What is VirtualEvals?

The University of Arizona participates in the VirtualEvals letter of recommendation service used by practically all allopathic and osteopathic medical schools and many optometry schools. If you are applying to allopathic and/or osteopathic medical schools or optometry schools these schools will have access to all of your letters of recommendation through VirtualEvals.

VirtualEvals is a system designed by pre-health professions advisors and health professional school admissions personnel through which letters of evaluation are made available on a secure web-based site to health professions schools. It provides an efficient method by which letters of recommendation are transmitted by us electronically and are then immediately available to admissions personnel at health professions schools. This system saves our applicants considerable time and money.

How does VirtualEvals work?

Your letters of recommendation are collected at the Pre-Health Professions Advising Center . The originals willl be stored in files,and they will be scanned as PDF files. Our office will create an account for you with VirtualEvals. When you tell us that your file is complete we will upload your letters in a single PDF file to the VirtualEvals web site. Your letters then become immediately available to your schools. No letters lost in the mail. Your schools' admissions committees can find your letters as soon as they are ready to look at them.

If any of your schools do not participate in the VE service, we will send out the letters for you in the postage-paid, addressed, envelopes you provide. We highly recommend that you use Priority Mail.

Currenty, there are only 3 domestic allopathic medical schools that do not participate in VE. There are two osteopathic programs that do not participate and 8 optometry programs. The list of non-participating schools is expected to be reduced even further this application cycle. The College of Medicine at The University of Arizona as well as the osteopathic programs at Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine of Midwestern University and AT Still in Mesa DO participate in VirtualEvals.

What does this mean to me as an applicant?

To use VirtualEvals, the cost to you is a one-time $10.00 fee per career path which covers all schools that participate in VirtualEvals.

You are responsible for registering for our recommendation service and asking your letter writers to send us letters for you and providing them with the Instructions/Waiver Form.

How do I know whether my schools participate in VirtualEvals?

You are responsible for checking the VirtualEval website to see if any of your schools do not participate. You will need to provide envelopes and postage for any schools that do not participate in VirtualEvals. For a list of schools that are current participants, you may go to the VirtualEvals web site.

What happens if the schools I'm applying to want certain types of letters, i.e. two from science instructors, one from a non-science instructor, etc.?

Another advantage to you with this service is that this question becomes a non-issue for you. The schools that participate in VirtualEvals understand that all of your letters will be sent in your PDF file. They take responsibility for looking through your letters to find the ones most important or of most interest to them.

Some schools, including The University of Arizona, will ask you to list which letters you want them to use and/or review. This request is made in the secondary application and usually asks you to list the names of letter writers you want them to use.

It is important, however, that you still consider the types of letters the schools will want from you and be sure that you have letters that match the categories they request. You should research and determine if your schools will be looking for particular types of letters and then be sure that you have these letters available for them.

How Do My Letters Get Sent to My Schools?

If you are applying to Allopathic and/or Osteopathic Medical Schools or Optometry Schools your letters will be made available to your schools through the VirtualEvals web site/service. An explanation of this system appears at the top of this page.

If you are applying to other health professions schools than allopathic or osteopathic medicine, you are responsible for providing the Pre-Health Professions Advising Center with addressed envelopes with postage for sending out your letters. When it is time to send your letters, you will provide the necessary envelopes and postage and request that your letters be sent. This request should be made through our web site. If you have already registered for our Letter of Recommendation Service, GO TO MY ACCOUNT. If you have not yet registered for the service, GO TO REGISTRATION PAGE. Further directions for sending letters to schools not participating in VirtualEvals, go to the page in this section of the site that explains Directions for Sending Out Letters to Schools Not Participating in VirtualEvals.

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