EC Contact Not Responding

[switch 3]

During my undergrad, I spent an entire summer assisting a reputable professor and her assistant expand their department's database. I was reassured that I would be able to use this experience for my law school applications. However, I have been trying to reach out to both of them for quite some time now and I have not received a response. It has come to my attention that they've been responding to other students' requests except for mine. I really wanted to add this experience into my EC as I spent countless hours with them and deserve my credit. Besides removing the EC from my application completely, does anyone have any other recommendations on ways I can go about this situation? Thanks!

 

 

[Dreamchaser 189]

Was this logged on to your record at the institution? 

[switch 3]

17 minutes ago, Dreamchaser said:

Was this logged on to your record at the institution? 

Unfortunately, no it wasn't. It was considered 'volunteer experience' and the professor assured me they would verify my experience once it was completed. However, they left mid-semester due to personal reasons and returned after I completed my degree. So, getting a hold of them was extremely difficult. 

Edited October 14, 2020 by switch

[MountainMon 322]

29 minutes ago, switch said:

During my undergrad, I spent an entire summer assisting a reputable professor and her assistant expand their department's database. I was reassured that I would be able to use this experience for my law school applications. However, I have been trying to reach out to both of them for quite some time now and I have not received a response. It has come to my attention that they've been responding to other students' requests except for mine. I really wanted to add this experience into my EC as I spent countless hours with them and deserve my credit. Besides removing the EC from my application completely, does anyone have any other recommendations on ways I can go about this situation? Thanks!

 

 

How have you tried to reach out to them? Have you emailed them and followed up? Have you checked that you have the correct email? I had to email one of my referees twice on two different email accounts. Failing all that you could try reaching out to the department head to see if they've changed emails or try calling their office. I know it seems a bit embarrassing and tedious, but these are options that should be exhausted. I find it unlikely that they're dodging you if what you say is true. 

[switch 3]

2 minutes ago, MountainMon said:

How have you tried to reach out to them? Have you emailed them and followed up? Have you checked that you have the correct email? I had to email one of my referees twice on two different email accounts. Failing all that you could try reaching out to the department head to see if they've changed emails or try calling their office. I know it seems a bit embarrassing and tedious, but these are options that should be exhausted. I find it unlikely that they're dodging you if what you say is true. 

Oh yes! I've tried everything I possibly can. I have sent several emails throughout the past 6 months. I've emailed through moodle, university email, external emails as well just to make sure that there was't an issue on my end but i've had no luck. I've sent emails to every email they have listed. I have also called their direct line and left a message. I feel that I am being dodged because a friend of mine was able to get a response from them the same day about a similar topic. 

[whereverjustice 4948]

If this is for OLSAS, I'd go ahead and list it on the sketch, list the professor or assistant as the verifier, and move on.

It's very unlikely the verifier will be checked. And if it is checked, and the verifier won't pick up the phone/respond to the e-mail, the most likely outcome is that the law school just disregards that item in the sketch.

You did the work. There's nothing wrong with taking credit for the work that you did. The professor/assistant's discourtesy is not your responsibility.

[Luckycharm 1879]

Wherejustice beats me to it.

Just put it down and NO one will ever contact your verifiers.

[MountainMon 322]

16 minutes ago, switch said:

Oh yes! I've tried everything I possibly can. I have sent several emails throughout the past 6 months. I've emailed through moodle, university email, external emails as well just to make sure that there was't an issue on my end but i've had no luck. I've sent emails to every email they have listed. I have also called their direct line and left a message. I feel that I am being dodged because a friend of mine was able to get a response from them the same day about a similar topic. 

That's incredibly strange and unprofessional, sorry to hear. I also just realized this was for verifier, not a reference. I don't think it matters at all for verifiers, as others have pointed out. 

[switch 3]

48 minutes ago, whereverjustice said:

If this is for OLSAS, I'd go ahead and list it on the sketch, list the professor or assistant as the verifier, and move on.

It's very unlikely the verifier will be checked. And if it is checked, and the verifier won't pick up the phone/respond to the e-mail, the most likely outcome is that the law school just disregards that item in the sketch.

You did the work. There's nothing wrong with taking credit for the work that you did. The professor/assistant's discourtesy is not your responsibility.

Yes, this is for OLSAS. I was just worried about the rare chance that they decide to call and the professor denies my work, which wouldn't be surprising since they have been extremely difficult to contact.

 

Thanks for the responses everyone! I will go ahead and add it to my sketch. 

 

[whereverjustice 4948]

Something to bear in mind about verifiers is that their only role is to confirm that you did the thing. Not that you did the thing well, not that you demonstrated qualities that would help you in law school, not that you are of impeccable character. That's the job of your referees. Verifiers are much more basic.

So if there is anyone other than the professor & assistant who can attest, first-hand, that you did this work -- you could put them down instead. Maybe an administrative staff member in the department?

[switch 3]

1 hour ago, whereverjustice said:

Something to bear in mind about verifiers is that their only role is to confirm that you did the thing. Not that you did the thing well, not that you demonstrated qualities that would help you in law school, not that you are of impeccable character. That's the job of your referees. Verifiers are much more basic.

So if there is anyone other than the professor & assistant who can attest, first-hand, that you did this work -- you could put them down instead. Maybe an administrative staff member in the department?

The professor and assistant were the only two involved in this project, both of which are unresponsive. So, I will not have any luck finding another admin staff to verify my work. I could try calling admin to request another member, but I'm positive they would just forward me to the professor and assistant. 

[Lawhopeful06 9]

I volunteered for my university in undergrad but they did not keep record and my only supervisors were other students. I put on my application that I did not have contact information for them but I got accepted anyways, so I can't imagine it's a make or break.