wonderkid Posted August 31, 2011 Report Share Posted August 31, 2011 Hey guys, just a question about the referees, in particular I'm having trouble finding an "academic" referee. My other 2 referees are taken care of (a supervising physician I have volunteered with, and a coach from my varsity team that knows me quite well, both have known me for at least 3 years) Just FYI, I'm applying mainly to Ontario med schools, and it seems that the consensus around here is that the academic reference doesn't necessarily have to be a professor. So here is my dilemma, there is a prof who I will be starting a 4th year research thesis project with beginning in September but am hesitant to ask for a reference simply because he will not have known me for very long (I've taken another class of his before in my 2nd year, but didn't know each other personally back then). Because the final deadline for the references is beginning of December, even then will he only have known me for about 2 1/2 months. Btw, does anyone know if your references aren't in by Oct. 3, does it hurt your application, or even worse, won't be considered by Western, or Mac? My other option is to ask a postdoc who I worked under while volunteering in a lab who has known me since the beginning of this year (over 8 months now). I can't ask that professor (who the postdoc works under) because we barely know each other, so the postdoc is really the only one who would be able to write a good reference. Now, my question is, would asking this postdoc be alright for my "academic" reference? Or would the better option be to wait and hopefully get a letter from my research thesis prof who I won't start working with until September? One last question would be, what exactly should an academic reference letter have? Like, what sort of things should I be asking my referee to write about as an academic reference. The only thing I can think of is commenting on my grades, courses, and how I balanced keeping grades up while holding extracurriculars? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
<abstract> Posted August 31, 2011 Report Share Posted August 31, 2011 Hey guys, just a question about the referees, in particular I'm having trouble finding an "academic" referee. My other 2 referees are taken care of (a supervising physician I have volunteered with, and a coach from my varsity team that knows me quite well, both have known me for at least 3 years) Just FYI, I'm applying mainly to Ontario med schools, and it seems that the consensus around here is that the academic reference doesn't necessarily have to be a professor. So here is my dilemma, there is a prof who I will be starting a 4th year research thesis project with beginning in September but am hesitant to ask for a reference simply because he will not have known me for very long (I've taken another class of his before in my 2nd year, but didn't know each other personally back then). Because the final deadline for the references is beginning of December, even then will he only have known me for about 2 1/2 months. Btw, does anyone know if your references aren't in by Oct. 3, does it hurt your application, or even worse, won't be considered by Western, or Mac? My other option is to ask a postdoc who I worked under while volunteering in a lab who has known me since the beginning of this year (over 8 months now). I can't ask that professor (who the postdoc works under) because we barely know each other, so the postdoc is really the only one who would be able to write a good reference. Now, my question is, would asking this postdoc be alright for my "academic" reference? Or would the better option be to wait and hopefully get a letter from my research thesis prof who I won't start working with until September? One last question would be, what exactly should an academic reference letter have? Like, what sort of things should I be asking my referee to write about as an academic reference. The only thing I can think of is commenting on my grades, courses, and how I balanced keeping grades up while holding extracurriculars? Personally I think that the post-doc would make a great 'academic' reference. I don't think the academic reference is limited as a prof. who tought you in a couple of courses. I consider research under the umbrella term of academia and as such it should be fine. It is better to have a reference that can speak to your qualifications than one that you barely know. Just be sure to explain to your referee that he/she speaks to your academic abilities, and effort you put in your work.. ect.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jojoluvsu2 Posted August 31, 2011 Report Share Posted August 31, 2011 The only thing OMSAS says about ref letters not being received by the Oct3 deadline is that it could delay your file getting reviewed by the schools. It won't officially disqualify your app from any schools (provided they're in by Dec 1), but who knows how they will personally react to a late reference letter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted September 3, 2011 Report Share Posted September 3, 2011 The postdoc can write the LOR for the signature of the prof. My immediate supervisor in volunteering wrote the letter for the physician heading the organization who signed the letter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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