Where To Get Letters
Good Academic Standing
Basic letters certifying that you are enrolled as a student in school, or in good academic standing, etc., may be obtained directly from the Office of the Registrar.
Letters for applications for away (extramural) electives are also obtained from the Office of the Registrar.
Scholarship Letters & School Letters of Recommendation for Special Programs
If you are applying for a scholarship, award, or special program (e.g., summer research, summer clinical, Alaska Health Service elective, NIH research year, etc.) that requires a letter of recommendation from the school, a letter from the dean, or something more than attendance, this goes through the Office of Student Affairs. Allow 5 business days for completion.
Please include the following in your request: Your name, the nature of your request,
the complete title and mailing address of where the letter should be sent, any deadline
date, any items, which must be included in the letter, and any information which you would like included about activities, which you have been
involved in during medical school.
Scholarship Letters and School Letters of Recommendation Form
Faculty Letters of Recommendation
If you are an MS 1 student applying for a summer program or a scholarship which requires a faculty letter of recommendation, your preceptors, small group discussion leaders, etc. that you have had in your courses may be able to write you a letter if you don’t feel you know your block director well enough.
If you are still having issues or don’t have enough references, then drop off a copy of what you are applying for to the Office of Student Affairs along with a note describing your problem.
Jury Duty
You can obtain a letter from the Office of Student Affairs which requests a State or Federal court to postpone your dates of jury service, although we have no guarantee that the court will accept the request.
To request a postponement, you should bring the original copy of your summons to the Office of Student Affairs as soon as you receive it, but no later than one week prior to the date it calls you to serve. The court’s final decision prevails and the court may require you to serve or give them an alternate date to serve, such as during your vacation period. Being a student, in and of itself, does not necessarily excuse you from jury service.
Please note: When requesting your postponement, you should be sure to provide the court with a request for postponement from The Office of Student Affairs. Not providing the letter from the Office of Student Affairs may result in your being required to serve later without the possibility of postponement.
Under no circumstances should you ignore a summons to serve and we will not be able to provide you a postponement letter after your date of service has passed, if you have previously ignored a summons, or if your summons states "Must Serve."
Letter of Support for a Family Member to request a Visitor Visa to visit you in the United States to attend Commencement or other event
Interested in having a family member outside of the United States come to visit you? Generally, a citizen of another country who wishes to enter the United States for a temporary stay needs to apply for a visitor visa. Depending on the citizenship of the visitor, some individuals may be able to enter the United States through the Visa Waiver Program.
If, however, a visitor visa is required, we recommend for your visitor to review the website of the consulate or embassy they intend to apply for their US visa at to be aware of the visa application process and for any updates in their services. To find the website of the consulate or embassy nearest them, they can review this listing of websites of US Embassies, Consulates, and Diplomatic Missions. Individuals in this category should request a letter of support from Downstate that confirms your status as a student and the event they are trying to enter the US to attend (for example, Commencement, Convocation, White Coat Ceremony, etc.) The following information will be needed to request the letter, which can be requested at the link below. The letter takes approximately 3-5 business days and will be emailed to you as a pdf that you can send to your visitor to print. (Electronic letters are accepted.) The following information is required from the to request the letter:
- Your Name
- Your School/Program
- The Individual's name (as it appears in their passport)
- The Individual's relationship to you (ie: Son, Daughter, Sibling, Aunt, etc.)
- The following information from their passport ID page:
- Passport Number
- Passport Country of Origin
- Passport Issue Date
- Passport Expiration Date
- The Purpose and Length of their Stay
- Address or Location where they will be staying when in the United States
You can request the letter by filling out this form:
Request International Visitor Visit Support Letter
Last Updated: 11/17/2025