UKC

Hello,

I know there are lots of academic types on here so I thought I'd run this by you (and I do already have a plan in place!)

I'm putting in an application for a Masters at the moment, and one of the things it asks for is two academic references. I graduated sixteen years ago so there's nobody at my old university who'd be able to give that reference. I've spoken to the university I'm applying to and they say it isn't a problem, they just need someone who can vouch for me having been there - is that how it works everywhere?

Also, having (finally) read some relatively fine print, it turns out I have to sort out my own references, i.e. getting people to fill in the form. That seems like an unusual way of going about things - is it common practice?

In reply to Tall Clare:

This sounds similar to me although less time had elapsed. I applied to an Irish Uni to do a PhD after a gap of about 8 years. (I had originally graduated from Manchester.) There were similar hoops to jump through, with two sealed references required with accompanying forms.

I was lucky enough to still know a few people from my undergraduate years and they helped me track down two of my lecturers. One had moved to Canada and the other was near California, so there was a bit of forward and backward posting of forms. One form had to be sent twice because I stupidly forgot to sign it!

You might be able to ask your previous Uni where some of your lecturers or personal tutor are now/at last known institution?

Good luck though. It was the best decision I ever made! (Saying this with 2 months to go...)

In reply to Tall Clare:


Your old university department should be able to look up their records and provide a reference stating what course you did and what marks you obtained. I suggest you contact the current Director of Undergraduate Studies in that department.


Fairly common, yes. Either the request to the referee comes from the applicant, or from the place you're applying to; both are common.

In reply to Tall Clare:

In the states you often submit your own references.. so ask someone for a letter then submit it..

I hate it.

A Uni probably wouldn't check references.

In reply to Tall Clare:

Hi

I do PhD admissions, and have done MA admissions in the past. The 'get your own references' practice is very common and expected in the academic world.

Who to get: Think about the content from the selector's point of view. I want to know if you can study, think and write (this is for a social science dept), so who can give you an appropriate ref? Many employers can, if your work has been at all relevant in skills terms. I'd suggest talking it through with the academic, not the administrator, involved in selection - and if they won't then I'd reconsider where to apply! Our job is to make sure that we get good students who will complete their courses (apart from the completely cynical tossers who see their role as getting in poor students whose fate is irrelevant once they've paid their fees) so a selector should be fairly sympathetic and flexible.

Email me if you want.

SteveC

In reply to SteveC:

Thanks for this - I've had a chat with one of the academic team, who I actually know through previous employment. He's said they could do with one academic reference, to placate the university administrators, but it's fine for the other to be an employment reference. I'm a freelancer so I think I've picked the most suitable of my clients, as the work I'm doing for them is directly relevant to the MA I'm applying for.

I think I'm just a bit worried that an academic reference saying 'Clare studied here and got this degree but beyond that we know nothing!' feels a bit thin. The course seems to want me though, so that's a promising sign...

In reply to Coel Hellier:


This is what I did when I was in a similar situation a couple of years back. They were able to provide a reference and a copy of my transcript (the latter for a fee). It's also worth phoning the department you are applying to. In my case, at least, they were happy to accept recent employment references from more mature applicants, as long as they were asked in advance if that was ok. Of course, by the time I found that out I had managed to obtain the required academic references anyway


Yes, the method for getting references varies by institution and can also vary by school within an institution, but asking the applicant to sort them out is not uncommon.

In reply to Tall Clare:




That's all that any written reference will say, particularly after such a long time. Same with employment references

In reply to Tall Clare:

I was in a similar position a few years ago and the university put me in touch with my tutor from my first degree, even though they had moved on to another university. Might be worth googling the name of a tutor who you think would remember you as if they're elsewhere in academic employment their email address could well be available on the uni website.