What do I do about reference letters

[Guest Andrea]

Hello to everyone:

 

My question is the following, where do students applying to med school get their references from?

 

I think I am competitive in the other areas (grades, volunteering, MCAT) but I am terrified about the references, I'm lost as to what to do. Does anybody have any suggestions. I have taken courses where I did really well and even got the top class mark, but I feel I am just a head in the sea of students and asking the prof for a reference would just produce a standard letter. I did not do any bio or med research over the summers because my degree is in chemical engineering (but I covered the prereq's). Any suggestions would be really really appreciated!

 

Thanks to all and good luck in the application/interview process.

 

Andrea

[Guest BCgirl]

I'm almost sure that you'll need at least one academic letter of reference by one of you're profs, so you'll have to try to find one of those. For the others, what about someone that you volunteered with (for example, one of my letters was from the recreation therapist that I volunteer with) or a boss or coach (if you play anything)?

 

Good luck!

[Guest UWOMED2005]

My advice probably isn't the best as I got into Western, which as far as I know doesn't check reference letters as far as I know. In fact, I think most schools only use the letters as a 'flag' (ie bad one could kill you but yours won't have to be excellent) but I could be entirely mistaken.

 

That being said, I used what I'll call the '3 different aspects of my life' approach. Med schools are all about well roundedness - having someone well known at your school (ie Dean, chancellor, etc.) is probably worthless as many of the people evaluating the letter won't know who they are. So I'd take one science prof at most because they don't know you out of class, if they know you at all. To balance that out I'd take someone from extra-curricular activities you've done: ie a sports team coach, volunteer program coordinator, etc. Finally, I'd also take a long-time family friend (ie neighbour, friend of your mothers, lady down the street whose kid used to babysit you.) They can testify to your long-term development of character - who you are as a person.

 

One last possibility if you can't find one of the others - your family physician (if you have one.) They've probably known you since you were a kid and as they've been through med school before, they'd be a good reference as to whether you can hack it.

 

Hope this helps.

[Guest Jase133]

From my knowledge, UWOMEDS got it right, at least for Canadian schools. For US schools (most schools), you will need 2+ references from academic profs.

 

So choose your references such as

1) Your family doctor or any sort of MD - your doctor friend can testify that you have what it takes to survive the curriculum as they have been through it themselves

 

2) A prof/supervisor - I'd advise that you don't go around this. It doesn't have to be from a science class. I'd recommend doing this. Do a moral philosophy course, have a lot of class participation, and do well in the course. Ask the philosophy prof to write you a letter. Generally, their letters are more well thought out than the ones from science (I find).

 

3) Volunteer Coordinator/Employer - Wherever you volunteered and who KNOWS you well. I also know of a guy who asked the father of a kid with whom he coached sports. That's also good.

 

Hope this helps

[Guest RAK2005]

I'm gonna give you my side of things, and it is not necessarily typical of most, but it worked for me...

 

I used three professors, two of which were PhDs from my department, and one MD who was a family friend. The reasons I chose them were not only because of their positions at the university, but because they actually knew me well.

 

Most people say you really need letters from "a volunteering, academic and community source" but I think the major factor is getting people to give INSIGHTFUL comments about the applicant, and state something about personal attributes...not just academic potential. Your transcript and MCAT scores speak volumes about whether you'll do well in medicine or not. The letters should really paint a favourable picture of you, without sounding cliched. Easily said, but it is actually hard to get someone to really put the effort into a unique letter.

 

One last piece of advice: Make certain that you're going to get a glowing report! My friend got burned a couple of years ago getting a letter that stated he was "an average applicant".... yikes.

 

Thus, whether you use varied sources or not may not be crucial as long as the letters give a consistent picture of what you're like as a person.

[Guest BennyG]

I must agree with RAK2005. Variety in references should not be the ultimate goal, but rather the quality of the references. Yes, GPA and MCAT are markers of academic and intellectual ability that don't need to be repeated in a reference letter. However, by the same argument, an applicant's "well-roundedness" and personality can be discerned from their written submissions, autobiograhical sketches, and interview. If those components of the application scream out SUPER-GEEK, then a ref from your best friend's mom will not help you! The references only confirm that others perceive you in the same manner in which you perceive yourself.

 

At least with Ontario and its standard OMSAS reference forms, one can compare the content of the letters reasonably well. Whether three fantastic refs from MDs carry as much admissions-power as three equally fantastic refs from one MD, one volunteer boss and one varsity sports coach, I don't know. It probably is also strongly dependent on context, i.e. the "how long have you known the applicant and in what capacity" part of the form.

 

Bad refs CAN kill an application, it happened to a friend of mine. Personally, I do not understand people who agree to write references knowing they will be ineffective. Although it requires a bit of courage and interpersonal skills, declining an applicant's request for a letter is better than secretly drafting a crapper that kills their chances. Then again, applicants should probably be perceptive enough to know who will give them a good, if not great, reference. The problem arises when your available reference pool is very small, or if the input of certain individuals is mandatory for the application (e.g. grad students needing to submit a ref from their supervisor).