TMDSAS Letters of Evaluation: Evaluator Rules
TMDSAS letter rules for evaluators: the six required elements, the 12-box evaluation form, upload vs form processing times, and HP committee packets.
TMDSAS Letters of Evaluation: Evaluator Rules
A TMDSAS letter for a medical, dental or podiatry applicant must carry six things: letterhead, your phone or email, the applicant's name, a date, English text and your signature. An uploaded letter takes up to 10 business days to process. The TMDSAS Evaluation Form takes 1 business day.
That gap decides the route for a writer who is behind. The Entry Year 2027 date for medical and dental letters was October 15, 2026, and it has passed. TMDSAS still accepts letters after it, and each school decides whether to use a late one. TMDSAS writes "will be rejected" next to its format list, so a letter that misses one element can bounce back to you after the date has already passed. Get the format right first.
Every TMDSAS page quoted below was checked on November 7, 2026: the letters of evaluation guide (it states no entry year), the evaluator support page and the deadlines page, which lists the Entry Year 2027 dates. If you also write for applicants outside Texas, the service caps differ; the letters of recommendation count by service puts them side by side.
What TMDSAS asks for, by applicant type
| Applicant | What fills the requirement | Optional extra | Profession rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medical | Three individual letters or evaluation forms, or one Health Professions Committee Letter or Packet | One additional letter or evaluation form | None |
| Dental | Three individual letters or evaluation forms, or one committee letter or packet | One additional letter or evaluation form | "one evaluation letter must come from a dentist" |
| Veterinary | Three Veterinary Medicine Applicant Evaluation Forms | "An additional letter (4th) cannot be added" | "At least one evaluation must be completed by a veterinarian" |
Two rules on the same page change how you write:
- Your letter goes to every school. "All letters submitted through TMDSAS become available to all schools you are applying to." Address it to the admissions committee, and do not name one Texas school.
- It stays in TMDSAS. The evaluator page says "TMDSAS does not release evaluations to other application services." If the applicant also applies through AMCAS, you submit the letter there separately. The AAMC's pages returned HTTP 403 to our checks, so this page states no AMCAS rule; the AMCAS Letter Writer Portal guide covers that upload.
Veterinary evaluators work only in the online form: "Only the Veterinary Medicine Applicant Evaluation Form will be accepted. Letters of evaluation will not be accepted." The rest of this page is about medical, dental and podiatry letters. Vet writers outside Texas use VMCAS, covered in the VMCAS eLOR guide.
The six required elements, and the word "rejected"
The evaluator page opens with the strict version: "All letters of evaluation must include the following criteria. Letters that do not include all requirements will be rejected." The applicant guide words it more softly ("may be rejected, and further delay delivery to the schools"). Write to the strict one.
| Element | What TMDSAS says |
|---|---|
| Letterhead | "personal or professional letterhead is accepted" |
| Applicant's name | Required on the letter |
| Date | "a strong preference for letters written after May 1, 2025" |
| Language | "Written in English" |
| Contact information | "a phone number and/or email address" |
| Signature | Handwritten, electronic or typed; "if the evaluator has typed their name at the end of the letter, it will be considered a valid electronic signature." |
One more line matters: "All requirements must be included on the letter itself." Your email signature, the portal profile and a cover note do not count. The date rule is a preference, not a cutoff: "Admissions committees will take the date of the letter into consideration during review."
Constructed example: a header and signature block that meets all six
Constructed example, written by us, not a real evaluator's letter. Names, IDs and contact details are invented.
LAKEVIEW STATE UNIVERSITY · Department of Biology
Dr. S. Suarez, Associate Professor
s.suarez@lakeview.example.edu · (555) 010-0142
November 7, 2026
To the Admissions Committee:
Letter of evaluation for Aoife Barros (TMDSAS ID 000000)
[body of the letter]
Sincerely,
S. Suarez, PhDEach line maps to the table: letterhead (line 1), contact (line 3), date (line 5), applicant's name (line 8), and a typed name as the signature. The TMDSAS ID is not one of the six, but the FAQ says "Providing your TMDSAS ID allows for faster processing of your letters of evaluation," and a mailed letter needs it to be matched.
Upload, evaluation form, Interfolio or mail: which route
The applicant picks the delivery method when they enter you in the application. The four routes are not equal on time.
| Route | Processing time TMDSAS states | What it costs you |
|---|---|---|
| Direct upload, Evaluator Portal ("preferred method") | "up to 10 business days", longer May to July | Nothing; you upload a PDF |
| TMDSAS Evaluation Form | "within 1 business day" | No attachments; 12 text boxes of 2,000 characters; times out after 60 minutes of inactivity |
| Interfolio | "up to 14 business days", longer May to July | Several deliveries move the date of all letters to the latest delivery |
| Mail (medical and dental only) | No time stated | Must come from you: "Letters CANNOT be mailed to TMDSAS by the applicant." |
TMDSAS counts business days as "M-F from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. CT." Up to 10 business days against 1 is a gap of up to 9 business days (our arithmetic), close to two working weeks.
Switching is the applicant's job. For one direction the evaluator page says: "You can submit an individual letter instead of an evaluator form if you prefer. You can do so by reaching out to the applicant and have them update the letter delivery method on their application." The delivery method is the same field either way, so ask the applicant to change it. They cannot swap you for another evaluator once your letter "has been marked received/approved".
Our view: if you are writing after October 15 and have not started, ask the applicant to switch your entry to the Evaluation Form, draft all twelve answers in a document, and paste them in one sitting. The form posts the next business day, and the 60-minute timeout cannot eat a draft that lives in your word processor.
The countercase: if a finished letter already exists, upload it. "Evaluation Forms do not allow for attaching other documents, including a Letter of Evaluation," and rewriting a page of prose into twelve boxes can take longer than the processing gap. Upload also wins when the same applicant needs your letter in AMCAS or AACOMAS, because a letter travels and the form's answers stay in TMDSAS.
The evaluation form, question by question
The form has "2 questions on how you know the applicant and 12 open response text boxes", and "all text boxes have a 2000 character limit." The two opening questions ask how long and in what capacity you have known the applicant. The twelve boxes, in TMDSAS's order:
- Metrics
- Experiences, Personal Biography
- Self-Awareness, Capacity for Improvement
- Cultural Awareness, Sensitivity
- Professionalism, Ethical Responsibility to Self, Others
- Humanism, Compassion, Empathy
- Innovation, Creativity, Curiosity
- Reliability, Responsibility, Dependability, Work Ethic
- Resilience, Grit, Adaptability, Maturity
- Community Engagement, Service to Others
- Interpersonal, Communication and Social Skills
- Teamwork, Collaborative Skills
Three rules shape the answers:
- Every box needs an entry. "The 'Submit' button will not appear until all entries have been made." Where you saw nothing, write one sentence that says so and why, for example: I knew Aoife only in a lecture course of 180 students and did not observe teamwork. That is an honest answer, and it keeps your other eleven credible.
- Do not repeat grades. Under Metrics: "Official Academic Record has been recorded in the application; please refrain from relisting grade performance." Use the box for course rigor or what affected performance.
- Assess; do not advocate. TMDSAS asks for "candid, honest insight into the applicant's strengths and weaknesses" and says "A substantial evaluation provides an accurate assessment of the applicant's suitability for dental, medical, and podiatry school rather than advocate for the applicant."
The form "can be edited until it has been submitted", and "A PDF copy of your responses to the Evaluation Form is available for you to download after submitting."
Constructed example: one box answered with an incident
Constructed example, written by us, not a real evaluator's answer. Box 8, Reliability, Responsibility, Dependability, Work Ethic.
Weak: Aoife is extremely reliable and hardworking, one of the most dependable students I have taught.
Revised: Aoife kept the sample log for our six-person lab group for two semesters. When a freezer failed over a holiday weekend, she was the one who noticed the temperature alarm on the shared log, called the facilities line, and moved 40 samples to a backup unit before I arrived. She then wrote the incident note our department now uses. I supervised the lab and read that note.
The revised answer is 67 words, about 370 characters, far under the 2,000 limit. It names the setting, her action and what you saw yourself, which is what the "rather than advocate" line asks for.
HP committee packets: you are probably not the uploader
TMDSAS accepts three committee packet formats, from a composed committee letter to a plain collection of individual letters; the premed committee letter guide quotes all three. Packets go through the TMDSAS Advisor Portal, and "automatic email notifications are not sent out to advisors regarding HP Packets." If you write a letter that goes into a packet, you send it to the advising office on its deadline, and the advisor uploads. The committee letter explainer covers what goes inside for the applicant. To fix a packet already approved: "Your advisor must send a revised packet to info@tmdsas.com".
Fixing a rejected, wrong or missing letter
- Rejected letter. The applicant sees the reason in their internal messages. You use "the same link from the initial email request to upload a corrected letter."
- Wrong file uploaded. "If the letter hasn't been approved, you'll see the 'Delete' button in the action row." If it has been approved, email the corrected letter to info@tmdsas.com.
- No request email. It comes from info@tmdsas.com. Check spam, then email TMDSAS with your email address and the applicant's name.
- Applicant not in your portal. The email the applicant entered must match your login email. The applicant can edit it.
- Old account. An account unused for 18 months can be inactive. TMDSAS reactivates it by email.
Questions evaluators ask about TMDSAS letters
Is it too late to submit after October 15, 2026?
No. "TMDSAS will continue to accept and process letters of evaluation after the letter submission deadline. However, it is up to each individual school to decide whether they will accept late letters." The deadlines page adds: "Some schools will not extend an interview offer until all letters of evaluation and test scores have been received." Submit today. The late letter of recommendation guide covers what a late letter does in AMCAS and AACOMAS.
Can I write the letter to one Texas school?
No. Every TMDSAS letter goes to all of the applicant's schools.
A reapplicant wants last cycle's letter. Can I resend it?
TMDSAS allows it for letters "written after May 1, 2025", and the applicant must re-enter you. The FAQ also says "We do not recommend using the same letters that were submitted previously, as letters should contain up-to-date information." Our recommendation: add what changed and put a new date on it. The reapplicant letters guide covers what else carries over.
Is a typed name enough as a signature?
Yes. TMDSAS accepts handwritten, electronic and typed signatures.
I am writing for a dental applicant. Does it matter that I am a dentist?
Yes. A dental file needs one letter from a dentist. The dentist letter of recommendation guide shows what that letter should cover.
Get a free review of the letter
Get a free Quick Review of your recommendation letter against GradPilot's medical school letter of evaluation rubric, written for MD, DO and TMDSAS letters. It checks whether every judgment stays inside what you observed, whether each quality has an incident behind it, and whether the letter reads as a measured assessment rather than a plea. For Evaluation Form answers, paste one box at a time. A dental applicant's letter fits the health professions evaluation letter rubric.
More guides for Texas and health-professions letter writers are in the medical school essays hub.
Sources
Retrieved November 7, 2026.
- TMDSAS, Letters of Evaluation (application guide; no entry year stated): letter counts by applicant type, dentist and veterinarian rules, processing times, routes, HP packet formats, rejected letters, reapplicant reuse, late letters, all-schools rule.
- TMDSAS, Evaluators (no cycle stated; date preference May 1, 2025): the six requirements and "will be rejected", the Evaluation Form questions and limits, timeout, switching to a letter, editing, rejected and wrong letters, account and email issues, no release to other services.
- TMDSAS, Deadlines & Important Dates (Entry Year 2027): October 15 letter date for medical and dental applicants, school discretion on late letters, interview-offer note.
Review the Letter Before It Is Submitted
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