purdue university health professions advising
Professional File Service for Letters of Recommendation

If you open a professional file in the Health Professions Office (1-123 Lilly Hall), we will handle all of your evaluation/recommendation letters for you. Your letters should be sent directly to our office--you should never handle your letters! It is easy to open a file. There are a few short forms that you need to fill out, but the process is simple and ensures that your letters are available to medical, optometry, and dental schools, as well as other programs very quickly once your file is complete. Your letters are housed for five years and are immediately available should you need to apply to the same kind of program again. Packets to start your file are available in 1-123 Lilly Hall.

One note about professional files: Your letters can be used only for the purpose for which you collected them. If you placed letters in your file to be sent to medical schools and you later decide to apply to public health programs, we cannot do this. The reason? First, these letters will not help you as much as having letters directed at that type of program and commenting on how your skills will benefit you in that career. Second, faculty wrote letters to be used for a particular purpose. Any use of these letters for another purpose is not allowed.