Letter of Intent Implications

[vanillabear55]

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So I'm not asking whether or not I should send a letter of intent to a school I am waitlisted at. This school has stated multiple times that they are open to receiving them specifically and I'm relatively certain it is my top choice (which is why I'm finally making this decision so close to traffic day, oops).

I'm not sending it to more than one school, so this isn't an ethics question but rather....can someone fill me in what is a reasonable course of action in this scenario?

I am accepted at School A, and plan to matriculate. I send a letter of intent to School B saying it is my top choice and would definitely attend there, if given the opportunity.

School A is far away, so securing housing, a car, roommates, etc. has to be planned and everything has to be set in motion before I move there when school starts. I've heard time and time again how schools pull from the waitlist up until their orientation. So say it is July and I have bought a car (not necessary for School B in a big city), signed a lease near School A, and am generally prepared to commit to my education at School A. While I know it's not legally binding, is it wrong to not follow through on my LOI to School B at that point, should they decide to offer me a last minute acceptance? When does the LOI "commitment" become blurred? I don't want any bad blood with School B, because it is definitely somewhere I want to apply for residency down the road.

Thanks!

 

[xffan624]

So I'm not asking whether or not should I send a letter of intent to a school I am waitlisted at. This school has stated multiple times that they are open to receiving them specifically and I'm relatively certain it is my top choice (which is why I'm finally making this decision so close to traffic day, oops).

I'm not sending it to more than one school, so this isn't an ethics question but rather....can someone fill me in what is a reasonable course of action in this scenario?

I am accepted at School A, and plan to matriculate. I send a letter of intent to School B saying it is my top choice and would definitely attend there, if given the opportunity.

School A is far away, so securing housing, a car, roommates, etc. has to be planned and everything has to be set in motion before I move there when school starts. I've heard time and time again how schools pull from the waitlist up until their orientation. So say it is July and I have bought a car (not necessary for School B in a big city), signed a lease near School A, and am generally prepared to commit to my education at School A. While I know it's not legally binding, is it wrong to not follow through on my LOI to School B at that point, should they decide to offer me a last minute acceptance? When does the LOI "commitment" become blurred? I don't want any bad blood with School B, because it is definitely somewhere I want to apply for residency down the road.

Thanks!

You're not prepared to drop School A's acceptance past a certain point. You should either state that in the LOI or just send a love letter stating your desire to attend the school.

BTW, in the eyes of an ADCOM, the LOI's "commitment" is blurred from the moment it is sent. It's non-binding, and as evidenced by your post, clearly only worth anything should the applicant decide to actually put their money where their mouth is. A spurious expectation, at best.

 

[235009]

If you think you've reached the point of no return a month or two from now with regards to setting up your life to go to School A then you can simply withdraw from School B's wait list


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[cyanide12345678]

I personally withdrew my acceptance after having housing set up in their student apartments and going to their welcome weekend. I had a roommate as well (college friend). I was offered an acceptance from a more desirable school in mid may. If I were you, I'd postpone buying a car (can be done easily 15 days before school starts), but I'd definitely start roommate hunting and apartment hunting. At most, you'd lose the deposit on the apartment if the other school offers you an acceptance, but generally speaking there is little to no waitlist movement after mid june I think. If you haven't received anything by then, most probably it's not happening. At that point, you can probably start looking into buying a car, especially late july.

 

[MaxPlancker]

Well you shouldn't send a LOI if you aren't 100% set on attending even if they pull you off the day before classes begin. That's the point of intent.

 

[vanillabear55]

If you think you've reached the point of no return a month or two from now with regards to setting up your life to go to School A then you can simply withdraw from School B's wait list


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

Don't know why this hadn't occurred to me haha

Its not wrong, nor will it cause any bad blood down the road in any way, shape or form.

My suggestion is for you to set out the "critical path" as to what act or event will make an irreversible course. I would do it know, before you are faced with the decision, think it thru and make your deadline. Then if no WL comes thru, then withdraw.

Yeah, like what @MeatTornado said, this definitely seems like something I could do, my critical path would probably be signing an apartment lease, or leasing a car....something that financially would hurt me a lot to have to deal with if I had to switch schools last minute

I personally withdrew my acceptance after having housing set up in their student apartments and going to their welcome weekend. I had a roommate as well (college friend). I was offered an acceptance from a more desirable school in mid may. If I were you, I'd postpone buying a car (can be done easily 15 days before school starts), but I'd definitely start roommate hunting and apartment hunting. At most, you'd lose the deposit on the apartment if the other school offers you an acceptance, but generally speaking there is little to no waitlist movement after mid june I think. If you haven't received anything by then, most probably it's not happening. At that point, you can probably start looking into buying a car, especially late july.

Yeah, I'm definitely going to wait as late as possible to sort out my car situation. I have no idea on how apartment leases work in real life though haha, like if I backed out...am I responsible for the 12 months of rent? lose just first and last months rent? I'm a child when it comes to this area😕

Just to clarify, you sent an LOI to the school that accepted you mid-May and you decided against it?? Or did you not send an LOI

 

[235009]

Yeah, like what @MeatTornado said, this definitely seems like something I could do, my critical path would probably be signing an apartment lease, or leasing a car....something that financially would hurt me a lot to have to deal with if I had to switch schools last minute

don't lease a car, buy a used car instead, at least if you finance it you own something of worth at the end

For a lease beginning in August you can wait until mid to late june to look for a place

 

[dougy]

Just signed a lease near my school A, told them 90% likely moving to their city. The manager responded saying, I can cancel until I move in and only lose reservation fee. I'm sure all contracts are different but you can try to make some tentative plans. Made easier cause I have no interest in roommate so not screwing someone else. I'm going to pull myself off WL at school B 10 days or so before I move as my move date is set in stone due to expiring current lease and this would be the smallest window to instead move to city of school B.

 

[Goro]

The very reason you have to ask this shows why most Admissions deans think LOIs are pure bull****.

How would YOU interpret a non-binding contract from a desperate applicant?????

While I know it's not legally binding, is it wrong to not follow through on my LOI to School B at that point, should they decide to offer me a last minute acceptance? When does the LOI "commitment" become blurred? I don't want any bad blood with School B, because it is definitely somewhere I want to apply for residency down the road.

Thanks!

 

[vanillabear55]

The very reason you have to ask this shows why most Admissions deans think LOIs are pure bull****.

How would YOU interpret a non-binding contract from a desperate applicant?????

I know! That's why I don't want to contribute to the perception! haha, I just didn't know if it became murky the closer it got to orientation day for logistical reasons.

And don't get me wrong, I'm far from desperate, I love School A for many reasons and am ecstatic to be accepted there!

I wasn't even sure if I wanted to send an LOI to School B at all, might just ride out the waitlist as it is and let the universe decide haha

 

[Goro]

My take on schools that accept LOI is that they use them to weed out those who aren't so interested.

I know! That's why I don't want to contribute to the perception! haha, I just didn't know if it became murky the closer it got to orientation day for logistical reasons.

And don't get me wrong, I'm far from desperate, I love School A for many reasons and am ecstatic to be accepted there!

I wasn't even sure if I wanted to send an LOI to School B at all, might just ride out the waitlist as it is and let the universe decide haha

 

[vanillabear55]

My take on schools that accept LOI is that they use them to weed out those who aren't so interested.

That seems to be exactly what School B is doing, they said on my interview day that in April/May if you are waitlisted they do take LOIs into consideration at that point. Maybe I'll write a love letter as someone else suggested, just so they know I'm still alive and interested 🙂

Thanks for your input!

 

[Goro]

I interpret it as with an LOI, you stay ont he wait list, rather than being kicked off into the reject pool. I don't think it will have any bearing on your ability to move other than that. Meaning, a weak candidate who sends love letters is still a weak candidate.

That seems to be exactly what School B is doing, they said on my interview day that in April/May if you are waitlisted they do take LOIs into consideration at that point. Maybe I'll write a love letter as someone else suggested, just so they know I'm still alive and interested 🙂

Thanks for your input!

 

[cyanide12345678]

Just to clarify, you sent an LOI to the school that accepted you mid-May and you decided against it?? Or did you not send an LOI

I never sent any LOI. But I held on to an acceptance until mid may when I got a better offer. I was waitlisted at UTSW and Baylor, accepted at UTH. I was going to go to UTH, unless either of them sent an offer. UTSW sent an offer Mid may.

Also, the way apartment leases usually work is that you pay a small fee to hold an apartment until move in date when you sign your lease. For example, my residency is going to be in Ohio. I've gone ahead and sent a $100 hold fee to one apartment complex for a move in on June. They guarantee a spot for me when I'm there and I'll sign the lease then. If I change my mind, I lose the $100 (and the $25 application fee), but otherwise I am fairly free to change my decision.

 

[vanillabear55]

I never sent any LOI. But I held on to an acceptance until mid may when I got a better offer. I was waitlisted at UTSW and Baylor, accepted at UTH. I was going to go to UTH, unless either of them sent an offer. UTSW sent an offer Mid may.

Also, the way apartment leases usually work is that you pay a small fee to hold an apartment until move in date when you sign your lease. For example, my residency is going to be in Ohio. I've gone ahead and sent a $100 hold fee to one apartment complex for a move in on June. They guarantee a spot for me when I'm there and I'll sign the lease then. If I change my mind, I lose the $100 (and the $25 application fee), but otherwise I am fairly free to change my decision.

good to know, thanks!