How to seem interested in a med school without being annoying

[LadyJubilee8_18]

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Ok, I am applying to med school right now, and I REALLY want to go to either Baylor or Upenn. My stats are average and since I am not from Pennsylvania, my chances of getting in to Upenn are pretty slim. I have been e-mailing a few admin people at Baylor and I am thinking of doing the same with Upenn because I want them to know I am very interested. I want to be persistent but not annoying. How do I accomplish this? For those of you who got into your top choices partially through lots of contact with the schools, how did you do it?

 

[PhotoMD]

Ok, I am applying to med school right now, and I REALLY want to go to either Baylor or Upenn. My stats are average and since I am not from Pennsylvania, my chances of getting in to Upenn are pretty slim. I have been e-mailing a few admin people at Baylor and I am thinking of doing the same with Upenn because I want them to know I am very interested. I want to be persistent but not annoying. How do I accomplish this? For those of you who got into your top choices partially through lots of contact with the schools, how did you do it?

It's probably a little premature to write letters to the schools. I might wait until you are in the interview stage. If you don't get an interview at Penn, a personal letter probably wouldn't be enough to save the day.

 

[Brainsucker]

I have been e-mailing a few admin people at Baylor and I am thinking of doing the same with Upenn because I want them to know I am very interested. I want to be persistent but not annoying. How do I accomplish this? For those of you who got into your top choices partially through lots of contact with the schools, how did you do it?

Write well-written paper letters. Those will make it into your file. The e-mail will likely get deleted and forgotten. You might try to find some people who go to those schools to let you know what the attitude is. Columbia encourages letter-writing, but that's really at the interview stage. Case, on the other hand, asks waitlisted people not to bug them.

My method for this sort of thing was to send updates. "I'm sending you a transcript of my latest grades and by the way, I think your school would be a great fit for me." You might also want to write about what you'll contribute to the school.

I don't think letter writing can hurt you unless you write crappy letters or deluge them with tons of correspondence. I'd start after you submit the secondaries.

 

[LadyJubilee8_18]

Write well-written paper letters. Those will make it into your file. The e-mail will likely get deleted and forgotten. You might try to find some people who go to those schools to let you know what the attitude is. Columbia encourages letter-writing, but that's really at the interview stage. Case, on the other hand, asks waitlisted people not to bug them.

My method for this sort of thing was to send updates. "I'm sending you a transcript of my latest grades and by the way, I think your school would be a great fit for me." You might also want to write about what you'll contribute to the school.

I don't think letter writing can hurt you unless you write crappy letters or deluge them with tons of correspondence. I'd start after you submit the secondaries.

Hey thanks for the advice! yeah, I should probably wait until secondaries. AMCAS has not even processed my app yet! This process is going to be a long one. 🙁

 

[MadameLULU]

Check your PMS

 

[SpiritiualDuck]

the difficulty is that every applicant is interested in most US medical schools. They receive 100's or 1000's of personal letters. It won't help until after you interview. Perhaps a letter of intent, but the first cut will determine if you even interview.