Backing out on a Letter of Intent?

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v2contre

v2contre

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My friend was wait-listed at several schools and decided to submit a letter to intent to his #1 choice (school A) and letters of interest to the others. I few days later he was accepted to his #1 choice and was really happy.
Yesterday, he was accepted to another one of the schools that wait-listed him. This other school (school B) has a much higher ranking than school A, and he is now changing his mind and wants to go to school B instead.

Can he back out on the Letter of Intent that he sent school A? Would this look really bad?

Any thoughts or comments would be highly appreciated! Thank you in advance!
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Many adcoms on this forum say letters of intent don't mean anything for the very situation you have explained above. While I doubt it will look bad, your friend's actions will continue to perpetuate the insincerity of letters of intent.
 
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Of course, it's fine. It's not legally binding.

It's no different than you telling every school during your interview that School X is your number one choice (where X belongs to a set that contains all the schools at which you interview).
 
Thank you for your responses.
Both of these are top schools and my friend is afraid of being "blacklisted".
 
v2contre said:
Thank you for your responses.
Both of these are top schools and my friend is afraid of being "blacklisted".
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He'll be happy to hear that this happens every day, twice on Sunday.
Nobody believes these things. They are pillow talk.
 
Wow does this happen a lot amongst top 10 schools though?

Also is he basically "forbidden" from applying to residency programs at school A?
 
v2contre said:
Wow does this happen a lot amongst top 10 schools though?

Also is he basically "forbidden" from applying to residency programs at school A?
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A lot.
These applications are unrelated.
 
He is wondering how people typically back out of intent letters. Is there a graceful or courteous way of doing so?
 
v2contre said:
He is wondering how people typically back out of intent letters. Is there a graceful or courteous way of doing so?
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Email, usually. The most impersonal of communications.
Nothing graceful about it.
 
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@gyngyn Hi, I have a question. I have been accepted to my state school but am on the waitlist (unranked) at a private, more expensive school that I would rather attend. I want to right a letter of intent though; I really feel sincere, and I want it to show. Do you really think this is not going to help? Any advice on what you would think I need to include or not include?
 
NOW do you see why schools pay no attention to LOI???



v2contre said:
My friend was wait-listed at several schools and decided to submit a letter to intent to his #1 choice (school A) and letters of interest to the others. I few days later he was accepted to his #1 choice and was really happy.
Yesterday, he was accepted to another one of the schools that wait-listed him. This other school (school B) has a much higher ranking than school A, and he is now changing his mind and wants to go to school B instead.

Can he back out on the Letter of Intent that he sent school A? Would this look really bad?

Any thoughts or comments would be highly appreciated! Thank you in advance!
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Have you paid any attention to the comments in this thread? The only thing that will get you off of a wait list is patience, a Cell or Nature paper, or your latest transcript coming in showing that you received all As's. And these won't move you anywhere if you had a lousy interview. well, maybe a six-figure donation check.


@@gyngyn Hi, I have a question. I have been accepted to my state school but am on the waitlist (unranked) at a private, more expensive school that I would rather attend. I want to right a letter of intent though; I really feel sincere, and I want it to show. Do you really think this is not going to help? Any advice on what you would think I need to include or not include?
 
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IQ2US said:
@gyngyn Hi, I have a question. I have been accepted to my state school but am on the waitlist (unranked) at a private, more expensive school that I would rather attend. I want to right a letter of intent though; I really feel sincere, and I want it to show. Do you really think this is not going to help? Any advice on what you would think I need to include or not include?
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If you prefer a more expensive school and are holding an acceptance, it is reasonable to let the more expensive school know. All you really have to do is confirm that you are still interested in an acceptance from the waitlist, though!
 
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I think your friend should honor their letter of intent, but I know that if their question is, "will I be punished for lying?" and not, "should I lie?" then honor isn't something they really care about.
 
Donald Juan said:
I think your friend should honor their letter of intent, but I know that if their question is, "will I be punished for lying?" and not, "should I lie?" then honor isn't something they really care about.
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Or they found out something new about one of the schools, then they were at least sincere at the time they wrote the letter. I would tell my dream school they are #1 knowing full well that a considerably better financial aid package elsewhere would make me back out.
 
efle said:
Or they found out something new about one of the schools, then they were at least sincere at the time they wrote the letter. I would tell my dream school they are #1 knowing full well that a considerably better financial aid package elsewhere would make me back out.
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In that case you shouldn't write a letter of intent if you know that other factors would sway you from going to the school you are sending a letter of intent. That's like if your prom date dumps you because Johnny asked her the night before and he's got a nicer limo rented and a fancier hotel planned for afterward, and you're like, "well of course, who wouldn't?? I thought that was understood."

A letter of interest would be, "you're my dream school, I've always wanted to go here." That's fine to back out on. A letter of intent is supposed to clearly state: I will attend this school if I am accepted. I don't think that ethically you should throw those words out without meaning them or go back on them last minute because a better ranked school you didn't think would accept you does.
 
Except that's not how the world works, so play the game.
 
Donald Juan said:
In that case you shouldn't write a letter of intent if you know that other factors would sway you from going to the school you are sending a letter of intent. That's like if your prom date dumps you because Johnny asked her the night before and he's got a nicer limo rented and a fancier hotel planned for afterward, and you're like, "well of course, who wouldn't?? I thought that was understood."

A letter of interest would be, "you're my dream school, I've always wanted to go here." That's fine to back out on. A letter of intent is supposed to clearly state: I will attend this school if I am accepted. I don't think that ethically you should throw those words out without meaning them or go back on them last minute because a better ranked school you didn't think would accept you does.
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I guess it's semantics whether "If it's anywhere approaching financially feasible I'll choose you over anyone else in a heartbeat" qualifies as interest or intent.


ridethecliche said:
Except that's not how the world works, so play the game.
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Gasp but don't you know as premeds we are all 100% altrustic and morally righteous
 
There are no legal repurcussion and unlikely any political ones either. However, your word is your word. If he or she chooses not to honor it then that's for him or her to live with. Many people seem to have no problem doing so as long as there aren't any punishments. I think that it is sad that LOIs don't mean anything to so many. Applying to medicine seems to have become a "game" at around the same time that the field went from being a calling to a "job".
 
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Why would school A not contact school B about him backing out on the LOI?
 
For the sake of discussion, I think it might be worth noting the difference between intentionally sending a letter of intent to a school without a legitimate intention to uphold it (e.g. sending intent letters to multiple schools) and sending one with legitimate intent but later recanting.

In both instances, withdrawing from the school after being accepted is breaking the promise initially made, but the former is outright lying, while the latter seems no different in principle than the breaking of marriage vows through divorce, like so many couples, of whom many are surely good people.
 
gettheleadout said:
For the sake of discussion, I think it might be worth noting the difference between intentionally sending a letter of intent to a school without a legitimate intention to uphold it (e.g. sending intent letters to multiple schools) and sending one with legitimate intent but later recanting.

In both instances, withdrawing from the school after being accepted is breaking the promise initially made, but the former is outright lying, while the latter seems no different in principle than the breaking of marriage vows through divorce, like so many couples, of whom many are surely good people.
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Yes, I was with him when he sent the letter. It was his top choice for MONTHS. So people do change their minds.
 
In this case, would it be a better idea to let school A know of his intentions to go to the other school, or just not accept or address the offer from school A in the first place?
 
The absolutely worst possible scenario is that school gets pissed and he can't do a residency there. I'm not saying that will even happen (it won't), but that is the only even conceivable negative effect.

So, who really cares? There are plenty of residency programs, and if school B is really so much more prestigious he will get into a better one.
 
It bothers me that so many future colleagues in this thread don't seem to care about outright lying to get ahead.
 
v2contre said:
In this case, would it be a better idea to let school A know of his intentions to go to the other school, or just not accept or address the offer from school A in the first place?
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Just reply to the offer and say "I decline the acceptance".
Nothing else needed.
 
Pet peeve, can we please stop making every thread about a "friend"? 🙄
 
skougess said:
It bothers me that so many future colleagues in this thread don't seem to care about outright lying to get ahead.
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I don't really see this as lying. I think you are assuming he was lying, but from the information in the OP, the letter he sent was genuine when he sent it.
 
Just freaking decline it and move on. Someone else is going to be ecstatic to get that spot. It's early in the waitlist season so it's not a big deal. If you were doing this the day before matriculation, you should get slapped.
 
ChrisMack390 said:
I don't really see this as lying. I think you are assuming he was lying, but from the information in the OP, the letter he sent was genuine when he sent it.
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It is lying. Saying "I will go to your school 100% if accepted" doesn't include provisions for "unless something else comes up that turns out to be a better deal." Don't kid yourself.
 
skougess said:
It bothers me that so many future colleagues in this thread don't seem to care about outright lying to get ahead.
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But as @gyngyn has said repeatedly, no adcom believes a letter of intent, so it's not lying "to get ahead." Even if the school did take the LOI into account, being accepted and then declining it doesn't end up being advantageous and doesn't disadvantage other applicants aside from making them wait an extra couple days for that waitlist spot to open back up. I don't care about this particular "lie" because it has no impact.
 
cactus8910 said:
But as @gyngyn has said repeatedly, no adcom believes a letter of intent, so it's not lying "to get ahead." Even if the school did take the LOI into account, being accepted and then declining it doesn't end up being advantageous and doesn't disadvantage other applicants aside from making them wait an extra couple days for that waitlist spot to open back up. I don't care about this particular "lie" because it has no impact.
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I would disagree, because if you weren't trying to get ahead you wouldn't send the letter. Just like people applying with a 14 on the MCAT even though they don't have a chance in hell, just because someone tells you the truth doesn't make you believe it.
 
ridethecliche said:
It bothers me that you don't understand the definition of 'non-binding'.
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Just because something is legally non-binding doesn't mean that it shouldn't be taken with gravity.
 
This is so dumb...I think you should only write a letter of intent to your true #1 (as it has so little weight it doesn't really matter enough to try and hedge your bets with a "lesser" school). It's one thing if you are offered a full ride to a different school, it's another if you are just like "eh....this one is ranked a bit more". One is understandable (if a bit lame since you did give them your "word"), the other is just stupid and wastes everyone's time. How much do you value you word? a few spots on a ranking list = dumb. 300,000 dollars...okay yeah fair enough. Just my 2 cents.
 
mmmcdowe said:
Just because something is legally non-binding doesn't mean that it shouldn't be taken with gravity.
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I never said it shouldn't be taken with gravity, but saying that it's akin to lying to get ahead is asinine. There are many reasons situations and things can change, especially if the finances are different.

This process is so stacked against applicants anyway that I don't even think it's an issue to look the other way for this happening.
 
Acceleration said:
So many saints on SDN it's so beautiful.
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On the one hand I'm a cynical bastard too, but on the other I am passionately against some things that others can quickly move on from (like non-prescription ADD med use or only a few students having access to a backlog of old exams). Maybe these guys are really into keeping promises but aren't so righteous in general
 
So the consensus on sdn is...
1) If you send multiple letters of intent to schools, you are SOL.
2) If you send it to one school and then change your mind, you are OK.
 
gonnif said:
I will add once specific nuance to that. I have seem nontrad applicants writing essentially saying the same thing LOI to a few schools about strongly being attached to a geographic location for children, spouse's employment, etc. That may be reasonable to do
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Everyone seems to be very attached to CA!
 
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