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Academic Lors For Non-Trads


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Hi all,

 

I am a non-trad who graduated a few years ago in engineering. I feel that the academic connections I made in undergrad were not the strongest. I feel that my connections with my current previous managers/volunteer supervisors are much stronger, as I believe they will be able to write stronger reference letters. The only thing my previous profs could really talk about is my grades, but I submit my transcript so what is the point really?

 

I am going to apply to Ontario schools only, and I am wondering whether the lack of an academic reference letter (from a prof) will hurt me. Will I be fine if I just get reference letters from previous managers/volunteer supervisors?

 

Thanks! 

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I'll bite (because no one else has apparently). I guess I'm a non trad as I've been working full-time the last couple of years before starting med this fall. As a result I took a gamble and didn't use any of my profs as references. It paid off for me this year and I got into three med schools including UofT where references count for a lot. So it can be done successfully!

 

Feel free to PM me if you have questions or want details :)

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I'm also a non-traditional student and I don't have any academic references. I have two references from people that have overseen my work and a reference from a volunteer coordinator. I haven't applied to any Ontario schools though, but looks like penguin04 was successful without an academic reference, so my advice would be to just get letters from the people that will provide the best references. 

 

Best of luck with your application!  :)

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I'm also a non-traditional student and I don't have any academic references. I have two references from people that have overseen my work and a reference from a volunteer coordinator. I haven't applied to any Ontario schools though, but looks like penguin04 was successful without an academic reference, so my advice would be to just get letters from the people that will provide the best references.

 

Best of luck with your application! :)

Granted I had an "academic" reference who was an MD that spoke of my aptitude as a researcher, but he never actually taught me, he was my supervisor at work.

 

To the OP, the guidelines for references are vague for a reason. Find the best references you can, not the cookie cutter ones you think you need.

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