Dr. Happy Hippo Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 Hi How much of an impact do you think a reference letter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddong Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 HiHow much of an impact do you think a reference letter from John Hopkins would have? I can design a collaboration with some researchers there, and I would not think that the reference letter would be very strong, but just say that yeah there was some work done, etc. I heard that its a big plus to have a reference letter from IVY league university - or even as a supplementary reference for Toronto....Suggestions/advice? I don't think the name of the researcher or the school of which its from matters. Its the content thats important, the more in-depth the letter, the better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0T6 Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 I think a reference from JH himself would be more impressive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ollie Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 HiHow much of an impact do you think a reference letter from John Hopkins would have? I can design a collaboration with some researchers there, and I would not think that the reference letter would be very strong, but just say that yeah there was some work done, etc. I heard that its a big plus to have a reference letter from IVY league university - or even as a supplementary reference for Toronto....Suggestions/advice? No this would not be good idea. Reference letter are evaluated based on content. There is no score for the letterhead on which they are printed. If the person barely knows you (and if they are a collaborator in another city they might not even have met you) and cannot write a detailed letter about you, then this is not going to help your application. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solocup Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 What Ollie said is exactly right. By the way, Johns Hopkins, although an excellent school, is not an Ivy League institution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bustylegs Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 HiHow much of an impact do you think a reference letter from John Hopkins would have?/QUOTE] I thought it was called Johns Hopkins? I agree with other posters. Content >>> name Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0T6 Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 I don't think anyone commented on who's "better" - they're just saying JH isn't "Ivy League" (Brown, Cornell, Columbia, Dartmouth, Yale, Princeton, Harvard, U Penn) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostintime Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 Maybe the US does care about who the reference letter is from, especially if it's an Ivy school. As long as it doesn't say "I've sat and talked to this person once. They seemed nice enough." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laika Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 thanks, what i meant that is if i go ahead with this reference letter, is JH or Harvard or Yale better or are they all the same? my supervisor has ties with people from lots of institutions, so this could work. The "best" one is the one where the PI works who can give a fair and accurate appraisal of your strengths, abilities, character, and suitability for medicine. The PI should be in an excellent position to judge your communication skills, and interpersonal qualities. Ad coms want to learn about you as a person, not collect letterhead from prestigious US universities. It's funny you happen to ask this... The past year I worked closely with a couple of profs from Hopkins. We exchanged several e-mails a week, but when U of T's supplemental letters were due in December, I had never met them in person. I didn't feel comfortable asking someone for a letter who I had never met in person. I finally made it down to visit them in January... at which point one of them asked me if I needed any more reference letters for med school, since he would be very happy to write me a strong letter. Oh well... hopefully it doesn't make or break my U of T application. At least I know I can ask him for one next time around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winnipegguy Posted March 24, 2008 Report Share Posted March 24, 2008 Well, Dr. House went to John Hopkins so the reference letter would obviously look good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquaman Posted March 24, 2008 Report Share Posted March 24, 2008 But he also got kicked out for cheating... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhoenixFlare500 Posted March 24, 2008 Report Share Posted March 24, 2008 Well, Dr. House went to John Hopkins so the reference letter would obviously look good. Oh dude, just get a reference from House and you're so in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.