clinical grade was a B. Professor N would be a good reference if Alice were applying to a graduate program, but professor A is probably not a good reference under any circumstances. The applicant's judgment is questionable when she selects people who cannot even identify her. Applicant Bertha, applying for the same kind of job, presents a different list. Since graduation she has held two positions, and she selects as references a supervisor in the agency where she first worked, a current co-worker, and the medical director of the local hospital. This appears to be an excellent selection. However, the supervisor was not a supervisor, but a classmate, when Bertha was employed. They "worked together immediately after graduation," and she hasn't seen Bertha for six years. The co-worker who sings Bertha's praises is her present roommate. The medical director, a friend of the family who has known Bertha since she was a little girl and has watched her "blossom into lovely womanhood," regrets that she has never worked in his hospital. Now, it is true that the nursing director to whom Bertha is applying probably will obtain references from previous employers, but Bertha has missed her best opportunity to get meaningful data into the record. Classmates and