is it wise to send LOI to schools pre-interview?

[ucbdancn00]

hey guys...

i wanted to clarify some stuff.

Do you think it's wise to send an LOI to schools pre-interview; my app has been complete at a bunch of schools for at least 3 months now (complete in September).....

Also, what exactly do you put in an LOI? Would one comment on discrepancies on the transcript or MCATs....or focus in on current activities and strengths of the overall application.

Thanks for the help

😀

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[surfdevl02]

Wake forest told me to write a letter of interest pre-interview if i haven't already heard from them and am in the second interview pool...they really like interest on the part of the applicant...

 

[Perseverant 1]

This is a great question. Anyone else have any insight?

 

[ucbdancn00]

bumpity-bumpity bump bump bump

 

[doepug]

Two posts on this forum have addressed this issue within the last 24 hours:

About the letter of intent...
Question about sending letter of interest

For what it's worth, unless a school (e.g. Wake Forest) asks you to blatantly suck up to them, I think these pre-interview letters are bad for the following reasons:

1. You look desperate.
2. It undercuts your dignity.
3. I think it's very unlikely that any school will suddenly have a change of heart and decide that you're qualified for an interview.
4. How could you possibly be prepared to write a "letter of intent" without having spent some time at the school?
5. It won't be taken seriously for reason #4.

If you've been interviewed and waitlisted, letters become very important. It's just my opinion that pre-interview letters reflect poorly on you as an applicant.

Good luck,

doepug
MS III, Johns Hopkins

 

[HamOnWholeWheat]

.

 

[Katie]

I disagree with doe, I wrote a respectful and brief letter of interest to my state school when I applied b/c it was January and I had not heard from them. I let them know they were my first choice (and I did not do this for any other school at the time), that I had enjoyed my time at their school as a grad student, and that I would be very happy to come to interview at their school. I got an interview briefly after, and was waitlisted, but I think the fact that it was a late interview did not help. As long as you are to the point, respectful without being obsequious, and do not send repeated letters, I don't see what the problem is. Don't worry about "explaining your application"; if you get an interview you will have plenty of time to do that if necessary.

 

[RT]

1. You look desperate.
2. It undercuts your dignity.
3. I think it's very unlikely that any school will suddenly have a change of heart and decide that you're qualified for an interview.
4. How could you possibly be prepared to write a "letter of intent" without having spent some time at the school?
5. It won't be taken seriously for reason #4.

Originally posted by HamOnWholeWheat
I couldn't disagree more.
1) It depends on the letter.
2) Don't fool yourself. Dignity is a form of pride, which will hurt you more than help.
3) So you have nothing to lose, right?
4) Who says you haven't spent time at the school?
5) Are you an adcom member?

1. You ARE desperate. Why try to prove otherwise?
2. It shows your integrity and initiative. If anything, you'd die with dignity.
3. There's a chance, better than nothing. At least, you'll get further consideration.
4. Sometimes reading up about the school means much more than visiting it. Besides, there are many opportunities to get to know something w/o physical interaction.
5. Invalid reason #4 invalidates reason #5.

Rt

 

[HamOnWholeWheat]

I must be missing something. How is a letter of intent pre-interview automatically desperate? Suppose I apply to thirty schools and send a letter of intent to one. If I receive an interview at that school, I'll accept and withdraw everywhere else. It saves time and money for everyone. I guess I think of it as a form of applying for Early Decision. Give me a letter of intent any day.

Not to attack anyone, but integrity has nothing to do with dignity. In fact, they're often at opposition. Integrity is behaving in a manner agreeing with your values 100% of the time. Dignity is how you feel about yourself afterward. In my opinion, people confuse themselves into thinking dignity is a character attribute. It can sometimes become a defense mechanism to excuse poor integrity.

Example: I didn't put out 100% to convice school X that I'm they're man/woman, not because I was too lazy or wasn't comitted to the school, but because it would be undignified. Therefore, I think I'll sit on my keister and wait to be noticed. I may not get in, but at least I'll have my dignity.

Dignity and $1 will get you a bag of chips.



Hope it works out for ya,

HamOn

 

[doepug]

Great rebuttals folks...

I guess the applicants need to decide if they're sending out letters and let us know what happens. I'm glad pre-interview letters and utter determination worked for some; I just think it's a last-ditch effort that won't be met with favorable results.

Cheers,

doepug
MS III, Johns Hopkins

btw, HOWW - Although I'm not an adcom member (which would make it inappropriate for me to post here), I know several students and faculty members at Hopkins who are on the committee. While we're bragging about first choices and lowish stats, this WASP got into Hopkins with a 3.6/31.

 

[INeedAdvice]

For Hopkins, I'm surprised that you got in with your stats. I don't mean to insult you, and not that those stats are horrible, but:

1) do you have a family member who is a physician?

Or

2) do you know someone at Hopkins?

Originally posted by doepug
Great rebuttals folks...

I guess the applicants need to decide if they're sending out letters and let us know what happens. I'm glad pre-interview letters and utter determination worked for some; I just think it's a last-ditch effort that won't be met with favorable results.

Cheers,

doepug
MS III, Johns Hopkins

btw, HOWW - Although I'm not an adcom member (which would make it inappropriate for me to post here), I know several students and faculty members at Hopkins who are on the committee. While we're bragging about first choices and lowish stats, this WASP got into Hopkins with a 3.6/31.

 

[calbears84]

can someone answer the question "what do you put on a LOI"? thanks

 

[doepug]

Originally posted by INeedAdvice
For Hopkins, I'm surprised that you got in with your stats. I don't mean to insult you, and not that those stats are horrible, but:

1) do you have a family member who is a physician?

Or

2) do you know someone at Hopkins?

No on both counts. And it's nice to know that my stats weren't horrible.

It is my opinion that once someone has achieved a certain academic threshold, the actual GPA/MCAT are no longer important. Other factors become much more important. Although I suppose my application was a little unique, I was accepted by all the schools I deemed "long shots" and I was rejected without interviews at schools I considered "slam dunks." And to think... I came to med school straight out of college without any clinical experience.

I guess this goes to show that there are no hard and fast rules about how to get into med school. Perhaps the adcoms are tired of cookie cutter applicants?

Cheers,
doepug

 

[HouseHead]

Originally posted by doepug
Although I suppose my application was a little unique, I was accepted by all the schools I deemed "long shots" and I was rejected without interviews at schools I considered "slam dunks." And to think... I came to med school straight out of college without any clinical experience.

I guess this goes to show that there are no hard and fast rules about how to get into med school. Perhaps the adcoms are tired of cookie cutter applicants?

I've got to ask- what made your app unique? Now I'm really curious... 🙂

 

[doepug]

Originally posted by HouseHead
I've got to ask- what made your app unique? Now I'm really curious... 🙂

I had plenty of unusual factors to my application that are a bit too involved for online discussion. Suffice it to say that "borderline" grades don't matter too much to top med schools, who have plenty of applicants who raise the average scores.

If you allow me to stand on my soapbox for a moment, I'd argue that most pre-med students are so focused on GPA and MCAT that they miss out on getting an education. When people choose courses based on how their grades turn out, their minds suffer. When "students" fail to explore so many realms of academia, they end up as little more than formula-based drones with little behind them but numbers and nothing in their heads but drivel. All too many future physicians are unable to think analytically, and are reduced to regurgitation of details.

I guess my advice to pre-meds would be to take advantage of all that colleges have to offer, without regard to how it'll affect your med school applications. It is unfortunate that we are now producing a generation of uneducated physicians.

I know this doesn't answer your question directly, but I need to pontificate from time to time.

-doepug

 

[nero]

hey guys, i was wondering if its ok to call them up and see if your letter got there.......i know this may sound weird, but could you just be like has my thank you letter reached?...............i'd rather sound like an idiot online than to a school


nero

 

[doepug]

Originally posted by nero
hey guys, i was wondering if its ok to call them up and see if your letter got there.......i know this may sound weird, but could you just be like has my thank you letter reached?...............i'd rather sound like an idiot online than to a school

Unless your letter gets returned by the post office, I'd just assume that your thank you letter got there. Would you really want the admissions staff (or whoever) to patch you through to your interviewer so you could ask them personally?

Good luck,
doepug

 

[omores]

I think this discussion could benefit from a clarification of the terms we're using.

LOI = either Letter of Interest or Letter of Intent, and these are quite different beasties.

In a letter of interest, you describe to the school what you like about them and how eager you would be to be a student there. Flattery, flattery, flattery, but no commitment -- this kind of letter gives you an opportunity to talk about specific things you like about the school in order to make yourself look like a particularly thoughtful applicant. I don't see any problem with sending this kind of letter before an interview -- it's a way of tailoring your application package to an individual school. Of course, some schools allow you to do this anyway in secondary application questions such as "What particular aspects of ____ School of Medicine do you find particularly appealing, and why?" In this case, a letter of interest would likely be superfluous. But I don't think that pre-interview letters of interest smack of desperation, merely neuroticism. But nothing wrong with that.

In a letter of intent, conversely, you pledge to withdraw all other applications and acceptances from other schools if you are accepted by the school to whom you send the letter. This is a commitment, and you can ethically only send one such letter. And I would have serious qualms about sending such a letter before interviewing at the school, for all the reasons doepug listed, but also because sending a letter of intent takes away your freedom of choice. You'll be locked into attending that school. What if you interview there and decide you don't like the feel of the place? What if you get a really lousy financial aid package? Sending a letter of intent before an interview seriously reduces your options, and you should probably only do it if you are absolutely, positively 100% set on a given school.