who do i get letters of reccomendation from?

was just thinking about this if i want to do a vac scheme, or when i go on to do a master or whatever..where do i get them from? the problem is my classes are massive and non of my professors know me, not even my director of Studies knows my name without me having to remind him( cant blame him tho as has probably over a hundred students he advises)! anyone else faced with this problem?

Reply 1

Tory_boy

Vac Sch Apps= 2 references required: one academic one personal. Use your personal tutor for the former and a current employer for the latter (if you don't have one then use somebody who has known you for at least 2 years).

Masters= the same as above except you may need more academic references (up to 3). So you are going to have to make your self known to some of your other tutors.

Your tutors may not know you by name but don't they keep some sort of academic and personal development file??

Reply 2

drmoney89

academic ..yes. but personal development...doubt it.

Reply 3

Lady Narcissus

If its like my old uni, become 'master of the moots' then soon enough they will start to all get to know who you are for better or for worse :wink:

It can become quite a task seeking 3 references for a masters though, two is not too bad. For my Cambridge application I asked my supervisor and the EU convenor because I did really well in her module.

Reply 4

Lewisy-boy

Do what I did, score 84% in an exam and have professors personally congratulating you in the hall, then take your pick of references.

My personal tutor doesn't know the least thing about me... I've told her 3 times I'm in Singapore this year, and I still don't think she knows!

Reply 5

John Gardner

For a Masters programme, only detailed recommendations from reputable academics will count. Personal references from retired judges who are friends of the family, barristers with whom one did a mini-pupillage, etc. are worthless. So are references from casual teachers, graduate teaching assistants, etc. So you have to find some way of getting yourself and your work known to some permanent members of the teaching staff in your department. Ideally you should focus on those who are nationally or internationally known for their research. Do you have the option of writing an extended essay for your degree? That is sometimes a good way to interact with senior people. Laura's suggestion is also good.

Reply 6

Lady Narcissus

Yes, luckily my ex-supervisor is a Professor of the Law School, now Director and is widely published in media law. At Hull we are told to go to our supervisor because they keep the most detailed record. Go for someone who writes well too when not writing articles. I ended up peeking at one (I was not supposed to see it) and I cannot say it did a lot for me.

Reply 7

Lady Narcissus

Lewisy-boy

My personal tutor doesn't know the least thing about me... I've told her 3 times I'm in Singapore this year, and I still don't think she knows!

Ha, Ha. That sounds so familiar. Some of them just don't give a hoot about supervisees. One at Hull welcomed one of her supervisees to the Law School and asked her about how her A-levels were going at an Open Day, forgetting that she had been her supervisor for nearly 4 years. Before I put off prospective students, enough do care and you can always seek a change if you need to!

Reply 8

drmoney89

LauraWalker

One at Hull welcomed one of her supervisees to the Law School and asked her about how her A-levels were going at an Open Day, forgetting that she had been her supervisor for nearly 4 years. !

LOOL that is Hilarious!

Reply 9

Lewisy-boy

I'll be fair to mine, in first year I only saw her twice, and last year only three times for about 2 minutes each time. They only seem to talk to people who are doing badly! With me it's just: yeah, yeah, yup, good grades, yup, yup... OK, bye.

Reply 10

Lady Narcissus

That is nice then! This was a bit of a one off and I was being a tad cheeky but I must say it sure was funny at the time. The person who it involved is quite unique and did not even pick up on what they had done. Geezz if they ever found their way on here, I'd be somewhat surprised and overwhelmed with shock (say no more) I think with Hull being quite a small school it is hard to just say 'yeah, yeah' and 'bye'. When I got good grades, they were like so 'should you be going to your Law Society meeting or working in the library'. Cannot say I appreciated it because doing stuff like that kept my mind year. You tend to see your lecturers quite a lot in the week at Hull. That has been the new thing about Oxford. It is so large so people don't really have as good track of you or what your doing. I guess for the undergrads their college tutors are important.