Letters of Recommendation Policy
M.D.Program
Mayo Medical School does not have a secondary application, and does not request letters of recommendation from all applicants. You will be notified via e-mail if the school requires letters of recommendation from you.
We only accept recommendation letters submitted through the AMCAS letter service. We will not accept any letters sent directly to our office.
We encourage applicants to visit the AMCAS Web site for more information about submitting letters of recommendation to Mayo Medical School. To ensure efficient processing of your letters by AMCAS, please carefully follow all instructions.
We require three letters of recommendation or a composite letter from a premedical committee. Your recommendations should be written by persons who know you well and whose opinions have bearing on the likelihood of your success in medical school. At least one of the recommendations should be from a member of the science faculty. A letter from a teaching assistant is acceptable. Please be sure letter authors include your AMCAS identification number on their letters of recommendation. If your letters of recommendation are not signed and on letterhead, they will be considered invalid.
The review of your application file will continue upon receipt of your letters of recommendation. You will be notified via email when a change is made to your application status. It is important to keep all contact information current with AMCAS.
The deadline for receipt of letters of recommendation is November 15. Mayo Medical School operates on a rolling admissions policy, so it's advantageous to submit your letters of recommendation as soon as possible. You are welcome to submit your letters of recommendation at any point through AMCAS; however, we will not review them until a formal request has been made inviting you to send your letters. Invitations to attend onsite interviews will be sent beginning in late July; and all onsite interviews will be completed by mid-December.
M.D.-Ph.D. Program
The Mayo M.D.-Ph.D. program does not have a secondary application. However, you will be sent an additional information form to complete and return to our office.
The Mayo M.D.-Ph.D. program requires a minimum of three, and a maximum of five, recommendation letters to complete your application. A Mayo M.D.-Ph.D. Ratings Sheet is required from each recommender. This sheet may be downloaded from our Admissions page. It is preferred that recommendation letters and ranking sheets be uploaded through the AMCAS Web site. However, items received via fax and U.S. mail will be accepted until our application completion deadline of November 15. The review of your application will occur after all materials are received.
Invitations to attend onsite interviews will be sent beginning late November; and all onsite interviews will take place in January and February.
Find Mayo Clinic on