Do universities ever contact referees?

echterechte
Sun, 04 Nov 2012 04:10:31 +0000

Hello.

I’m a prospective graduate student in the proccess of applying to 5 universities abroad - 2 in Asia (HK and Singapore), 2 in the UK and 1 in Spain. I’m making this post because I’m a bit worried what pertains to letters of recommendation. Firstly, I come from a culture where letters of recommendation aren’t really that common. And secondly, I come from a HUGE school where no one really knows each other that well. However, I have asked 2 professors to help me out. They have agreed to do so, but in all honesty, whatever they are going to write, it will be a big babble, because they don’t really know me that well. My concern is what happens if any of these schools actually contact them?

What is your experience with universities contacting referees? It probably varies a great deal depending on country, university and faculty, but how likely is it that my referees are going to be contacted? And if they do, what do they usually ask?

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