joiningtherace Posted July 29, 2007 Report Share Posted July 29, 2007 Are high school teachers considered bad referees? I believe with alberta or calgary didnt want hs teachers but wat about other schools or as a general rule Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hal Posted July 29, 2007 Report Share Posted July 29, 2007 i personally wouldn't do it since a hs teacher can only speak of your academic (or even ec) performance in hs and not at the university level (not as recent and not as relevant to meds). i'd go for a prof instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unknown user 7 Posted July 29, 2007 Report Share Posted July 29, 2007 Although I partly agree with hal, I know some people who used their high school teacher and even principals as their reference. If you high school teacher or whoever it is is able to write a very good and personal reference letter, I don't really see the harm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyleh Posted July 29, 2007 Report Share Posted July 29, 2007 Also, if you have open communication with a high school teacher, counsellor, principal, etc. throughout your university years they should be able to comment on your achievements in both hs and university, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bane Posted July 29, 2007 Report Share Posted July 29, 2007 There is nothing wrong with HS teachers. If they can write a glowing letter, which also shows youve maintained contact with them, its a good deal. Much better than a prof who writes "X received an A+. Sincerely, Prof Y." I know people who've used HS teachers and got multiple acceptances--- as far as Ontario is concerned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashlay Posted July 30, 2007 Report Share Posted July 30, 2007 personally... i don't really "get" why we need academic references. they do have our transcripts, they can see our marks with their own eyes! anyways... what do you guys think about not having an academic reference? i'm thinking about asking a teacher from high school who didn't actually teach me, but ran a club that i was very active in and am still in contact with. if i really really need an academic, i was thinking about asking my principal... except she retired and apparently disappeared off the face of the earth. would it be weird to ask the current principal? i think he was VP when i was there but he doesn't actually know me, but he could confirm my academic strengths i'm sure. is this too sketchy? GAH this referee business pisses me off . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Posted July 30, 2007 Report Share Posted July 30, 2007 If the current principal doesn't know you, what's the advantage over a uni ref., I wonder? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beekeeper Posted July 30, 2007 Report Share Posted July 30, 2007 It's nice to have an academic reference from university but if one of your others is from high school I don't see any problem in that. The most important thing is that they can write a personal letter and prove they really know you well. To me that makes more sense than shying away from a high school teacher or principal just because they're "not from university". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashlay Posted July 30, 2007 Report Share Posted July 30, 2007 If the current principal doesn't know you, what's the advantage over a uni ref., I wonder? well the current principal knows my name, a uni ref would only know my student number Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hal Posted July 30, 2007 Report Share Posted July 30, 2007 i personally wouldn't do it since a hs teacher can only speak of your academic (or even ec) performance in hs and not at the university level (not as recent and not as relevant to meds). i'd go for a prof instead. just to rephrase what i meant, i'd go for a prof who can comment on my academic performance and maybe even character and campus involvement over a hs teacher who can do the same. its possible if ur tight with ur profs, but if u think ur just gonna be another #, i guess you've got work with what you have. good luck man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mezzamorra Posted July 31, 2007 Report Share Posted July 31, 2007 Well, I used my high school french teacher for a reference and was accepted at Western and Queens. To be fair, I didn't get interviews at U of T or Ottawa, which both seem to care a lot more about the whole application package, but I'm pretty sure Queens takes reference letters into account when making their final admissions decisions. I also know of several other people who have used high school teachers and are now happily (or exhaustedly) working on their medical education. If you had a teacher who you really connected with and maintained some degree of contact with, then why not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Posted July 31, 2007 Report Share Posted July 31, 2007 I agree with others, you have to pick someone who knows you. I would go with a hs teacher who knew you well instead of a principal who only knew your name, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katerade Posted July 31, 2007 Report Share Posted July 31, 2007 after speaking to some people who read apps for u of t, i replaced one of my references (a prof who i worked for but did not know me well) with a former boss who i worked for in grade 12 who did know me well, and wrote a glowing reference i'm sure. its SOOOOO much more important to have someone who knows you ... trust me on this. no one will care about how prestigeous your references are .... although i would say your grade 2 teacher would be pushing it. one thing to think of though, enure that your references are balanced .... ie: you dont want 3 profs or 3 former employers ...try to have a mix of academic and non academic .... i had a former employer in a medical field, a research supervisor, and a former employer in a non medical field (who knew me well). not ALL of them have to know you well ... just make it balanced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashlay Posted August 3, 2007 Report Share Posted August 3, 2007 Ok I think I have narrowed it down to who I am going to ask: 1. Former supervisor of 3 years 2. High school club supervisor/teacher that I'm still in contact with 3. Uni prof of a class that I did well in I figure that since the other 2 references know me very well I can get away with having a prof that doesn't know me (if he agrees to write it). Even if he does just state my mark, it shows that I have the initiative to ASK a prof. Does this sound like a good idea? I mean, it can't hurt to ask, and if he rejects me then I'll go with another high school teacher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue_eyes Posted August 4, 2007 Report Share Posted August 4, 2007 Ok I think I have narrowed it down to who I am going to ask: 1. Former supervisor of 3 years 2. High school club supervisor/teacher that I'm still in contact with 3. Uni prof of a class that I did well in I figure that since the other 2 references know me very well I can get away with having a prof that doesn't know me (if he agrees to write it). Even if he does just state my mark, it shows that I have the initiative to ASK a prof. Does this sound like a good idea? I mean, it can't hurt to ask, and if he rejects me then I'll go with another high school teacher. Hi Ashlay. I definitely think that you can get away with a prof who doesn't know you well personally as long as you approach them in the right way. My thinking is that profs at your university want to see grads/students from your university do well, so it's unlikely that he/she will say no! Also, when approaching your prof, I would make sure to throw in something like "I did really well in your challenging class, and not only does this show I have academic capabilities, but also that I used a lot of critical thinking/analytical skills/group work/independent study/high capacity for learning" or something that you think fits. That way when they write your letter it will be "This student excelled in a challenging course that required group work and critical thinking, and demonstrated excellent problem solving skills" instead of "This student received an A in Physics 101." Just something to think about, hope it helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joiningtherace Posted August 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2007 would ur research supervisor be considered an academic referee? I mean u are selected based on marks and then u apply ur knowledge in the lab right? I didnt want a prof cuz the only time they see me is when i have questions and its not that often that i go to prof directly so they will probly just be able to write 2 lines Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.