-from Wash U Anonymous

I have a question about getting recommendations for medical school. Wash U advisers have told us that we need at least two recommendations from science faculty. My question is, do these professors need to be Wash U professors? Because I am a history major, most of the science courses I have taken have been very large classes (like gen chem, bio, etc. with at least 150+ people). Of my Wash U classes, the smallest science class I took was a biochemistry night class – I contacted the professor from that class, and she said that she’d be happy to write me a recommendation letter, but she also said that this year she is no longer working at Wash U (she’s at Lindenwood University). The other small classes I have taken in science have been summer classes at the university in my hometown, University of Memphis. I contacted my organic chemistry professor from there, and he said he would happily write a letter of recommendation.

My concern is the following: does it look bad to have all of my science recs coming from professors outside of Wash U? (given that my biochemistry class was taken at Wash U, it’s just that the professor no longer works there).

Don’s Answer:

It does not matter at all that the professor has left the school. The bottom line is that the student does need 2 science letters from anyone that had the title of professor even if they were not the student’s teacher.