 Okay, so we are gearing up for CASPA because it is about to open up at the end of April, April 29th, I believe to be exact. So with that being said, there are lots of things that you guys need to be thinking about and one of those things is your letter of recommendation. So that's what we're going to be talking about in today's video. So I know that many of you are excited because application is almost in full effect again. Yay! So excited for you guys because you guys are one step closer to sending off those applications and getting into PA school. But many of you are concerned about the various different components of the application that you can do now so that you are well prepared in the future when the CASPA cycle reopens. And one such component that you can actually get ahead on now is your letter of recommendation. So Eva Palomarez asked me, Hi Adana, love the video. When you are reapplying, do you use the same letters of recommendation or is it better to switch in a new person? I'm curious if it's standard to keep the same ones or do you, the people you've asked in the past update their LOR. Thank you. Okay so great question and I mean I think it's important for you to be thinking ahead because you know you want to be prepared. So absolutely if you don't know what the letter of recommendation is or the LOR, it's essentially a reference. When you're applying for jobs you have these references, you say references upon request or however you want to put it at the end of your resume, well when you're applying to PA school or med school or I guess NP school, NA school you need a reference and that reference is usually in the form of a letter of recommendation. So your letter of recommendation can come from anyone that knows you in authority, right? They're supposed to be able to talk about who you are as a person and so that can be your teacher, your boss, it can be, that's typically who it is or like a really good friend that you've worked with I guess, you could say like a co-worker but anybody that knows like you as a person and knows your work ethic and how you can be as a student. So those are things that you should be thinking about and actually on Get That See University we have a master class on how to ask for the you know the letter of recommendation and who is the best person I guess you can ask for the letter of recommendation. So if you're interested in that go and sign up for Get That See University so you can make sure that you get access to that because that's exclusive content for the site. With that being said you want to ensure that you actually have the person in mind. Now if you're a re-applicant you would have already asked three people or two people, typically PA schools are requesting two individuals to grant you letters of recommendation. I believe you're able to give up to five for CASPA so you just want to keep that in mind when you're thinking about who you're going to ask for this letter of recommendation who's the right person to you know attest to who you are as a potential student but I would absolutely say if you're reapplying you know don't necessarily use the same recommenders now I used one of the same recommenders because he was a physician assistant and for the majority of schools it is required that you have at least one PA be the one giving your letter of recommendation. The others can be an MD or a DO or an NP or something of that sort you know P-T-O-T whatever the case may be along with like your professor or your boss like your co-worker but one of them has to be from a physician assistant and so with me only knowing one physician assistant he was like always my go-to so I would always go back to him and be like hey can you you know write this letter of recommendation again for me and send him the link. Now there are components of the application if you start it early and then close it out and restart it that will transfer over you can look up that information on CASPA's frequently asked questions section I'm not sure if the letter of recommendation is one of those things that actually automatically transfers over I don't think it is so therefore you're gonna have to re-ask these people hey can you please write another letter of recommendation for me or just tweak it a little bit or update it the one that you've already written so if that's the case then you would do that but I feel like you always want to be bettering yourself or you want to like show like hey I've taken the initiative to learn more study more do more so here is my new letter of recommendations from the new recommenders because you want to show that you're always improving I mean you've been coming to YouTube and subscribing to my channel because it helps my YouTube algorithm a lot to hear all this information about what it's like to be a PA and the necessary skills and assets and you know various different things that you need to be doing to get into PA school so utilize that and showcase that and one such way is to get new fresh blood in when you are asking for a letter recommendation now again there are some people that will allow you to like read it some people will be like hey can you just write it and now look over it and tweak it how I want it all depends on the relationship that you have with your recommender or you know the recommender that you're asking like you know sometimes they're really really busy and they may not have the time others really want to make sure that they're talking about you in a manner that is accurate and so you have to be very particular in who you are choosing for this letter of recommendation but on top of that I would absolutely suggest that you go ahead and get new recommenders if you only have one PA go ahead and ask that same PA hey can you write me the letter of recommendation and speaking a lot of recommendations and you know mentors and all that stuff GTCU is going to be starting a new like mentorship slash virtual shadowing letter of recommendation program so in the website if you sign up in the future we're going to be rolling this out where you will be getting one-on-one time with PAs and you're going to have you're going to be able to build that relationship with them where you can actually ask them for a lot of recommendations so that is something that you all should keep in mind but I think it's really important that you better yourself at every point of this application okay and so if that means searching out new recommenders then so be it because you want to show that you have changed your different and there are people that can showcase that better than others so be very picky and choosey in who you are asking for your LOR and you know let God do the rest right okay alright thank you so much even for this question I really appreciate it again if you guys have not already done so please leave a comment in the comment section below I look at these comments please go ahead and subscribe and like this video for me follow me on Instagram at it on the PA and on Instagram at get that so university and please be sure to check us out on get that's university.com because we have a lot to offer for you guys all right thank you guys so much for watching I will talk to you guys next time