how useful are lors from private practise

[Guest]

if you manage to shadow someone for many months,

and he gives you a very strong letter, do you think it would matter much at all?

[Guest]

Very modest. Would not recommend generally.

[Guest]

You'll hear people disparage anything that is off the beaten path.

I matched this year with 3 academic letters and a private practice letter. The private practice letter was phenomenal and I received many compliments on it even though most didn't know who the nsg was. I had big name letters as well and it was a good mix to please the faculty members who only wanted to see big names they recognized but also was good for the people who wanted to see a well written letter that was clearly not a "copy paste" even if it was from a lesser known neurosurgeon.

In the end, I think it better be a damned good letter, otherwise stick to the academics.

[Guest]

(04-05-2017, 10:23 AM)Guest Wrote: You'll hear people disparage anything that is off the beaten path.

I matched this year with 3 academic letters and a private practice letter. The private practice letter was phenomenal and I received many compliments on it even though most didn't know who the nsg was. I had big name letters as well and it was a good mix to please the faculty members who only wanted to see big names they recognized but also was good for the people who wanted to see a well written letter that was clearly not a "copy paste" even if it was from a lesser known neurosurgeon.

In the end, I think it better be a damned good letter, otherwise stick to the academics.

I agree with this post. I had a very similar mix, 3 academics (2 big name, 1 young nsg) and 1 private nsg that I had worked with for a number of years. I think that if you have 4 great LoRs from academic Drs then there might not be a need for a PP letter. That being said, I switched my 4th academic LoR for the PP one because I knew the latter would be stellar.

[Guest]

It is probably not important