tommykay Posted August 25, 2006 Report Share Posted August 25, 2006 Great forum! Going on to second year life sci as of sept; just have some questions with regards to collecting references. Seeing as how I'm not too familiar wtih the application process: how do references work? Does every school request a certain number of references (3-5) sent and addressed in confidence directly to each medical school? 2) is it pre/or post interview? 3) Will med schools contact the reference person if the interview is successful? 4) Is there a differentiated form that each med school uses? Pertaining to my case, i'm working casually as a f/t summer student for the government, completely unrelated to health. I will be applying to med school most likely after 4th year; that's about 3 years from now. Chances are, my supervisor will not remember me as they get a batch of new students every summer. Shall i ask for a generic reference letter, a specific med reference letter now* or hold off for a couple years and ask her again then**?? *(I don't imagine asking her for a specific med reference now is the best choice as a - she will need to make and sign 4-6 copies of it for select med schools, and b- i don't have any of the forms.) **(by which I'd be highly surprised if she remembers me.) tks guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0T6 Posted August 25, 2006 Report Share Posted August 25, 2006 You want the person writing the reference letter for you to know you well enough and care enough about you to remember you far more than 3 years down the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuantum Posted August 25, 2006 Report Share Posted August 25, 2006 Yea...probably not such a good idea. There are some pretty heavy weighting schemes on reference letters at some schools and they are often expected to be very good. It's probably better to start scoping out some people you will want to write your reference letters now and start building good relationships with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bestknightmare Posted August 25, 2006 Report Share Posted August 25, 2006 when filling out applications, beware of fine prints.. i think the person must know you 1 or more years in order to be reference Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hp18 Posted August 25, 2006 Report Share Posted August 25, 2006 Can reference be from high school teacher? How many reference letters are required from faculty of undergrad school? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuantum Posted August 25, 2006 Report Share Posted August 25, 2006 Can reference be from high school teacher? How many reference letters are required from faculty of undergrad school? References can be from high school teachers. You don't need a certain number of references from undergrad. school necessarily, you just need references who know you well. I know one guy going into 4th year med. and he said that some applicants have used neighbors they babysat for in the past as references. This just goes to show you, it just has to be people who know you well and can make strong objective comments. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy_uw Posted August 26, 2006 Report Share Posted August 26, 2006 when filling out applications, beware of fine prints.. i think the person must know you 1 or more years in order to be reference I couldn't find anywhere on OMSAS that refree should know me for more than a year. where did you find it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostintime Posted August 26, 2006 Report Share Posted August 26, 2006 The references have to be more than 1 year?!?! But what if it's your research supervisor for the summer? I interact with my supervisor 100x more than my professors at large classes that I hardly get a chance to talk to...won't they take that into consideration? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandmellon Posted August 26, 2006 Report Share Posted August 26, 2006 The references don't have to know you for longer than a year. However, the reference form will ask the assessor how long and how well they know the applicant. I would fill out a reference form (with anyone's name for now on omsas) and print it out so you can see what they ask and find someone appropriate. GM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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