Old friend wants to use me as an academic reference

Question

I was recently contacted by a friend to give an academic reference, as we were both students at the same university.

The problem is that, he only completed the first 2 years of his degree and then stopped attending. I think he received a job offer and decided to take that instead.

Me and my fellow classmates finished our 4 year degrees and got jobs in our field.

So, is it reasonable for him to ask me for such a recommendation?

Related: Protocol for writing a recommendation letter for someone you only know on a personal basis (It doesn't really sound like you have much firsthand knowledge about this person's academic abilities. You didn't say what you're acting as reference for, but if it's for graduate admissions, this question might be relevant.) — ff524, Jul 24 '15 at 05:06

Dave Clarke · Answer 1 · 2015-07-24T08:47:04.650

6

Why would it not be reasonable?

It should be clear from his CV that he didn't complete his degree, but you surely could say relevant positive things about his character and skills.

edited Jul 24 '15 at 08:47

answered Jul 23 '15 at 19:51

Dave Clarke

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score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 23 '15 at 20:28

Just make sure your friend knows what an honest academic reference from you will look like, and that it will serve their purposes.

I had an experience like this once, with an old friend who was going back to school after many years in the workforce. My reference couldn't speak much to academics, but it could be a good reference regarding personal character and determination, and in that case and for that particular program, that was sufficient for my friend's needs.

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 24 '15 at 03:20

There's an ambiguity when you say "academic reference". I can think of three meanings:

Letter to help him get into graduate school or an academic position.
Letter to help him get into undergraduate
Letter to an employee about his academic competency.

I don't see any problem with writing him a letter for #2 based on your knowledge of him. For #1 and #3, it doesn't seem like you've been in the sort of relationship where you could write one.

Regardless of type, there's a second issue of whether you can write him a helpful letter. I've had several students ask me in the past (particularly for their entrance into medical school), and several of them were outstanding students. For the less than outstanding, what I do is, point out the sort of letter they would get from me and say I'm fine with sending that, e.g.,

You earned a C in my class which is not exceptionally good. If I wrote a letter, I would mention the degree to which I felt you performed in my class. It might not be the best letter you could get. IF you're still interested, I can send one for you.

(It should not be hard to adapt that to your purposes).

Presumably if he's asking you for a letter to get into undergraduate, part of the point could be to explain that he's a good student but had to quit for work, etc.

Old friend wants to use me as an academic reference

3 Answers3