Veterinary Letter of Recommendation Dilemma

[Question]

I'm currently doing an internship and looking to apply for residency next year. I've done internships before my current one. I think the letter of recs from my previous internships will be great, but I was outright told by my current internship that the letter of recommendation will not be great if I ask for one (I really believe that this is totally unjustified, but would prefer not getting into the details). I'm trying to figure out whether I should apply for residency without a letter of rec from my current internship or risk a bad letter of rec? In other words, how damaging is it to not have a letter from the most recent internship?

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[Mr.Smile12]

Let's start with: It's bad if you submit with a lukewarm or unsupportive letter of recommendation. Do you have an alternate reference?

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Who else would you be able to get a LOR from?

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

I mean, I do not know the rules for vet residency programs, however I think it would raise a flag if they knew you did the internship and then did not have a LOR. This may come up and you would have to be honest.

 

[PerioDont]

I mean, I do not know the rules for vet residency programs, however I think it would raise a flag if they knew you did the internship and then did not have a LOR. This may come up and you would have to be honest.

Agreed.

The OP however needs to balance that between potentially having a bad letter as I think that could be even worse

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Agreed.

The OP however needs to balance that between potentially having a bad letter as I think that could be even worse

Exactly.

 

[PerioDont]

Yes, sorry if I wasn't clear in my OP, but that's exactly my dilemma. I'm having trouble figuring out how to make that decision.

To be a bit more transparent, I've been late a few times in my current internship, and the doctor I'm working with said they will not "lie" about my lateness in the LOR but will also speak on my strengths. The message that I'm getting is that they will not recommend me to the top programs but will recommend me to lower-tier programs where standards are lower and lateness might be more acceptable. I know being late is unacceptable, and I've already owned up to it. I don't know how programs will perceive this if it was mentioned in the LOR. Personally, I don't think it should be a huge detriment, but it's also hard to tell how much the doctor will magnify this fault in the LOR.

I know I'm ranting at this point as I won't ever know what the LOR will actually contain. It will be a risk either way.

I'm not sure there is any program where lateness is more acceptable, top-tier or not.

Maybe if this was a chronic issue they will put it in. how well do you know the doctor?

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Yes, sorry if I wasn't clear in my OP, but that's exactly my dilemma. I'm having trouble figuring out how to make that decision.

To be a bit more transparent, I've been late a few times in my current internship, and the doctor I'm working with said they will not "lie" about my lateness in the LOR but will also speak on my strengths. The message that I'm getting is that they will not recommend me to the top programs but will recommend me to lower-tier programs where standards are lower and lateness might be more acceptable. I know being late is unacceptable, and I've already owned up to it. I don't know how programs will perceive this if it was mentioned in the LOR. Personally, I don't think it should be a huge detriment, but it's also hard to tell how much the doctor will magnify this fault in the LOR.

I know I'm ranting at this point as I won't ever know what the LOR will actually contain. It will be a risk either way.

Any letter that talks about you being late will literally blacklist you.