reference letters

I think the earlier the better when it comes to reference letters. It was one of the most difficult/time consuming things about applying because you are depending upon 3-4 people to follow through and help you in your application process. So you will need to give people time and some you will have to keep reminding. Some schools require the letters to be sent directly so you should have your application in prior to having the letters sent.

check with the schools you are applying to, all the ones I looked into required that the letters be sent directly to the school by the authors. (in other words, a reference from six months ago may not be accepted.) If you think the unit your working on will be the best letter only if you stay until the apps are complete, then I might stay put.

Definitely get the letter of rec from your current workplace. I had a similar situation to yours. I felt underhanded about it, but it was beneficial, since I'm starting in the fall (yay!) The thing is, a new place may not even write you one. My new employer requires a 2 year commitment before they'll write a LOR. Dumb, but true.

The other underhanded thing I felt I had to do was that I got the letter of rec, and made sure my manager had already sent it in before I told them I was leaving, just in case that would have swayed what she wrote. For whatever reason, people can get bitter and nasty about those of us wanting to go back to school. Oh well...

Good luck!

Nurse Kern

I applied at least six months ahead of schedule and it wasn't a problem. If getting the refs later will be a problem I say apply now.

-S

thanks for your input. i started asking this morning for the references.