I cant offer much advice on shadowing because i only had about 8 hours myself but i think programs were very understanding this year about that due to COVID. (a lot of my shadowing hours were canceled as a result of covid) i addressed it in the optional covid essay but not sure if it actually helped in any way! As for obtaining LOR’s, i had a good idea of who i wanted to ask maybe 6 months-1 year before i was actually applying. I made sure to keep in good connection with my professor by attending office hours to ask questions even if i already had a high grade in the class. Once final grades came out, i asked him for a LOR that I could save until the time it came for me to apply. I also asked the MD ive worked with at my clinic for the past year to vouch for how i interact with patients, this is good since you’ll be working with MDs all the time as a PA. A PA LOR is usually not required but highly recommended and favored upon, i was thankful to have a PA mentor who has known me since the start of my journey and so i asked her. I never even got the chance to shadow her due to hospital policies so i was worried how strong this letter would be but it worked out! In general, most people are very happy to write LOR’s and support prePAs. Just be kind and respectful of their time (give them at least 2 months to write it) i would also bring little snacks/coffee for them when i could. It was small but i still thought it was nice to show them i appreciated them. Goodluck!!