Bad timing LOI

[braintrust]

So I've already sent out a letter of intent to another school but just got back from my last interview and am even more impressed with the most recent school. I really want to send the 2nd school a letter of intent now but am I stuck due to my previous letter (sent to the 1st school) to send a LOI-interest rather than a LOI-intent. If I sent an intent letter to the most recent school then would I have to rescend the previous letter. This would in essence be killing any shot I have at the first school. I could see myself at both schools but prefer the 2nd. What should I do?

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[Bacchus]

Its April 13, its getting late in this application season. I think it would be foolish to rescend your LOI at the first school. Its best to not burn bridges. Technically you could send an LOI to the second school as well. Is this morally correct? Probably not. Think about it and see where it goes. Realize that a lot of classes are nearly filled and you may not be granted a spot at the second school.

 

[154241]

i had to do this, actually... i keep meaning to post this as a cautionary tale but just haven't. i wrote a letter of intent to emory back in october and got passed over by them four times (they do a batch of acceptances every month and then everyone hears in march). then in february i was offered a totally unexpected interview at harvard. needless to say, harvard was amazing, and i was kicking myself at the very remote possibility of getting into both harvard and emory (they released final decisions at about the same time) and having to go to emory. i should note that i had already been accepted at my third choice, einstein, which helped things a lot. anyway, i dithered about it for a week or so until a friend of mine asked me, "what will you regret more, sabotaging your chances at emory, not getting into harvard, and winding up at einstein, or getting into harvard and not being able to go?" that cleared things up for me. i decided to go for it and rescinded my loi at emory. amazingly, the lady who answered the phone said she would just remove it from my file and not report it or anything. so presumably it had no effect on my application, though i was waitlisted a month later. i wound up not getting into harvard (surprise, surprise). well, i'm happy with my choice, and i would have been even if i had gotten into emory. einstein will be awesome. op, you have to look at your options and figure out what the worst case scenario is for each option and see which one you can live with.

 

[dr midnight]

so what it the school you sent your letter of intend wait listed you and then you got another interview that you like better is it ok to send another letter of intent to the new school before they make a decision. I just interviewed about a week ago.

 

[braintrust]

Could I avoid the issue by just writing a letter of interest to the second school rather than a letter of intent?

 

[Picklesali]

It varies by school that an LOI (of both varieties) even has any effect. I think that maybe you should send a letter of interest to the second school - then if you get into both, you can apologize profusely, to school 1 and burn the bridge? While it is not really cool to renege on your LOI - the truth is that it is not legally binding. You can honestly say that you only saw school 2 after you sent your LOI. I think that would be more ethical than sending a second letter of intent - and less risky than rescinding your first one

 

[diosa428]

Could I avoid the issue by just writing a letter of interest to the second school rather than a letter of intent?

Well you could... but that still wouldn't solve the problem that could occur if you get into both school #1 and school #2. You already TOLD school #1 you would attend.

 

[braintrust]

Well you could... but that still wouldn't solve the problem that could occur if you get into both school #1 and school #2. You already TOLD school #1 you would attend.

Yeah thats true but I'm still trying to get my foot in the door at #2 so letting them know how much i am interested will help me there. I haven't been accepted at either yet so this forcasting is appropriate but I don't think I should give up on pursuing the school I just visited. In the off chance I think that I get into both I will have a very tough decision to make on if I "burn" the school I sent the LOI-intent to or maintain my integrity and go there.

 

[SgtDoc]

"burn" the school I sent the LOI-intent to or maintain my integrity and go there.

Tough call. I mean you did the LOI without having complete information, which is your bad...on the other hand I don't know if it's an issue of integrity when it's the next 4+ years of your life. It's not like you promised to go on a date with someone and then someone better came along...

 

[diosa428]

Yeah thats true but I'm still trying to get my foot in the door at #2 so letting them know how much i am interested will help me there. I haven't been accepted at either yet so this forcasting is appropriate but I don't think I should give up on pursuing the school I just visited. In the off chance I think that I get into both I will have a very tough decision to make on if I "burn" the school I sent the LOI-intent to or maintain my integrity and go there.

Are you waitlisted at the first school and haven't heard yet from the second? Do you know when you'll hear from school #2? B/c waitlists generally don't move until after May 15th, in which case if you heard from school #2 first, you could always withdraw from school #1 before they made a decision on your app.

 

[braintrust]

yeah I'm on the WL for the school I sent the LOI-intent to but have yet to hear from this recent school.

 

[goosie]

I have a similar problem- my fiance and I are both applying to schools- he's gotten in to Einstein and I've gotten in to Tufts. He's waitlisted at BU and Tufts, and waiting to hear from UMass. We've sent LOIntent to Tufts, stating that if he's accepted we'd both go.....

So... we're both on the waitlist at UVM, and we'd be very happy going there. I'm wondering if we should send a LOIntent to UVM as well, with the understanding that if he gets in to Tufts we'd withdraw from the waitlist at UVM, and vice-versa if we both get off the waitlist at UVM.

I don't know what the negatives are for sending 2 letters of intent, as long as we both understand that if one of those moves first we'd have to withdraw from the other school ASAP. I'm just minorly beginning to freak-out about not being in the same city as my fiance come September..... and I know he has a fairly decent shot of coming off the waitlist at one of the Mass schools... ugh... waiting


(I apologize for somewhat hijacking this thread, but I thought the OP's problem was fairly similar)

 

[1956Goldtop]

Just write a letter of interest. Intent letters probably don't even do anything.

 

[CrepesofWrath]

Letters of interest are pro forma and don't have nearly the same effect as a letter of intent. Depending on the school, letters of intent are quite meaningful and can make a difference if the school was on the fence about an applicant to begin with. A letter of interest can be meaningful if it is written post-interview and includes all the reasons why the applicant is a "good fit." But again, letters of interest are almost expected nowadays if you liked the school.

That being said, a letter of intent is viewed as binding by the school that receives it, since they can base an acceptance decision on your "certain" decision to attend if invited. This is why they make a difference. There is something to be said for the games that applicants can play to get more scholarship money, but a letter of intent is generally an endgame play and should be honored, if written.

 

[CPmustangs]

It really comes down to your morals you said that you would go to the first school, so if they say yes you should morally go there. You probably could back out and burn the bridge, but ethically I would see that as questionable. And doctors are supposed to have high ethical standards.