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[pyridoxal-phosphate]

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[Eudaimonia]

Go with someone who knows you. I can't comment for MUN, but I had no references that actually taught me for OMSAS.

[SuperMed]

On 8/17/2018 at 10:56 PM, pyridoxal-phosphate said:

Hi everyone, 

It seems that some people recommend having some sort of "Academic" reference for schools including  the OMSAS ones and MUN. I'm not sure if academic ones are supposed to be people that have taught you. 

Long story short I never knew a professor lol. I have emailed a bunch of professors, and one of them mentioned that they are happy to be a reference, but would not be able to comment on anything other than academic performance. I anticipate if any others respond I would get a similar answer, if that. 

On the top of my head, the only other remotely "academic" person I could ask would be a PI from a lab I volunteered in. I have interacted with this individual more than any professor, but my impact/role was still very small, and they also never taught me in a classroom setting. 

 

In your opinion, is it better to go with someone who will not know me, but has taught me at school, or someone who may know me a tad more but has not taught me. 

 

Thanks 

I would go for the PI from the lab - no matter how small your role was, he definitely has more to say about your abilities and personality than the prof you've never interacted with. Anyone can look at your transcript and GPA and comment on your academic performance - playing a role in active research in a lab is also a way of assessing academic performance, critical thinking skills, communication, collaboration, leader and much more.