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Wont everyone's references be the same?

Hiya,

At our college our form tutor (who barley knows us) has to write our reference. But wont everyone's reference just say the same old "She's conscientious, hardworking and reliable."?
Do your reference writers know which subject you are taking and write it specifically for that aswell?
Does anyone know where I can see an example of a reference or fancy posting their's up?

Thanks, in advance :smile:

Reply 1

Dionysus

Well they're supposed to take everything they possibly can into account, but I suspect more often than not references are all very similar. That's why you have to make sure your PS is spot on.

Reply 2

yellow96

I asked my favourite English lecturer to write a paragraph of mine to give it an edge, as I doubt my tutor would be aware of my particular strengths. You could ask a teacher to write something for yours.

Reply 3

Crystaltears

Dionysus

Well they're supposed to take everything they possibly can into account, but I suspect more often than not references are all very similar. That's why you have to make sure your PS is spot on.

Probably, I doubt a teacher is going to write "They are always hungover in lessons...when they turn up that is" - actually my Psychology teacher might put that!

Thelfo

Yeah, my Sociology teacher (who I really get on with) said she will do a paragraph for mine, so hopefully she will make me look good!

Reply 4

hermaphrodite

if they are all almost homogeneous - why do they even bother asking for them

Reply 5

Agamemnon

They're usually pretty much the same. Most of the refence (at least at my College) consisted of comments from each subject tutor, which are normally going to be the same for everyone doing each subject.

You have a right to ask to see your reference, and can ask to have things include, but the PS is where the opportunity is to really sell yourself.

Reply 6

penwa

I told my teacher the other year that he was the best teacher i have ever had and how his been such a big influence in my life lol, a year later I was the only one he done a reference for and he never does references lol, guess i made an impression.

Reply 7

Mr Ben

Our tutor goes through our references with us before sending them away, and his will be different for everybody, because he writes about hobbies, afterschool activities etc. so unless you do exactly the same activities as somebody else in your tutor then they won't be too similar, that is assuming that your tutor writes in the same way as mine does.

Mr Ben

Reply 8

kellywood_5

I don't know how it works at your college, but generally the form tutor collects statements from each of your subject teachers, then collates them into the reference as well as adding some more personal stuff about attendance, punctuality, extra-curriculars, personality or whatever. At my sixth form, we had to write on all of the sheets we gave to our subject teachers which course we were applying for, so I'm assuming that was taken into account. References will probably be quite similar because teachers aren't supposed to write anything negative and most probably use some sort of template, but they will vary slightly according to what subjects you do (different teachers have different styles of writing), what particuar strengths you have and what else you do outside lessons. I can PM you a copy of my reference if you want.

Reply 9

Nally

I wouldn't say that all references are the same - I do read references on UCAS forms as part of my job to make sure that the reference is for the person who is actually applying (sometimes there are mess ups like a reference for Edward on Melanie's application etc) and they do read very differently even refs from the same colleges because every student is different. Sure they all want to try and paint the individual students as being hardworking, concientious etc but each student does these things differently.

Reply 10

Chloedanielle

Our college have a good system for writing our references. Each of our A2 teachers write a paragraph and our head of 6th, who knows everyone quite well writes a concluding paragraph and about non academic stuff too. This way staff dont have to write as much so they can make it more personal.

Reply 11

Crystaltears

Oh that's cool, didn't realise each subject teacher was consulted and extra-curricular stuff was included. Thanks :smile:

Reply 12

scout5

In terms of them all saying the same things, I think that's probably quite true; it's what they don't say that matters.

Reply 13

kellywood_5

scout5

it's what they don't say that matters.

Yeah, that's a really good point. Since reference writers aren't supposed to say anything negative, they follow the rule 'if you haven't got anything nice to say, don't say anything.' So admissions tutors have to learn to read between the lines. For example, if the reference doesn't mention anything about the student being hard working, which is something you'd expect to see, it probably means they're not.

Reply 14

big A

My form tutor has told the whole year in an assembly that they have to impress him by asking about extra-curricular opportunities and enthusiasm about going to university and such, cos if he doesn't get that impression he's gonna be forced to write mediocre references so there is definately gonna be varying degrees of references.

Reply 15

abc101

At my school, your subject teachers and form tutor had to all write something about you, then the head of sixth form added his two pennies and brought the whole reference together.