of the summer in which you are applying to medical or dental school. (Note that summer completion will delay your sponsorship letter until summer grades are released in late August; students are strongly urged whenever possible to complete their requirements by the end of the spring semester.)
  • Earn a MCAT/DAT score in the 75th percentile or higher in all subject categories.
  • Pay the $500 sponsorship fee.

Failure to meet any deadline or requirement may delay sponsorship of your application for that year.

If you delay or defer your medical school/dental school application beyond your completion of the program, you remain eligible for sponsorship for one year, if and only if, you continue taking Premedical Program courses at Harvard during that entire year.

Advising note: It is important to stress that, even with sponsorship, you should manage your expectations of gaining acceptance into medical/dental school. As you know, professional school acceptance committees place a strong emphasis on academic performance. In addition to an MCAT/DAT in the 75th percentile and higher, you must also have a competitive combined undergraduate and program GPA as well as extracurricular clinical and/or research experiences. If your grades or MCAT/DAT scores need improvement, or if your clinical/extracurricular portfolio is weak, you are advised to wait a year to apply while you work on improving these sections of your application.