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Letter of Recommendation


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The quality of the content is probably more important than the title of the pereson writing it (of course as long as it is a reputable person). It's important that the writer knows you quite well, and is able to comment accurately about you in a meaningful way.

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IMO, name matters only slightly, and only if the evaluator knows who they are-- the chances of that happening are very slim. What is far more important is what the letter says, and this is what the letters are graded on and not on who wrote it. So if you got a letter from Robert Edwards (Nobel laurete 2010) and he only says that ya... this person worked in my lab and i kinda sawhim... this is not really going to impress the ad com.

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You want credible letters that strongly advocate for you based upon details of you given in the letter personally known by the writer. I supplied each of my references with my CV, transcript and a motivational letter so I had no doubt about there being any gaps of knowledge about me.

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You want credible letters that strongly advocate for you based upon details of you given in the letter personally known by the writer. I supplied each of my references with my CV, transcript and a motivational letter so I had no doubt about there being any gaps of knowledge about me.

 

I like your strategy :D.

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To expand a little: Resumes are usually 1 or 2 complete pages. CVs are for comprehensive lists of experiences and can go on pages and pages. A prof could have a resume (with highlights of their research and accomplishments) and also a CV (with lists of papers, abstracts, students supervised, invited presentations, patents, etc). Most people just have a resume. CVs tend to be bo-oring!

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My CV does not fill out 2 full pages, it has lots of spacing for an easy read and tells everything a person needs to know about me at a glance.

 

My transcript lets them know of my academic history. My motivational letter ties all together my history, my passion, my motivation, it is an excellent read and tool so as to motivate the person to advocate strongly for me.

 

In other words, I have marketed myself well and expected the person giving the LOR to strongly advocate for me.

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That sounds like a fantastic package you have there! I was wondering how you would compare a cover letter and a motivational letter, as I am planning to write something as well, but just not sure which to write (or if there is much difference).

 

Thanks!

 

My CV does not fill out 2 full pages, it has lots of spacing for an easy read and tells everything a person needs to know about me at a glance.

 

My transcript lets them know of my academic history. My motivational letter ties all together my history, my passion, my motivation, it is an excellent read and tool so as to motivate the person to advocate strongly for me.

 

In other words, I have marketed myself well and expected the person giving the LOR to strongly advocate for me.

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A cover letter says "Attached hereto please find blah blah", whereas a motivational story tells your story. Think of the McGill autiobio (and abstract), think of the U/T Essay, the only difference being it is directed to one person (more than one time, haha) and tells your story. It should not go beyond 2 pages max. A

nd you end saying that you are enclosing other documentation that you hope will be useful.

 

AND as douchebags actually exist everywhere, in the ideal world, you hand it to the person in person with a request for a strong LOR and you can see if there body language matches their verbal answer.

 

Going one step further, you might ask if a draft LOR might be useful for consideration:D and change (which would save a thoughtful person lots of time) and if the answer is in the affirmaative, you pull out Exhibit A :D for their consideration :D (with Exhibit B being for the next referee). :P

 

Unfortunately, we are loeft to our own devices in matters about which we have no experience or training and this is the beauty of self-help amongst us all on this marvelous forum.

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thanks a lot John for these posts, i remember u mentioning u did this in other posts too...got me thinking about those LOR's. when i read about the OMSAS ABS i thought it would basically be a short story about my life, so i had some wine and proceeded to write. it was a motivating experience. but now i know that the ABS is a detailed list of experiences, not an essay, however i can give my story to my ref's, along with 'scripts and resume.

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Hey tg, a pleasure. You have your act together, you have some great potential referees and certainly for the MD, you might consider priming the pump with a draft for his/her consideration. Best of luck with NOMS, sounds most promising! :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

If the OMSAS online application hasn't opened yet, should I still approach my referee asking for a letter without having the confidential assessment form? Or is that something that I shouldn't worry about and ask anyways? :)

 

Thanks!

 

Four-six weeks before deadline, thereby leaving you time to regroup if required.
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I think it's a good idea to approach them early - that way they can start thinking/drafting while their memories of you are still fresh, and it gives you time to find an alternate if that becomes necessary. Once they've agreed, you can tell them you'll follow up with the form later.
I agree. Plus, it allows a referee to really think about if they have time to write you a strong letter. It's better to have your referees picked out early than to have to struggle to find someone later on in the summer.
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I think it's a good idea to approach them early - that way they can start thinking/drafting while their memories of you are still fresh, and it gives you time to find an alternate if that becomes necessary. Once they've agreed, you can tell them you'll follow up with the form later.

 

I agree. Plus, it allows a referee to really think about if they have time to write you a strong letter. It's better to have your referees picked out early than to have to struggle to find someone later on in the summer.

 

+1 I notified my referees during the summer when the application system opened up. Gave them ample time to develop the LOR and also gave me time to continue checking in with them and build on that relationship even more.

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Thanks for the great input! I have my three referees for OMSAS in mind right now, but I wonder if OMSAS will be sending the form to my referees directly or will I be forwarding it to them?

 

Also, if I plan to apply to a medical school outside of Ontario (non-OMSAS) and plan to use the same referees, how should I go about doing this?

 

Thanks!

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Thanks for the great input! I have my three referees for OMSAS in mind right now, but I wonder if OMSAS will be sending the form to my referees directly or will I be forwarding it to them?

 

Also, if I plan to apply to a medical school outside of Ontario (non-OMSAS) and plan to use the same referees, how should I go about doing this?

 

Thanks!

OMSAS gives you the forms (they're generated online) and then you give them to the referees (you can do this in person or save the form as a pdf and email it to the referee).

 

Each non-OMSAS school is different. Many give you the form to print and give to the referee. But some schools (like Calgary) send the form/email link directly to the referee. It depends on the school.

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