The ERAS Letter Request Form is a PDF that MyERAS generates once you create and confirm a letter-of-recommendation entry; you then send it to your writer, who uses the unique Letter ID on the form to upload their letter through the AAMC Letter Writer Portal. The form carries your identifying details, the writer’s details as you entered them, your FERPA waiver status, and a direct link to the portal. Get it right the first time: once you confirm the entry, the information locks, and each Letter ID works for exactly one letter.
Create the Letter Entry in MyERAS
Sign in to MyERAS, open the Documents tab, and select the Letters of Recommendation sub-tab.1AAMC Students & Residents. Documents Click Add New. You will enter the author’s name, specialty, and whether the letter satisfies a department chair requirement. Every field you type here prints onto the PDF your writer receives, so check spelling and titles before moving on.
You also mark the letter as standardized or narrative. Standardized letters are structured evaluation forms used by certain specialties; narrative letters are the traditional recommendation. Emergency medicine, in particular, expects a Standardized Letter of Evaluation rather than a narrative letter, so confirm your target specialty’s expectations before you choose.
Decide on the FERPA Waiver
Before you can confirm the entry, MyERAS asks whether you waive your right to view the letter under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. FERPA, at 20 U.S.C. § 1232g, generally lets students inspect their educational records, including recommendation letters. Waiving means you will never read what your author wrote.
Program directors expect the waiver to be signed. A waived letter signals that the writer spoke candidly without worrying the applicant would read it. Not waiving is allowed, but it tends to undermine the letter in reviewers’ eyes. Your waiver choice locks when you confirm the entry, so treat the selection as permanent before you click through.
Confirm the Entry to Generate the Form
After entering the author’s details and your waiver choice, click Save. The entry now sits in Not Confirmed for Upload status. This is the only stage where you can still edit or delete it. When you confirm the entry for upload, MyERAS generates the unique Letter Request ID and makes the Letter Request Form available to print or email under the Actions column.2AAMC Students & Residents. Letters of Recommendation
If you catch a mistake after confirming, you cannot repair the entry. The fix is to create a new letter entry with the correct information and send that one to your writer instead. The old entry can simply sit unused.
What the Form Contains
The generated PDF shows the ERAS application season, the unique Letter ID, your full name and AAMC ID, your contact information, the author’s details as you entered them, your FERPA waiver status, whether the letter is standardized or narrative, and any personal message you added. It also includes instructions pointing the writer to the AAMC Letter Writer Portal and a direct URL tied to that specific request.2AAMC Students & Residents. Letters of Recommendation
Each form is tied to one letter. The Letter ID works once. Do not photocopy a single form and hand it to several writers; every recommender needs their own entry and their own form.
Send the Form to Your Writer
You have two delivery options. The first is the built-in MyERAS email feature, which sends the request straight to the writer’s address with a secure link. The second is downloading the PDF and sending it yourself from a personal or institutional email account. Either works.
Timing is the part applicants underestimate. Give your writer the form at least six to eight weeks before you plan to submit. Faculty handle many of these each cycle, and a rushed request produces a rushed letter. A letter that arrives after a program has already reviewed your file may never be read.
What Your Writer Does After They Receive It
Starting with the 2027 ERAS cycle, letters of recommendation are submitted through the AAMC Letter Writer Portal, which replaces the older Letter of Recommendation Portal (LoRP).3AAMC. AAMC Letter Writer Portal Writers can upload with or without an AAMC account. The direct URL on the Letter Request Form lets them submit as a guest. Writers juggling multiple requests across applicants and seasons can log in with an AAMC account and manage everything from a single dashboard.
Format Rules the Letter Must Meet
The uploaded file has to be a PDF no larger than 1 MB. It should be black and white, free of active hyperlinks, and scanned at 150 dpi to keep the size manageable. ZIP files are not accepted. The letter should open with a general salutation such as “Dear Program Director” rather than naming a specific program, and it must appear on professional letterhead that includes the author’s address, phone number, and email. Personal letterhead is acceptable if institutional letterhead is not available.4Intealth ECFMG. ECFMG ERAS – For Letter of Recommendation (LoR) Writers
Writers who hit technical trouble registering or uploading can reach the AAMC at (202) 862-6298 or through the AAMC Support Center messaging system.
Track the Letter’s Status
Your MyERAS dashboard updates each entry as the process moves:
- Not Confirmed for Upload: the entry exists but has not been confirmed. Edits and deletions are only possible here.
- Confirmed for Upload: the Letter ID has been generated and the form is ready to send. The entry is now locked.
- Uploaded: the writer has submitted the letter through the portal.
The lock happens at confirmation, not at upload. Many applicants assume they can keep editing until the writer submits. They cannot. A misspelled name or wrong specialty on a confirmed entry means starting a fresh entry.2AAMC Students & Residents. Letters of Recommendation
Key Dates for the 2027 ERAS Season
The 2027 ERAS season opens on June 4, 2026, when you can begin building your MyERAS application. Residency applicants can start submitting to programs on September 2, 2026, at 9 a.m. ET. Programs begin reviewing applications and supporting documents on September 23, 2026.5Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). ERAS Residency Timeline The season itself runs until May 31, 2027, and there is no hard deadline for letter uploads. Even so, aim to have every letter uploaded before September 23. A letter arriving weeks after a program has screened its applicants is easy to overlook.
If You Are Reapplying
Repeat applicants can sometimes skip generating a new request form for a given writer. MyERAS lets you import letters from up to seven years of previously certified and submitted applications through the History tab. Only the most recent certified application qualifies, and imports cannot be reversed once completed.6Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). History and Imports for Repeat ERAS Applicants FAQ If you import a letter by mistake, create a new letter slot and leave the imported one unassigned to any program.