Refrence letters Evaluations

[chickendinner10]

Hey guys,

So I know that reference letters make roughly 20-21% of your pre-interview score, but I was wondering how they were evaluated. From their site, they say that they will evaluate it based of the 4 clusters, so does that mean that as long as your refrence letters have covered all the clusters you will be marked highly, or are there more factors such as wether the letter is extremely well written or personal. If anybody has any knowledge or has any anecdotal evidence, that would be really helpful.

 

Thanks

[robclem21]

On 11/9/2017 at 0:15 PM, medhopeful20 said:

Hey guys,

So I know that reference letters make roughly 20-21% of your pre-interview score, but I was wondering how they were evaluated. From their site, they say that they will evaluate it based of the 4 clusters, so does that mean that as long as your refrence letters have covered all the clusters you will be marked highly, or are there more factors such as wether the letter is extremely well written or personal. If anybody has any knowledge or has any anecdotal evidence, that would be really helpful.

 

Thanks

Yes. The evaluation is based off of the 4 clusters. Between the 4 letters, each of these clusters should be covered and it would be difficult to achieve a full score without representation from each of those clusters. In addition, reviewers are looking for solid examples that actually exemplify the cluster being discussed. Not simply that the reference uses buzzwords.  The more examples the better. Lastly, it is important that the reference is able to accurately and objectively evaluate and compare you to peers. This increases the strength of the letter. It goes without saying the better your reference knows you, the better the letter will be.

Things that may help but that don't "officially" matter: official letterhead (though it does look pretty), well written (though if it conveys ideas more clearly then obviously better), prestige of the person writing it.

[egg]

32 minutes ago, Canadian_Med_Dream said:

"4 letters" please tell me that's a typo

It is. Only 3 letters were required for the UofT MD application.

[masterofnone]

On 11/9/2017 at 0:15 PM, medhopeful20 said:

Hey guys,

So I know that reference letters make roughly 20-21% of your pre-interview score, but I was wondering how they were evaluated. From their site, they say that they will evaluate it based of the 4 clusters, so does that mean that as long as your refrence letters have covered all the clusters you will be marked highly, or are there more factors such as wether the letter is extremely well written or personal. If anybody has any knowledge or has any anecdotal evidence, that would be really helpful.

 

Thanks

20-21% ? How do you know this?

[robclem21]

21 hours ago, Canadian_Med_Dream said:

"4 letters" please tell me that's a typo

yes. 3 letters haha. That was a typo. Sorry for the panic attack... Though maybe 4 if there is still a graduate letter required for graduate applicants.