I wouldnt go as far as to say that sucking up to the admissions committee of a school is a good idea. But, sending an E-mail or something to a school to let them know that your interested doesnt hurt from my experience. In the past, I have sent letters of interest to two schools (both MD schools) which I had applied to and was very interested in attending, but knew my MCAT scores were somewhat lower than their average. I ended up getting interview invites at both schools the day following my letter being sent. So, I assume I got the interviews due to the letters. Note however, that I didnt get into these schools and the admissions counselors I spoke with at these schools still told me that it was largely due to my MCAT scores.
So, what I am saying is that letting a school know your interested in them can help, but dont expect it to do the job. What I think my letters did was simply get someone to personally look at my application rather than have some computer determine that my MCATs were below the schools usual admittance value and send me an automatic rejection. And, I think the reason they gave me the interviews were simply to make sure I retook the MCAT and reapplied to them next year...Schools like students who are willing to work to go there.
I definately wouldnt go calling the dean or anything unless you have a honest question to ask him/her. These people are extremely busy, especially around this time of year. Probably safer with an E-mail or something. Also, when I wrote to these schools, my letters of interest were written more as a letter asking them to update my application with some recent activities I had been involved with. I did this because I didnt want to come across as "sucking up" to them...I would definately avoid "kissing a**".
