trojjanhorse Posted September 12, 2012 Report Share Posted September 12, 2012 Hello, I'm kinda lost on this. Our referees need to have their CAF (Confidential Assessment Forms) complete by Oct1. On the CAF, it asks for the referee to "comment on the applicant's moral and ethical character; strengths and weaknesses; outstanding characteristics; and your ranking of the application from the chart and the questions below." The above "comment" is that the LOR? or is that something that needs to accompany the CAF for completion purposes? The LOR can be submitted to OMSAS later correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
med11 Posted September 12, 2012 Report Share Posted September 12, 2012 Yes, I think that the "comment" is what people would usually call a letter of reference (LOR). However, I'm not confused as to if both the CAF and the Comments/LOR could be sent it after Oct. 1st for certain schools OR if the CAF needs to be in for Oct. 1st, and the Comments/LOR is what could be sent it later. Any clarification is appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trojjanhorse Posted September 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2012 you sure comments = LOR? fu** i need more info on this. I'll call omsas tomorrow and will comment here once i know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerr Posted September 12, 2012 Report Share Posted September 12, 2012 Basically each referee will need to fill in the CAF (basically a questionaire + their signatures etc) in addition to writing a personalized detailed reference letter about you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trojjanhorse Posted September 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2012 Thanks L. so those personalized detailed letters must be in before the university in question requires them by, correct? EDIT: Just called OUAC and they said you only submit the form + LOR. They strongly suggest that we submit it together on Oct1 though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBookWorm Posted September 13, 2012 Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 Thanks L.so those personalized detailed letters must be in before the university in question requires them by, correct? EDIT: Just called OUAC and they said you only submit the form + LOR. They strongly suggest that we submit it together on Oct1 though. I contacted them too and received the exact same reply. One more confirmation. Now off to running around after my referees... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
med11 Posted September 13, 2012 Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 Does this mean that if a school's LOR deadline is Dec. 1st, we could send the LOR and CAF after Oct. 1st (but before Dec. 1st)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTJ Posted September 13, 2012 Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 If the deadline is Dec 1st, it means you just have to get it in on/before/post-marked (check with school on that one) Dec 1st. You don't have to wait until after Oct. 1st. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w_robin Posted September 15, 2012 Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 If the deadline is Dec 1st, it means you just have to get it in on/before/post-marked (check with school on that one) Dec 1st. You don't have to wait until after Oct. 1st. If it's anything like last year - the date is a "received by". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trojjanhorse Posted September 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 Does this mean that if a school's LOR deadline is Dec. 1st, we could send the LOR and CAF after Oct. 1st (but before Dec. 1st)? The CAF needs to be submitted first by Oct 1st if you decide to submit the LOR later. Then you call them and make sure they match your LOR with your CAF. OMSAS peeps just don't want the bloody extra work so they encourage us to submit together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTJ Posted September 15, 2012 Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 If it's anything like last year - the date is a "received by". I think this depends on the school... I called McMaster and they said post-marked by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
med11 Posted September 15, 2012 Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 The CAF needs to be submitted first by Oct 1st if you decide to submit the LOR later. Then you call them and make sure they match your LOR with your CAF. OMSAS peeps just don't want the bloody extra work so they encourage us to submit together. So you are sure that for all schools the CAF needs to be in by October 1st? And if the LOR is sent in alone (w/o the CAF), should a note with your OMSAS User ID or something be included in order for the LOR to be associated with your file? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazzle Posted September 15, 2012 Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 Holy ****! What!? I have been putting off asking my profs if they would like to be a referee thinking I just needed their name down by Oct1. FFS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazzle Posted September 15, 2012 Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 "Referees must attach a separate letter, printed on their usual stationery, elaborating on the information provided on the assessment form." I think this means your school accepts the CAF at the same time as the LOR. Please someone give substansive proof to the contrary. This is very important! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
med11 Posted September 15, 2012 Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 Holy ****! What!? I have been putting off asking my profs if they would like to be a referee thinking I just needed their name down by Oct1. FFS! I'm in the same exact situation as you. I'm now very confused as to what needs to be in when. I'm hoping CAF + LOR could both be in post-Oct. 1st. I'll be calling OMSAS tomorrow. Worst case scenario: CAF needs to be in by Oct. 1st; I go see my referees ASAP and ask them if they could send out CAF in 2-3 days, and then send out LOR/attached comments 1-2 weeks later (as most schools' LOR deadline is past Oct. 1st, but I'm not sure whether this also implies that the CAF could also be in past Oct 1st). If anyone has a sure answer, please respond! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanmari Posted September 16, 2012 Report Share Posted September 16, 2012 I have a reply from Wendy for McMaster who told me that both the CAF and the LOR can be sent post-Oct 1st. This was my email to her: "Is this grace period provided for the letter of reference AND the OMSAS confidential assessment form, or for the letter only? That is, will my referees still need to submit their CAFs to OMSAS by Oct. 1st for my application to remain valid, regardless of whether they send in the letter portion by that date?" And this was her reply: "It's for both. The letter and form should be sent together." So that is confirmation that for McMaster, at least, the CAF and the LOR can both go in after the Oct. 1st OMSAS deadline. I'm waiting on replies from other universities, I'll keep you guys posted. EDIT: I meant to say Wendy from McMaster, NOT Angela from UT. I apologize for the confusion I might've caused. Also, note that McMaster doesn't have a specified due date of their own...they just have this murky "grace period". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazzle Posted September 16, 2012 Report Share Posted September 16, 2012 I have a reply from Wendy for McMaster who told me that both the CAF and the LOR can be sent post-Oct 1st. This was my email to her: "Is this grace period provided for the letter of reference AND the OMSAS confidential assessment form, or for the letter only? That is, will my referees still need to submit their CAFs to OMSAS by Oct. 1st for my application to remain valid, regardless of whether they send in the letter portion by that date?" And this was her reply: "It's for both. The letter and form should be sent together." So that is confirmation that for McMaster, at least, the CAF and the LOR can both go in after the Oct. 1st OMSAS deadline. I'm waiting on replies from other universities, I'll keep you guys posted. EDIT: I meant to say Wendy from McMaster, NOT Angela from UT. I apologize for the confusion I might've caused. Also, note that McMaster doesn't have a specified due date of their own...they just have this murky "grace period". Thanks for this concrete email response. I look forward to seeing the response from UWO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanmari Posted September 19, 2012 Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 Sorry, still waiting on the other universities' replies - I'll try contacting them again and get back to here as soon as I hear from them. In the meanwhile, if anyone else has concrete answers, please tell us! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazzle Posted September 19, 2012 Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 Sorry, still waiting on the other universities' replies - I'll try contacting them again and get back to here as soon as I hear from them. In the meanwhile, if anyone else has concrete answers, please tell us! Thanks! The CAF - I have finally been able to download a copy to see what it looks like - takes 5 minutes to fill out. It doesn't ask that the prof type anything but simply to check a few boxes. It certainly looks like a coverpage for the LOR. It has official information about the applicant, the referee, etc. So I think it is definitely made to be attached to the LOR. In other words, I don't see why OMSAS would want this form before the LOR. On it's own, it's almost useless. It's main use is to serve as an official cover page for the letter of reference that your referee writes on his/her letterheard paper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanmari Posted September 19, 2012 Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 The CAF - I have finally been able to download a copy to see what it looks like - takes 5 minutes to fill out. It doesn't ask that the prof type anything but simply to check a few boxes. It certainly looks like a coverpage for the LOR. It has official information about the applicant, the referee, etc. So I think it is definitely made to be attached to the LOR. In other words, I don't see why OMSAS would want this form before the LOR. On it's own, it's almost useless. It's main use is to serve as an official cover page for the letter of reference that your referee writes on his/her letterheard paper. That makes sense. I just received a reply from Angela from Toronto (for real this time!) who told me: "The grace period includes the confidential assessment forms. Best, Angela" And so it's confirmed that both the LOR and the CAF can be sent by Dec. 1st for Toronto, and it seems likely that this would be true for other universities (e.g. UWO, Queen's) that have not yet replied to me, as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w_robin Posted September 21, 2012 Report Share Posted September 21, 2012 That makes sense. I just received a reply from Angela from Toronto (for real this time!) who told me: "The grace period includes the confidential assessment forms. Best, Angela" And so it's confirmed that both the LOR and the CAF can be sent by Dec. 1st for Toronto, and it seems likely that this would be true for other universities (e.g. UWO, Queen's) that have not yet replied to me, as well. Application Bulletin makes it clear that Queen's is Nov. 1 deadline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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