Requests for letters of recommendation

We are happy to provide letters of recommendation about your work in EPID600. The letters Vic writes document the results of examinations, final paper, peer evaluations, and TA evaluation, and include comments that your teaching assistant gives me at your request (or if not, from the TA evaluation). (Read sample letter.)

An EPID600 recommendation letter may be more useful as a supplemental letter than as one of the minimum number required for your application, since programs often give more weight to letters from faculty members who have personal knowledge of your work (for example, from a smaller class, supervised research, research assistantship, or other personal contact). Even so, the EPID600 examinations and final paper provide an “objective” demonstration of your learning in epidemiology, and my letter makes this point. If you wish to use an EPID600 recommendation for a primary letter, you might pose the question to someone involved in the admissions process of the program to which you are applying (e.g., the student services manager or a member of the program’s admissions committee).

If you would like a letter of recommendation, please submit the EPID600 request form and include the following information in the comment:

1. position or program for which you are applying
2. person and address to whom the letter is to be mailed (or electronic submission instructions
3. semester and year you took EPID600
4. name of your TA
5. date by which the letter is needed (3 weeks is a good minimum advance notice for me to prepare it).

Please also ask your TA to send me a few sentences about your lab participation.

I regret that because of the class size, volume of requests, and nature of interactions, I generally cannot meaningfully provide the ratings that some recommendation forms request (e.g., “creativity”, “motivation”, etc.). If your TA is able to provide me with her(his) ratings, I can submit them and mention that fact in my letter.

Good luck with your application! We are happy to contribute to the careers of EPID600 graduates.

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