Did sending letters of interest/contacting school work for you or not?

[uclaussr]

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I am still waitlisted at my top choice scohol. I have been sending extra letters of recs, writting lois, calling a lot...all to no avail. This school encourages expression of interest. But either they really don't like me or i'm not doing enough. So in my example i think its safe to assume for nonranked waitlists even, LOIs dont help much if the school didn't want u in the first place.

Did you guys have any luck with LOIs/expressing interest?
Any more ideas as to what i can be doing to express my interest?

 

[ozzi22]

check out these md apps http://mdapplicants.com/profile.php?id=06325

http://mdapplicants.com/profile.php?view=viewprofile.discussion&id=9582&cycle=11955

 

[NickNaylor]

Sent a letter of intent to my top choice when I was placed on "hold." I was eventually rejected (a good chunk of those placed on hold there are waitlisted). Didn't work so well for me, but it does for many others.

 

[uclaussr]

im surprised u got rejected from anywhere, Nick, just goes to show what a crapshoot this process is.

 

[MrBird]

The ones I sent LOIs to ended up poorly for me. Interestingly, the only one I didn't send a letter of interest for accepted me off the waitlist.

 

[music2doc]

The ones I sent LOIs to ended up poorly for me. Interestingly, the only one I didn't send a letter of interest for accepted me off the waitlist.

It's been said by some adcoms that if they know your name it's a bad thing. LOIs can be annoying, so I could see where sending an LOI (esp. if accompanied by phone calls or multiple letters) might be seen as annoying and get you the ol' "Reject Applicant" button pressed next to your name.

 

[paul411]

While knowing an applicant's name as pestering might not be good, knowing a name as highly recommended by legit people might help.

 

[iniquus]

I think the general consensus is that a LOI cannot hurt, but the effect of one is marginal at best and varies from school to school. I think conveying that a school is one of your top choices can only help you, but if you have already conveyed that message and have nothing significant to update them with--don't waste your time with phone calls or letters. One strong well-timed letter, or expressive phone call, is better than multiple letters and phone calls begging about waitlist movement or status updates. Admissions committees are working diligently and don't need to be slowed down by things like that.

Listen to your school. Jefferson told me they LOVE these letters. I definitely think they significantly helped me post-interview at other schools too.

 

[luckyducky87]

I wouldn't pester the school, of course. For me personally, I sent a LOI(nterest) to schools I was waitlisted at, none of the 5 responded. I didn't get off any waitlist.

But as people have said, this does work for some people... I know a friend who sent a very good LOI(ntention) to WashU and got a phone call within hours saying she is now off the waitlist and accepted. (I wish I knew what was in this...)

 

[GooseWing]

Is it a bad time to ask about a school's stance on letters of intent during an interview?

 

[mauberley]

Is it a bad time to ask about a school's stance on letters of intent during an interview?

During the interview? Yes. But during the day of the interview, there should be ample opportunity to ask an admissions staff member about whether they're receptive to such letters.

 

[BarcaBest23]

3 schools W/L where I sent LOI: 0 acceptances

2 schools W/L with no LOI : 2 acceptances

enough said, don't waste your time unless its something big to let them know about.

 

[Narmerguy]

I wouldn't pester the school, of course. For me personally, I sent a LOI(nterest) to schools I was waitlisted at, none of the 5 responded. I didn't get off any waitlist.

But as people have said, this does work for some people... I know a friend who sent a very good LOI(ntention) to WashU and got a phone call within hours saying she is now off the waitlist and accepted. (I wish I knew what was in this...)

This is precisely the reason why schools don't value them so much. When they cut an applicant a break after receiving the letter only to see them go somewhere else, what kind of faith do they put in such letters? I'm not knocking you for sending multiple letters, but simply pointing out that our ability and demonstrated willingness to send multiple letters to different schools makes them mostly worthless.

There is nothing binding in these letters and schools know that no matter how much you profess to love their 30 year old anatomy lab and 123% PBL curriculum that you could easily leave if something else appeals to you more.

 

[music2doc]

While knowing an applicant's name as pestering might not be good, knowing a name as highly recommended by legit people might help.

Certainly, but most LOIs don't include a note by a Nobel Prize winner expressing admiration of the applicant's accomplishments and heart for continued service through medicine.

I think the general consensus is that a LOI cannot hurt, but the effect of one is marginal at best and varies from school to school. I think conveying that a school is one of your top choices can only help you, but if you have already conveyed that message and have nothing significant to update them with--don't waste your time with phone calls or letters. One strong well-timed letter, or expressive phone call, is better than multiple letters and phone calls begging about waitlist movement or status updates. Admissions committees are working diligently and don't need to be slowed down by things like that.

Listen to your school. Jefferson told me they LOVE these letters. I definitely think they significantly helped me post-interview at other schools too.

I get the feeling it can hurt from speaking with the director of admissions at our affiliated school. I think it's crucial you know what a given school wants. A school that is getting 5-10k applications may not want another 5-10k letters from "interested" students because the fact you submitted a secondary tells them you are interested. Our med school doesn't accept updates at all, so for you to send LOIs or make phone calls is obviously not desirable to them. Their feeling is that once you've applied, you've applied. Everything is set at that point. Other schools hold different philosophies. Find out the philosophies of the schools to which you are applying.

In the words of an adcom (jokingly, of course): "If we in the Admissions office know your name, you're probably annoying. I can always fix that by sending you a rejection letter. It only takes two clicks of my mouse."

 

[paul411]

This is precisely the reason why schools don't value them so much. When they cut an applicant a break after receiving the letter only to see them go somewhere else, what kind of faith do they put in such letters? I'm not knocking you for sending multiple letters, but simply pointing out that our ability and demonstrated willingness to send multiple letters to different schools makes them mostly worthless.

There is nothing binding in these letters and schools know that no matter how much you profess to love their 30 year old anatomy lab and 123% PBL curriculum that you could easily leave if something else appeals to you more.

Hmm.. Good point.

 

[uclaussr]

I meant letters of interest after being waitlisted...not shortly after sending in ur app.

 

[uclaussr]

bumpyyyyyy

 

[NickNaylor]

Certainly, but most LOIs don't include a note by a Nobel Prize winner expressing admiration of the applicant's accomplishments and heart for continued service through medicine.



I get the feeling it can hurt from speaking with the director of admissions at our affiliated school. I think it's crucial you know what a given school wants. A school that is getting 5-10k applications may not want another 5-10k letters from "interested" students because the fact you submitted a secondary tells them you are interested. Our med school doesn't accept updates at all, so for you to send LOIs or make phone calls is obviously not desirable to them. Their feeling is that once you've applied, you've applied. Everything is set at that point. Other schools hold different philosophies. Find out the philosophies of the schools to which you are applying.

In the words of an adcom (jokingly, of course): "If we in the Admissions office know your name, you're probably annoying. I can always fix that by sending you a rejection letter. It only takes two clicks of my mouse."

I certainly don't think that's true at many, if not most schools. While there are some that explicitly state that they don't want letters, most schools that I've seen are at worst ambivalent. Many outright state that they encourage continued communication if you've been waitlisted after an interview.

 

[alwaysaangel]

I am still waitlisted at my top choice scohol. I have been sending extra letters of recs, writting lois, calling a lot...all to no avail. This school encourages expression of interest. But either they really don't like me or i'm not doing enough. So in my example i think its safe to assume for nonranked waitlists even, LOIs dont help much if the school didn't want u in the first place.

Did you guys have any luck with LOIs/expressing interest?
Any more ideas as to what i can be doing to express my interest?

Given where it is you shouldn't be doing anything because they explicitly said just 1 LOI this year.

Just be patient and wait. There is nothing else you can do, and there is no way to know if it helps or not. For some people it does, for some people it doesn't.

Unranked waitlists are tricky because they are usually trying to replace each person who drops with a similar person in both demographics and interests (eg if a white swimmer drops they might replace him/her with another white athlete). So all you can do is wait and hope.

However, for everyone on waitlists at this point in the cycle (myself included 4 years ago) its time to start looking at housing at where you are currently accepted and planning on going there. If you get in off a waitlist it is always an exciting surprise but it just cant be counted on.