Additional letters of reference from graduate applicants

[Guest x]

hi,

 

according to the omsas website/booklet graduate applicants to U of T are

permitted to submit additional letters of reference directly to U of T. for those

who have gone through the application procedure or others that are familiar with it, how many letters should one submit? from who? any specific advice?

 

thank you.

[Guest Ian Wong]

Here's a post by Kirsteen that I've copied and pasted into this thread.

 

Ian

UBC, Med 3

 

 

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Hi there,

 

Regarding the liberty that grad students have to send extra letters, I believe at one point that the booklet stated that these letters should come from members of your thesis committee or graduate supervisor, or something along those sorts of graduate studies lines. However, when I applied last year, I chucked that advice out the window and took that prompt as an opportunity to pull out some stops. Thus, a host of extra letters were sent to support my application (although I was careful to try not to sacrifice quality for quantity). These came from: one of my best pals who is an Ob/Gyn; the counseling co-ordinator at the place I volunteer; my varsity squash coach; one of my MBA teammates, and finally, the Assistant Dean (and one of my profs) of my MBA program.

 

In writing these down here, it appears excessive, but at the time, I didn't wish to hold anything back in the application process. Thankfully, I did receive some feedback from Admissions at UT regarding my application and (phew!) they weren't turned off by the number of letters that came in--supposedly the Letter of Ref section mark of my application was excellent. (Not that it bloody well worked, mind you!)

 

In any case, given that the LoR score still factors in to the ultimate selection of undergrad MD candidates, this year it's pretty much the same approach for me, with a few different letters thrown in, e.g., one from my Organic Chem prof from this summer and the Dean of Phys. Ed. However, this year I feel better with respect to the quantity that have been submitted given that MD/PhD applications require something on the order of ~43 reference letters to begin with.

 

Overall, try to make sure that your letters, no matter who they come from, are relevant, truthful and effective. They do not have to be written by Deans nor professors nor other illuminati to be good. As my Orgo prof stated this summer, "Well, I can write you one of three letters: a so-so letter, a good letter, or one that works"! Hopefully the wee bugger, and your LoR writers, go for the latter!

 

Good luck,

Kirsteen

[Guest phil]

I too was wondering about this. Based on what I have herd, additional letters really dont add much unless they are stellar. In fact, one current med student suggested that it can do more harm. I am of the opinion that the three letters sent to OMSAS should be sufficient unless there is a HUGE discrepancy in your file and a letter can adress that.

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hi phil,

 

I completely agree with you: I wouldn't suggest anyone have additional letters sent in to UT (if a graduate applicant) unless they are excellent letters. Too much of a so-so thing can potentially wreak havoc with a decent application.

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

[Guest tom]

hey Kirsteen,

 

I am in a similar position to you; I am applying (for the first time) as a graduate student from a course-based masters, so I am naturally curious as to what you think was the weakness in your application last year? i.e. do you think a course-based masters puts us at a disadvantage? Do you think our undergrad GPA has more importance than those grad students applying from a research masters? importance of grad courses?

 

cheers

tom

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hey there tom,

 

Regarding a course-based Master's, honestly, I'm not sure if it puts folks like you and me at a disadvantage (within the graduate applicant pool). I don't have that kind of intimate knowledge regarding the UT graduate applicant admissions process. It depends, I suppose, on the reasons behind why UT have given graduate applicants a separate set of criteria by which to be judged. If it is because they feel that they would like more research-based students within their medical community (an idea which I've heard that Dean Naylor is keen on), then it may mean that research-based degrees are more favourable to have during the application process. I do know, however, at least one other person who applied with an entirely course-based Master's and managed to gain entry two years ago. (That doesn't prove too much, however!!)

 

From speaking with a UT admissions officer earlier this year, I am told that graduate courses are examined to a greater degree than undergrad, for graduate applicants, so it seems that graduate GPA may be a bigger factor than undergraduate. I also understand that the reference letters are supposed to count for a good bit. Again though, the actual ratio of components for the composite score is beyond my knowledge.

 

With respect to my own application, I was told that apparently my essay was the albatross--which, honestly, was a wee bit of a shocker. (You can bet that a little time was spent on that component this year!!)

 

Sorry that I can't share more info with you--I wish I had it to dish out.

 

Cheers and best of luck,

Kirsteen

 

PS: What sort of course-based Master's did you end up working on?

[Guest BennyG]

Hi Kirsteen, Tom, Phil:

 

My first impression (and hope) would be that each graduate application is assessed on its own merit, with a very loose, if non-existent, formula. Given that M.Sc. programs and student publications vary in terms of quality, I think that it would be difficult to simply use a numerical approach and not focus on the holistic quality of the application. The candidate with 5 publications is not necessarily better than the one with 3.

 

If you completed a course-based M.Sc. with very good standing, that would be better than a research M.Sc. with no publications and mediocre course grades. On the other hand, a very successful publication record, combined with good course grades, will probably be difficult to beat at a place like UT. However, one would hope that an admissions committee would not expect publications out of a program that had no research component. In any case, no use fretting it now (I've been telling myself that one a lot recently). Submit your grades (which I am sure are just fine) and good luck.

 

Happy Holidays everyone!

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hi BennyG (and other grad applicants here),

 

Would you guys care to share your background, e.g., graduate program, school, research...? I'm interested in hearing where my co-swimmers (in this grad applicant pool--ouch!) have come from.

 

From my side: unless it hasn't been patently obvious via previous postings, I'm an Queen's MBA-ite (thesis: launch of a non-invasive, non-surgical, optical coherence tomography biopsy device).

 

Hopefully we'll have the opportunity to meet chez one of the UT interview weekends.

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

[Guest BennyG]

Hey Kirsteen,

 

I also did an M.Sc., but a "standard" research-based M.Sc. at UT. In terms of courses, I had a seminar course and some lecture courses, so I am not sure how the adcoms will assess my graduate GPA (which, incidentally, is alphabetical only, not numeric) compared to other applicants. My research was a lot of PCR, biochemistry and molecular biology, petri dishes, histology, etc. Sometimes it was kinda neat (despite a previous rant of mine against my time in grad school), but I left it a while ago to do other research which I enjoyed more. If you are truly interested in the whole spiel I'll e-mail you but I warn you, my life ain't that interesting! 8)

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hi again BennyG,

 

Sure, I'd love to hear more about your research deals. Give me an e-shout--I'd like to hear about the later research that you found yourself in, too.

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen