Letters of Interest? (Waiting for interview invites...)

1) I don't see why a letter would need to be more than one page. I would stick to that limit.

2) Whether it's too late or not, who cares? If it might get you an interview, go for it.

3) I would use some nice resume paper and either snail mail it to the schools if scan a signed copy and email it to the admissions office.

4) I would stress what about that school makes you interested in going there and how you think you would contribute to their class.

Good luck.

Sorry, double post.

greenhat06 said:

Hello guys,
So far I have 2 interviews and 3 rejections from my 15 schools I've applied to. The interviews went great and I should be hearing back very soon. But in the meantime I have gotten a bit worried/anxious about the lack of response from the other schools. So I am thinking about writing some letters of interest but realized I may not have the time to write 10 individual letters. When other people have written them, exactly how long are they? And how much of it is school specific as opposed to just BS that I really want an opportunity to "demonstrate" myself to your school blah blah? Do you think it's too late in the process to send out ten of these letters? I will find time to write them individually if people really think they are worth it. And finally, what do you write them on? Snail mail on letterhead, "thank-you" type sized cards, obviously without the thank you part. Or email? thanks guys,

Click to expand...

Last week I was feeling like you do right now, helpless and waiting... So I wrote out my letters of interest, printed them out on nice resume paper and sent them out to each Texas school I had not interviewed with... My letters were each a page long (but I made the margins like .3 and it was a FULL page of text), most of each letter was the same, but there was some major differences because I wanted the school to know specifically why I wanted to go there and what I had to offer for their incoming class. I sent them to either the dean of the school or the admissions director... I did not have any updates to share really. If you want to see some of mine, I wouldn’t mind sending it to you. It helped me to see someone else’s letter beforehand to know what the format should be…

Basically I used a specific format for each letter. It was as follows:

1st paragraph- Introduction and an explanation of why I am writing this letter. For me, I was writing to ask them to relook at my application and offer me an interview.

2nd paragraph- A little about myself and why I am amazingly awesome... I actually started this paragraph by saying that I knew they had better applicants than me in regards to grades and test scores, but that I have a lot of life experience and a lot more to offer than just grades.

3rd paragraph- Why their school was special to me, what about it would be beneficial to me, and I ended it with 2 sentences about how I would be good for them. I would be good for them because I am a non traditional student, so I would create a more diverse class for them.

4th paragraph- Location Location Location... Reminding them of the fact that I am a native Texan, and for the schools near my home, I stated that I am from this area and would like to remain here to be closer to my family. For places that were in other parts of Texas, I just told them that I want to continue my practice in Texas, and going to their school would let me help communities similar to what I grew up in.

5th paragraph- Concluding paragraph. Pulling it all together by telling them that I would make an excellent medical student for their school and they in turn will make me a better physician.

Sincerely,
Me.


Mostly all of the paragraphs were the same in each letter, except paragraph #3… Also, I stated the name of the specific school in random places throughout the letter to make them feel like these letters were very personal… Make sure to proof read them before sending them out! Don’t leave another schools name on a different schools letter!!!

Just to piggyback on this thread .. if this is all still pre-interview, is it okay to include more updates to your application and the end (like last paragraph) with a reminder of your interest in the school and specific aspects of their program? And I'd read somewhere that it might be preferable to email rather than snailmail updates/letters of interests .. in that it might be a little more convenient for readers? Any thoughts?

2050vlsb said:

Just to piggyback on this thread .. if this is all still pre-interview, is it okay to include more updates to your application and the end (like last paragraph) with a reminder of your interest in the school and specific aspects of their program? And I'd read somewhere that it might be preferable to email rather than snailmail updates/letters of interests .. in that it might be a little more convenient for readers? Any thoughts?

Click to expand...

I think email may be more convenient... But a real letter looks more formal, and it shows a little more effort. In my opinion...

Any letter you send pre interview can say anything that you want... An update sounds like it would be great actually. I wanted to make mine an update letter, but I felt that I had only a few things to add, and I think what I already have in my application was solid to begin with. Hopefully that doesn't count against me!

speculations speculations

noshie said:

Last week I was feeling like you do right now, helpless and waiting... So I wrote out my letters of interest, printed them out on nice resume paper and sent them out to each Texas school I had not interviewed with... My letters were each a page long (but I made the margins like .3 and it was a FULL page of text), most of each letter was the same, but there was some major differences because I wanted the school to know specifically why I wanted to go there and what I had to offer for their incoming class. I sent them to either the dean of the school or the admissions director... I did not have any updates to share really. If you want to see some of mine, I wouldn’t mind sending it to you. It helped me to see someone else’s letter beforehand to know what the format should be…

Basically I used a specific format for each letter. It was as follows:

1st paragraph- Introduction and an explanation of why I am writing this letter. For me, I was writing to ask them to relook at my application and offer me an interview.

2nd paragraph- A little about myself and why I am amazingly awesome... I actually started this paragraph by saying that I knew they had better applicants than me in regards to grades and test scores, but that I have a lot of life experience and a lot more to offer than just grades.

3rd paragraph- Why their school was special to me, what about it would be beneficial to me, and I ended it with 2 sentences about how I would be good for them. I would be good for them because I am a non traditional student, so I would create a more diverse class for them.

4th paragraph- Location Location Location... Reminding them of the fact that I am a native Texan, and for the schools near my home, I stated that I am from this area and would like to remain here to be closer to my family. For places that were in other parts of Texas, I just told them that I want to continue my practice in Texas, and going to their school would let me help communities similar to what I grew up in.

5th paragraph- Concluding paragraph. Pulling it all together by telling them that I would make an excellent medical student for their school and they in turn will make me a better physician.

Sincerely,
Me.


Mostly all of the paragraphs were the same in each letter, except paragraph #3… Also, I stated the name of the specific school in random places throughout the letter to make them feel like these letters were very personal… Make sure to proof read them before sending them out! Don’t leave another schools name on a different schools letter!!!

Click to expand...

Hi noshie,

Do you mind forwarding me the letters ??

[email protected]

shirley

hmm i dont how to answer

I thought I would update you guys... One of my letters actually got me an interview! I sent the letter last Thursday and got the call yesterday for an interview invite! I am a million percent sure the invite was the result of my letter... I have been complete with them for almost 4 months, and all I heard until yesterday was that I was already reviewed months ago. Then I wrote the letter and got an interview in less than a week. Speculate that. Haha.

I never lie... Cute cat though!

one must show solidarity with the rest of the Felidae

noshie said:

I thought I would update you guys... One of my letters actually got me an interview! I sent the letter last Thursday and got the call yesterday for an interview invite! I am a million percent sure the invite was the result of my letter... I have been complete with them for almost 4 months, and all I heard until yesterday was that I was already reviewed months ago. Then I wrote the letter and got an interview in less than a week. Speculate that. Haha.

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I'm really glad you got the interview invite!

But, to be fair, I'm not convinced that it was the LOI that got that invite for you. For all you know, they might have decided to invite you before you sent the letter and just didn't get around to sending the invite out until after the letter reached them. Of course, if they explicitly tell you that the LOI was solely responsible for the invite, I'll gladly retract my suspicions!

2050vlsb said:

Just to piggyback on this thread .. if this is all still pre-interview, is it okay to include more updates to your application and the end (like last paragraph) with a reminder of your interest in the school and specific aspects of their program? And I'd read somewhere that it might be preferable to email rather than snailmail updates/letters of interests .. in that it might be a little more convenient for readers? Any thoughts?

Click to expand...

I emailed my LOI at 10pm and received a follow up email at 8am the next morning with deeper questions for me to answer... I think that this is the benefit of email

Kaushik said:

I'm really glad you got the interview invite!

But, to be fair, I'm not convinced that it was the LOI that got that invite for you. For all you know, they might have decided to invite you before you sent the letter and just didn't get around to sending the invite out until after the letter reached them. Of course, if they explicitly tell you that the LOI was solely responsible for the invite, I'll gladly retract my suspicions!

Click to expand...

So... I knew people would say this... And being that this is my third time applying, I wouldn't make this claim if I wasn't sure that it was likely what happened. I am going to have to make my case I guess...

For those of you not applying in Texas, you may not understand how things work with the application and interviews over here. Our interview season is from August until mid December. After December, they basically give no interviews... During the course of the cycle, they never tell you if your file is on hold, and they don't reject you pretty much until the last few months of the cycle (in May and June of next year, they only tell you that you are rejected if you are lucky, sometimes they don't even tell you anything).

Back to my story, I applied in May, my application was complete mid July, and I got a few interviews in Texas around August/September. The sheer fact that I have been complete since July and have received no word from any of the schools, except for under review emails at the end of July, means that they have most likely put my file on hold at all of the other Texas schools that I didn't interview with. It’s almost November. If they were going to give me an interview, they would have done it already. My file is definitely not under review anymore, it has to be in the hold or rejected pile... It wouldn't be under review for almost 4 months, that's just crazy talk.

Basically, I am on hold with all of the Texas schools, and I made my last ditch effort by sending them a letter of interest to make them pull my file and relook at my application. Sure, MAYBE they were already going to give me an interview, but I highly doubt it... After being through this so many times, and talking to so many people that have been through this Texas application, I have rarely heard of someone turning in their application so early and getting an interview in December without writing a letter or something. Not saying it doesn’t happen, I am saying that it is rare.

Even if none of this convinces you, what does it really matter? If you have not heard anything from the schools for so long, why not write a letter of interest and give them something that shows that you are being active in this process. It can only help you. This process tends to leave you feeling helpless because after you turn in your application, all you can do is wait... But you are not helpless, you can be your own advocate and show them what you really have to offer. A personal letter can allow them to see part of your personality, this is the whole point of an interview also...