hey there! i have a question about reference letters. i think i'm just missing something haha i know there's a spot in the caspa profile for references and i know that as an applicant, you never see the reference letters. i'm just confused as to how i should ask my references to be my references (if that's not confusing enough haha). are they're forms to fill out for caspa, do they need to email they're letters? how does it work and what are your tips? thanks!!
If you already have references picked out, then great! But if you would like some help with that then there are some awesome tips in this post by Paul at MyPAtraining.com. This excerpt from that post is essentially how I asked for my recommendation letters:
“Seek out letters of recommendation from people you are sure support you. It may sound obvious, but many people don’t. Find someone who truly likes you, and who supports your decision to apply for PA training. If you are unsure, ask them: “I am going to be applying to physician assistant schools, and I’m beginning to think about my letters of reference. Would you feel able to support me by writing a letter of reference if I asked you to?” If their response is anything less than an enthusiastic “Yes!” then consider finding someone else.”
So its pretty cool how CASPA actually gets your references, here is a breakdown on the process:
Adding the references’ information:
You’ll simly add their first name, last name and email address. Make sure they meet the requirements your potential programs have about their roles/relationships to you first!
Once you save their info in CASPA, an email is immediately sent to your references at the email address you provided.The email will be from “CASPA Messenger” and will be titled “CASPA reference request”. Advise your references to be on the lookout for this email because sometimes it can get automatically filtered to a spam folder. At this point it is simply up to your references to complete their end of the bargain.
References Responsibility
The email from CASPA to your references will contain a link to the reference website plus a username and password that they can use to log in and complete an online reference form on your behalf. The form consists of a ratings portion where they will be asked to evaluate you on a 1-5 scale in regards to several different criteria. I do not know the exact criteria but it should be along the lines of professionalism, motivation, etc. They then come to a comments box where they may either type their letter of recommendation or copy and paste it into the box. Once they finish and submit the recommendation it will show up as “completed” on your application status.
So you have entered your references information and you are waiting for them to be completed!
Here are the different statuses you may see in the reference section, and what they mean:
New – You’ve entered your person of reference into the system but no information has been entered or saved by them
In progress – Almost there! Your person of reference has entered and saved information but has not completed their evaluation.
Completed – Congratulations! Your person of reference has completed their recommendation and it has been submitted to CASPA. Their recommendation is now permanently bound to your application for this cycle.
It is recommended that your references be listed as “completed” at least four weeks prior to your earliest application deadline.
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