<p>here's the dilemna: my uncle is the president of the argentinian neurosurgical association, is the director of a very prominent hospital at buenos aires and whenever he comes up to the US he gives lectures and classes at yale and mount sinai med school. so, should i ask him for a rec? i actually interned and shadowed him for 2 weeks last year at his hospital while i was visiting family (i'm from argentina) and many of his coworkers also could give me glowing recs. i understand he's my uncle and all but i've told several people about this and they all think it'd be a good idea.</p>
<p>DONT get a rec. from your uncle. The adcoms will take a rec. from a relative with a grain of salt. A coworker as proposed before would be a better choice.</p>
<p>Getting a rec from your uncle will not do much for your cause (especially for undergraduate admissions) as other have already stated, his ability to write about you objectively will already be questionable. In fact it could be something that could very well back fire on you. </p>
<p>Think about it, what could he really write about you? He has known you all your life. He is really not in a postion to assess you and cannot objectively say anything about your ability to do college work and what you could add to to the incoming class.</p>
<p>jimbob:
can you elaborate on position not mattering? I am not trying to be offensive/ put you on the spot ;), but I just want to know a bit more (evidence, anecdotal perhaps, whatever).</p>
<p>Here is the thing, usually for recommendations most places specifically state "no relatives". He is a relative. </p>
<p>Now, if his name is different from yours, you might get away with it, but it would seem to me that it would be easier to get someone else that works with him to write the recommendation (or sign it). If his last name is also yours , this is a definate no-no and would look really bad.</p>
<p>at every college info session ive been to, i've either asked or been told: recommendations from places you've worked/volunteered are great, but don't expect us to be bowled over by big names/positions. i'm not kidding, i specifically remember many college admissions officers saying this. what matters is what you've accomplished and what shows through about you on the rec. it matters to me personally because I worked at a pretty famous company (on TV regularly, etc) and getting a high exec to recommend me from there seemed like it would be advantageous...turns out colleges don't care. i specifically recall someone at uchicago and someone at yale (admissions officers, not students) using the example of a burger flipper: if you get your food service boss to recommend you as the best burger flipper he's ever had, it means more than a fluffy rec from a big politician or something. they're judging you, not the person recommending you.</p>
<p>i dont really think position is the main issue here...the problem with the OP is that the recommender is a relative. i'd say the OP should turn to the "glowing recs" provided by coworkers. a glowing rec from a relative would backfire, while one from a coworker would impress. why sacrifice?</p>
<p>no, we have different last names but still from what i've heard i'll just stick with ask one of his coworkers. i really don't want to risk anything. after all, i dont even know if he'd be able to write a thorough recommendation because he is after all a relative.</p>
<p>thanks for all the replies! i appreciate it!!!</p>