applications:S

[Guest epsilon11]

The deadline for applications is soon approaching. I'm in my 4th year of undergrad, and will have BSc in less than a year. Still, I am worried about applying - for a very specific reason. I'll list exactly what I'm going in with, for comparison purposes.

 

GPA - 4.2 approximately(cumulative)

MCAT - 8/10/S/11 (I don't like the 8, but there's nothing I can do about it now, since I'll never write them again)

Extracurricular stuff - 2 student societies(4 years), 1 volunteer place(2 years), 3 bands(7 years), visual and auditory art( lifetime )

References -This is the tricky part. I don't know who to choose. See, I keep hearing " from the most senior person who knows you well"..for me, I have "maybe" one professor who I would think knows me well enough to write a reference. Most of the people who can vouch for my personality are regular non-academic people from my hometown. However, I haven't seen some of them since I came to university, which would make the last 3 years almost impossible to comment on. Additionally, coming from a small town that didn't have many doctors, I had a different family doctor every year, so none got to know me well enough to provide reference. I have lab experience, but the professors who run the lab aren't around enough to validate being a referee. I have also volunteered for 2 years in an emergency room. The shifts are constantly changing and the nurses and doctors are extremely busy all the time, so they haven't had the time to get to know me.

Wow - I've written a lot; understand I am worried that the only thing stopping me from doing what I've wanted to do for as long as I can remember will be the fact that I didn't know the right people. Additionally, when I do choose references, how many places should I request they send their letters to? Is there a limit, beyond which would be impolite?|I

I would appreciate any opinion that anyone has on this. If you are a med student now, please let me know about what kind of people your references were, so that I may use it to consider who I choose.

 

Thank you

[Guest seedstrike]

The people I chose for references were: two profs at school and my supervisor at work. I don't think most schools weigh the references as heavily as it seems you believe. So as long as your references don't say something completely negative about you, you should be okay. In my case, my work supervisor showed me the ref he wrote for me and it was nothing spectacular (even though I thought it should have been considering my track record at work). I still got in.

 

Three letters of ref from people who know you fairly well should be enough. In Ontario, the letters have to be sent to OMSAS (the central agency in charge of med apps) directly so your refs won't have to send the letters to multiple places.

 

In the end, I don't think the ref letters will make or break your chances of getting into med school. I don't even think they will play a significant (if at all) role in getting you past the interview cutoff. So find someone who knows you relatively well (and is not related to you, of course) and have them write a letter for you. My experience in undergrad was that if you went to prof's office hours enough, showed interest in the classes, and did fairly well in the classes, they would happily write a letter for you. I know it probably wouldn't be an earth shattering letter filled with praises but I think it would do. And if you still can't think of anyone who would be able to write a letter for you, than nows the time to start getting involved in your classes.

[Guest Lactic Folly]

Ack, I hear you - I've been continuously involved in many things over the years, but there is little opportunity for repeated contact with a supervisory-type person!

 

If you're applying to Saskatchewan or Manitoba, they ask for reference letters fairly late - perhaps you could try really hard to get to know your current term professors in those smaller 4th year classes?

 

I hate to pile so much paperwork on my referees (a bunch now; a couple more again in Dec/Jan), but I don't see that I have much choice, as my pool of available referees is limited and I need letters that will strengthen my application. Just try to help them as much as possible, and get them a nice thank you gift after this whole process is over I'm sure they understand it's not your fault there's a different set of instructions, forms, and deadlines for each school :/

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hi there,

 

Regarding letters of reference, which schools out there weigh your letters highly in the grand scheme of the admissions process as opposed to simply using them as "bad apple" flags? For example, it seems that UBC may regard letters relatively highly, but what about Calgary, UofT, Ottawa, etc.?

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

[Guest LIPOSUCTIONATOR]

I'm only familiar with the OMSAS schools, and I know for sure Western doesn't place too much emphasis on references. I believe Queen's regards references highly because on their PIF form they ask you why you chose your references. I also believe U of T also will regard them highly, especially if you get a research supervisor who is able to comment positively on your research potential. This is only my 2 cents, so please nobody regard it as doctrine.

 

A good ref is is one willing to write it a reference on the spot and break the confidentiality rule for you. That means they agree to give it to you afterwards (whether the envelop is sealed or not is up to them) so you don't have to pester them afterwards. It's bad enough having to ask people for references (I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels uncomfortable doing this) but to get back to them and have the audacity to ask them if they've remembered to do it? I'd rather write the MCAT 7 x in one week!