The committee already has grades and activity descriptions. Your letter adds value by interpreting behavior you observed and explaining what that evidence suggests about readiness for medical education.
Describe how you know the applicant
Give the duration, capacity, setting, and amount of direct contact. If background came from a résumé, committee packet, or another observer, label it as indirect rather than blending it with your own experience.
Use situation, behavior, and consequence
AAMC specifically encourages writers to describe the context, the actual behavior observed, and its consequences. That sequence works for laboratory work, teaching, employment, service, research, and clinical settings.
- What responsibility or challenge was present?
- What did the applicant actually do?
- What changed or resulted?
- Which competency does the behavior support?
Address competencies selectively
Do not force all AAMC competencies into one letter. Choose the few your observation genuinely supports, such as learning and growth, ethical responsibility, teamwork, empathy, critical thinking, or scientific inquiry.
Complete the human review
Verify every claim, remove sensitive information without permission, and ensure the tone reflects your own judgment. If a tool assisted organization or editing, the final assessment and every firsthand claim remain yours.
An AMCAS letter is strongest when it accurately connects direct behavior and consequences to a small set of relevant competencies.
Keep the medical school requirements in view.
AAMC guidance asks writers to assess suitability for medical school, explain the relationship, distinguish direct from indirect observation, and favor quality over length. If AI assists drafting or editing, the final letter must still reflect the writer’s own assessment, judgment, and firsthand observations.
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