Ethical and Moral Dilemma: Letter of Intent and Interest

[e-spin]

So, I did a quick search and didn't see anything specifically dedicated to the moral dilemma people are facing when writing these letter, they just seemed to be scattered in various threads...If there is and I missed it I apologize in advance.

So, I have an honest question about the ethical/moral dilemmas some people face about LO Intent or Interest. There seems to be debates on which to write and to what school. I saw it on a previous thread but thought this thread may be more appropriate to address this.
MY questions is: So if it is "unethical" to write a letter of Intent to two schools saying...If accepted I will matric. What happens in this scenario:
WL-ed at X and Y
Write LO INTENT to School X and LO INTEREST to Y.
Summer is here and Y accepts you....yea
First week of class you get a call from X..."we want you".
X and Y are in two different states...or at least far apart.
While the decision to leave Y go to X at that point is totally a personal one...IMO I dont think it would be unethical to decline. Has this happened to anyone??

While I do not think that one should be writing Intent letters to every school and it is shady to write more than one...I dont think it is immoral or unethical to do so if you are WL-ed at two schools that you'd really really like to get into. I think that someone pointed out on a post that if you write two and get into one then simply withdraw for the other right away. then we can debate what would happen if you got the acceptance on the same day....would you go to which school's envelope you opened first ?
The way I see it, if you say you intend to go somewhere but end up declining, it is not like you are screwing over that school since they'll have 50 other people they could call...it's not like they wont fill their class, right??

Anyway, I have not written ANY letters of intent but have written some interest ones. I guess in the end you have to live with you...but is it really as big of an ethical/moral issue that we make it out to be?? Just wanted to know what you thought.

Spin

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[djwdv]

From the AAMC website

After an applicant has enrolled in a U.S. school of medicine or begun a brief orientation program contiguous to enrollment, no further acceptances should be offered to that individual. Once enrolled in a school, students have an obligation to withdraw their applications promptly from all other schools. Enrollment is defined as being officially registered as a member of the first-year entering class at a school.

Link is http://www.aamc.org/students/applying/policies/recommendations.htm

I might be in a similar sit. so I feel your pain.

 

[Moskeeto]

I would hate to be in a position like that, it doesn't seem right to get accepted into your number one choice, but not be able to attend do to a last minute techincallity.

 

[e-spin]

Originally posted by djwdv
From the AAMC website

After an applicant has enrolled in a U.S. school of medicine or begun a brief orientation program contiguous to enrollment, no further acceptances should be offered to that individual. Once enrolled in a school, students have an obligation to withdraw their applications promptly from all other schools. Enrollment is defined as being officially registered as a member of the first-year entering class at a school.

Link is http://www.aamc.org/students/applying/policies/recommendations.htm

I might be in a similar sit. so I feel your pain.

So I know that everyone has a "I heard that this happened to so and so..." story. BUT my roommate's tour guide at Temple said that he was at Iowa for a week, then got a call from Temple. Obviously, he moved. So, was Temple out-of-bounds for offering to this dude?? I've heard similat stories, but this is as close to the horse's mouth as I have gotten.

I am questioning how a LO Intent or Interest plays a role in this and if we our moral dilemma regarding those types of situations are valid.

Hang in there, djwvd, hopefully we will be able start a "Got off a WL" thread in the coming months!

 

[macdown]

I see no ethical dilemma by sending out more than one letter of intent. An intent is something you plan to do, in fact the actual definition is "to have in mind as a purpose or goal", it is not something you are positively going to do. Goals change, ideas change and intentions change. You can have every intention to attend every medical school. I could intend on going to Harvard, am I going *no*, but does that disallow me from this intention... absolutely not.

Secondly, you are not legally bound to a letter of intent. As stated before an intent is a goal, thefore telling a school of you intention is simply saying it is your goal to attend. If I were legally bound to every career goal I ever had I would be a rodeoclownengineerastronautaccountantpurple monkey dish washer. Goals are allowed to change, intentions are intentions. No harm, no foul.

 

[e-spin]

macdown, I totally agree with you. I have seen some posters on this forum who think otherwise...I was just curious why they thought that way. I mean understand word of honor and all that jazz...have seen a lot of hoopla about this whole letter thing, ya know?!

 

[djwdv]

i think aamc is saying that you are, according to their guidlines, morally obligated as part of your "applicant's responsibilities" to withdraw once you start somewhere. so i'm not sure if your friend did that or if he did it and they still offered him a spot, but i would imagine that, depending on the school and how hard they adhere to this guildeline, they might really frown upon this. however, that's not to say there isn't an admissions director who is completely understanding of how whacked this process is and won't see it as morally wrong...after all, they want the best students for their class and they should understand that given the process you will only do what's in your best interest as well. my only worry would be for residency. i know another sdn post somewhere said that an action like that could be remembered. you never know what position the person who remembers you withdrawing (because i'm sure it doesn't happen very often) will be in in 4 years. of course if it's a school you don't think you'll want to do residency at, then i wouldn't worry about it. it's just unfortunate we dont know the extent to which the schools take this particular guildeline seriously. *sigh* once again, left in limbo!

 

[abs39]

Going back to the original scenario, "Write LO INTENT to School X and LO INTEREST to Y.", if you are accepted at school Y, and it gets late in the summer, is it ethical to just withdraw from school X? The letter says that you would attend if accepted, but you never get accepted if you withdraw.

 

[pillowhead]

I wouldn't worry about it. Only on SDN forums have I ever seen anyone even differentiate between letter of interest and one of intent. The schools have enough people banging down their doors to get it that if you don't decide to go there, I think they can handle it. (Not to say you aren't a wonderful person, but unless you have won a nobel prize, one medical student is never THAT valuable to them.)

 

[sponch]

a man is only as good as his word. if you say you're going to go somewhere, you go there. sending two letters of intents is askin to proposing to two girls. perhaps it's not immoral but it's definitely shady.

 

[carrigallen]

i agree. A letter of intent is paying homage to the school you would most like to attend. It's perfectly ok to send out letters of interest though.

 

[e-spin]

So I understand what everyone is saying about AAMC saying you should withdraw, LO intent is you word, etc...BUT why is there so much shifting clear up to the first week of school??? It seems to me that with a MAY 15 deadline for those with acceptances to pick a school, those schools who have open spots should be able to fill them easily well before the first week of classes.
Does anyone else know of someone who has started somewhere and then was accepted to a different school during the first week of classes??
I thought I saw on some other post that schools can find out from AAMC where students have already been accepted. SO, even if the dude I was talking about who switched to Temple during the first week DIDNT formally withdraw and given that Temple knows he has been accepted elsewhere...why would Temple offer to him when they know classes 'round the country have already started!!
And I agree with pillowhead that there really isnt a moral issue here...I guess if you were accepted to school y the nice thing to do would be to withdraw from all other WL's especially school X. FOR some reason though, I dont think that it works this way. Sorry, just frustrated with this whole WL thing and hope that I hear with ample time BEFORE the start of classes!!!
-Spin

 

[merlin17]

yay waitlist folks...

so anyway, i'm also debating whether to write a letter of intent to my top choice school. lets say i do and this school waitlists me. i am on the east coast and my first choice school is on the west coast. if i accept a place in an east coast school and stay on the waitlist at the school on the west coast, at some point is it ethically okay to withdraw from the west coast school? sure it is my first choice, but come the end of july i am probably going to want to just be done with all this mess and it is going to take me more than a week of notice to move across the country.

another question, say i write a letter of intent to this first choice school and another school offers me a great financial aid package. now again, school x is my first choice and i have told them so, but that was all things being equal. it would still be my first choice, but i'm not dumb enough to go there for say $100,000 more in tuition! Basically (and trust me, this isn't my situation) if you wrote a letter of intent to Harvard and Duke offered you a full scholarship, it wouldn't be ethically wrong to go to Duke would it?

 

[e-spin]

Now I am so confused, There are so many caveats here. ONE question I have is: DO schools REALLY care?? I think I said this and another has as well, that the school's gonna fill their class...

Spin

 

[siempre595]

I was talking to the pre-med advisor at my school about this. Basically, if you write more than one "I will absolutely come if accepted" letter, clearly you cannot be in two places at once, and this is not good for the following reasons:
1. it reflects very badly on you as a person and as a professional. If you EVER want to be involved with this institution again, (i.e. possibly residency) you better not do it.
2. it reflects very badly on your undergrad institution. you are a representation of that school, and if you do this, it hurts the future students at your school because X or Y med school believe it is a sanctioned activity at your school. not good.
3. you're lying.

pick a school, say you'll go.
pick a 2nd choice, say you really really liked it.
deal with the consequences.

 

[kreno]

Fact: some schools if you do that will tell other schools... period. It's shady, unprofessional, and wrong. Not only to the schools you interviewed at, but also towards your fellow-applicant peers. I totally agree w/siempre

 

[e-spin]

Originally posted by siempre595
I was talking to the pre-med advisor at my school about this. Basically, if you write more than one "I will absolutely come if accepted" letter, clearly you cannot be in two places at once, and this is not good for the following reasons:
1. it reflects very badly on you as a person and as a professional. If you EVER want to be involved with this institution again, (i.e. possibly residency) you better not do it.
2. it reflects very badly on your undergrad institution. you are a representation of that school, and if you do this, it hurts the future students at your school because X or Y med school believe it is a sanctioned activity at your school. not good.
3. you're lying.

pick a school, say you'll go.
pick a 2nd choice, say you really really liked it.
deal with the consequences.

1) Will schools REALLY remember you after 4 yrs and 20.000 applicants later? I woudl venture to say no.
2) Will not going to your "intended" school keep other qualified individuals from your UG from getting into X or Y. Probably not.
3) If you say you "intend" to go to school x but Y offers first, but school X offers you acceptance...let NOT even say during the first week of class because that a situation in itself...a week before classes start. You've already relocated to Y, signed a lease which you will be financially penalized for breaking, etc etc. Are those consequences fair?? I am just pointing out that it cant be that black and white.
Like I said I havent written any intent letters, for fear of getting into a gray situation....Whew.

 

[Jet915]

I agree with Siempre. Even though writing two or more letters of INTENT will probably not hurt you in the future, it really comes down to you as a person. I personally would feel uncomfortable telling multiple schools that I would attend if accepted. I am going to write one letter of intent and a couple letters of interest.

Jetson

 

[e-spin]

So, this is all totally wishful thinking at this point. BUT if I WERE to write a letter of intent it would be my state school. HOWEVER, I am on Upstate's high priority list and for fear of jinxing I dont want to speculate BUT... Anyway, I have sent them a letter of interest already.

BUT the deal is MSU told us upfront that we could be accepted up to the first week of classes. With no acceptances right now I need to be very hopeful. Anyway, if I get off the Upstate list, of which I have been told there is a high probablity, BEFORE I hear from MSU...what would I do if I did write that letter of intent?? I guess simply withdraw it. BUT by logic of "your word is your honor" does that make withdrawing intent somehow shady. I dont think it does.

ANYWAY, let us say for argument's sake that Intent letter went to MSU, but I got into Upstate to whom I only wrote an Interest letter, and the scenario where I have moved to Upstate with a lease and all, then MSU calls a few days before class, what happens?? You all think I would have to bag Upstate and bust over to Michigan because of the the Intent letter??

THIS IS ALL SOOOOOO HYPOTHETICAL, but you see I dont want to be shady. Once I hear I get it to a school I will withdraw from all other WL...but I am trying to be right with this whole letter writing thing! Thanks for your input!!!

Still Waitlisted in 4 States,
Spin

 

[wyo]

I think that you are thinking way too hard about this, and involving way to many hypotheticals. AS many people have said you should srite only one letter of intent (saying that if accpeted you will go). However, you can write as many letters of interest as you want (saying I really like your school blah, blah, blah.) Sending two letters if intent would be dishonest because you can't say to 2 different school that it is your top choice and that you would withdraw from all others if accpeted. That is one issue.

Now, as you said if you've been accpeted to a school (not your first choice/school that received your letter of intent), adn have arlready relocated/began classes, I do not think you would be morally obligated to go to chaoice #1. Your situation has changed from the time you worte the letter, in that you've already committed to another school by moving or starting. I think that you should quickyl inform the school that in spite of your letter you can't come becuase you've already moved/started elsewhere. Like, a previous poster said no student if that valuable and they'll get over it, and I think understand in that situation.

 

[e-spin]

It is funny...I really never even thought about it til I saw some other posts on SDN talking about the ethics of these freaking letters....ok I am done being an over-analytical freak now