Letter Packet Process & Requirements | Pre-Medical and Pre-Dental Advising

2026 Cycle Application Process & Timeline

For the 2026 application cycle (applicants seeking to matriculate into medical/dental schools in fall 2026), our office will offer health professions candidates* a Letter Packet, which includes a non-evaluative cover letter.

*This includes current UConn undergraduate students or UConn alumni. We cannot support non-degree students who have not completed a degree at UConn or who are not currently completing a degree*

Application Orientation

The 2026 Cycle Application Orientation will take place Thursday, January 30, 2025 from 6:00-7:30 pm EST in Webex. The office requires that any student who is considering applying attend this orientation (or view the recording) to become acquainted with the process and ask our team any questions that you may have.

Application Process

To receive a letter packet from our office, prospective applicants are required to:

Attend our 2026 Cycle Application Orientation. The orientation will take place Thursday, January 30, 2025 from 6:00-7:30 pm EST in Webex. For those unable to attend, the recording will be available on the Workshops page of our website.
Submit a Health Professions Applicant Portfolio (HPAP) in the UConn Quest Portal. The HPAP will open on February 1, 2025 and close on July 1st, 2025.
Participate in a 45-minute Applicant Coaching Session, which will be scheduled on a rolling basis, once the applicant has submitted their completed portfolio. We encourage you to be thoughtful when completing your portfolio responses and submit early in the spring so that we can schedule your coaching session before application systems open in May.
Collect all individual letters of recommendation through the Health Professions Letter Packet (HPLP) in the UConn Quest Portal. HPLP submissions will close on September 1st, 2025. Applicants are expected to submit the letter packet application in the Quest Portal once all individual letters have been received.

*If an applicant does not complete any of the above steps, they are not eligible to receive a letter packet from our office*

Letter Packets will be submitted on a rolling basis based on when applicants submit their complete set of individual letters to the office.
We strongly encourage all dental applicants to submit their materials by May 1, 2025, due to the quick turnaround time with formal dental applications.

Application Timeline

January 30, 2025: 2025 Cycle Application Orientation

February 1, 2025: Health Professions Applicant Portfolio (HPAP) and Health Professions Letter Packet (HPLP) applications open for submission in the UConn Quest Portal. Applicant Coaching Session scheduling begins for applicants who have submitted their HPAP.

February/March/April 2025: Begin asking for and requesting letters of recommendation through the HPLP in the Quest Portal. This process can be initiated before applicants have completed their coaching session, so we encourage applicants to ask their recommenders as soon as they have solidified their intended letter line up.

May 1, 2025: Strongly suggested deadline for all applicants to submit their HPAP.
For dental applicants specifically, our office suggests this as the deadline for all application materials to be received by our office. Given how quickly the dental admissions processes progress, we encourage dental applicants to have their materials to us no later than May 1.
For medical applicants, this deadline is encouraged for HPAP submission because formal applications open in early May. We want our applicants to be ready to work on those applications only at that point, using the HPAP questions and Applicant Coaching Session feedback as ways to prepare responses for the primary applications.

Early May 2025: Formal medical and dental applications (AMCAS, AACOMAS, AADSAS) open
For specific dates regarding when certain applications open, please look at our primary applications page.

July 1, 2025: HPAP submission deadline for our office to submit Letter Packets. Applicants who do not submit their Health Professions Applicant Portfolio by this deadline will not be eligible to receive a Letter Packet from our office.

September 1, 2025: HPLP submission deadline for our office to submit Letter Packets. After this date, our office will not offer Letter Packets for any applicants. Due to the nature of rolling admissions for health professional school applications, the earlier applicants complete their applications, the better. Our office encourages all applicants to have their materials submitted no later than August to ensure the strongest chances of acceptance.

Note: Applicants can still request individual letters through the application systems (e.g., AMCAS, AACOMAS) after this date—this is done directly with individual letter writers, not with the help of our office.

Important Note

CASPA, the application service for PA schools, does not accept letter packets, so PA applicants must request individual letters from their recommenders.

Reporting Requirements

Please know while we will make every effort to review submissions as soon as possible, the materials you submit may not be reviewed immediately upon receipt. Please note that all University employees are mandated reporters of child abuse or child neglect. In addition, UConn employees have responsibilities to report to the Office of Institutional Equity student disclosures of sexual assault and related interpersonal violence; any information you submit on your applicant portal or composite updates forms is subject to UConn reporting policies. If you feel you need more immediate assistance or support, we encourage you to reach out to the Dean of Students Office and/or Student Health and Wellness - Mental Health. In addition, if you have concerns related to sexual harassment, sexual assault, intimate partner violence and/or stalking, we encourage you to review the resources and reporting options available at: https://titleix.uconn.edu/