High school teacher as my academic referee...BAD idea?

[Guest SherriONT]

I really feel that my high school english teacher (I had her for grade 11 and 12 and I've known her my whole life) is the most personal and positive academic reference I can get. I suppose I COULD get one of my university profs to write a letter but it would be much less personal and way more generic...

 

SO, would it be a bad move to have my "academic" reference letter written by a high school teacher? Also, do ontario schools assess the quality of reference letters and count that toward acceptance? Or is it more just to weed out the bad apples??

[Guest petiD]

I understand what you mean about the generic ref letter coming from the uni prof but I think technically, having a highschool teacher be your academic ref won't fit into the category they are asking for. Secondly, it might look weak. Could you use this as your personal reference instead?

How long do you have before you have to get a ref for academics? Have you thought of anyone you could approach to sort of plant the seed? No lab or academic work experience? When I needed academic reference letters for scholarships before I had acquired lab experience I just went to my organic chem prof who I had never spoken to during office hours and explained the situation. He was very aware of how difficult it might be to get that first ref letter. We set up a time to chat and stuff and then he wrote the letter. I ended up getting a few copies of it from him for various things... Once I didn't need one of them though, so I opened it . I was surprised to see that it was pretty well-written and personalized!

Good luck,

p.

[Guest AC]

If your HS teacher knows you best, than I would suggest getting one from her. Plus there's no such thing as an "academic" reference letter with regards to the Ontario schools. They already know how intelligent you are from your transcript. With that in mind, use your reference to let them know you can offer something else besides academic proficiency.

 

If I were in your situation, I definitely go with the HS teacher.

[Guest petiD]

Oops, I didn't know you didn't have to fulfill an actual academic reference requirement...

[Guest pocketrocket999]

I got my hs chem teacher to write mine, and it probably only helped me get in, so it is definitely a great idea.

 

Good luck!!!

[Guest dl]

if your hs teacher can give you a strong letter of reference definatley go with it, it will be much better then a luke-warm letter from a prof...in fact, i got accepted without any references from my professors,

 

if this is the case though, make sure the rest of your application is strong enough to compensate for what some schools may percieve as a weakness in your application,

 

dl

[Guest 4shattered4]

What about a strong positive letter from a TA vs. a high school teacher?

[Guest uftstudent]

Yeah...I was wondering the same thing about the TA who may write one better than a prof that barely knows you..

 

Also, how about a family doctor? Should this always be avoided? What if you don't know another doctor that'll write you one?

 

 

thanks!

[Guest satsumargirl]

Picking references is tricky isn't it!

 

I don't recall who the 3 references needed to come from specifically. There was a requirement but I think it was "at least 1 non-academic reference"?? I would double check with OMSAS about that one. I had 2 academic (but had alot of research so lots of profs to choose from) and 1 MD who worked a the hospital where I did my research so didn't know me well but knew who I was.

 

The 2 academics were "no brainers" for me but my non-academic was tough. At first it wasn't going to be an MD. I had recently finished grad school for S-LP when I applied so I was going to take my last clinical supervisor since I thought he coudl comment on my bedside manner etc.. Then I thought...nah it would be stronger to have an MD.

Which one though?? I talked to a physiatrist who was on the team I had a full-time student placement with. He said it didn't matter WHO the references were from and that they probably don't put much weight on them. He said "the name of the game" is to write a good letter of reference. So nearly everyone is going to have great references. And what they are looking for is maybe the mediocre reference as a red flag. (but that is just his opinion) He agreed to write me a letter but I decided to go with the other MD I knew from my research.

 

Why? Because he was more recognized in his field, had written some books, and had founded a great clinical program and had been around for years.

 

And I got in. Would I have gotten in with my SLP clinical supervisor or the physiatrist? Maybe or maybe not, I have no idea. But I played the name game. And I'm in.

 

I ABSOLUTELY would NOT ask a TA to be your reference. There is a certain skill to writing letters of reference and the TA is not going to have much practice at it nor the experience or credentials to compare you to any other students. Profs have an idea how the game works...they've sat on admissions committees, read letters of references from otehr etc. The grad student will not have that experience. Plus grad students are tougher than profs. I was much harder on students the 1st year I TAed than subsequent years, and in meetings we TAs were always harder on the students than the profs. In my opinion, better to have a prof who doesn't know you well than a TA.

Give that prof your resume etc., book an appointment to talk to him/her and they will be able to make it personal.

 

 

As for the high school teacher it sounds like he/she really knows you well so could be a great reference.

[Guest HenryTheBig]

Hey,

My plan is to use to profs and one high school teacher. If the high school teacher can write a glowing letter then I say go for it.

Henry (Henner)

[Guest KJ]

I used my highschool vice-prinicipal and she helped me get in I know a friend who used a university TA and she got in as well. It really depends how well the person knows you. I would think that a highschool teacher may know an applicant more than a TA would...but that may not always be the case.

[Guest kellyl20]

depends on who can write a better letter re you, regardless of who knows you better.