That is, giving the school your word that you will certainly attend if they accept you. I know it is binding in that it is quite bad to renege on your declaration, but is a letter of intent even close to being legally binding? I've read around on the forums and I saw messages mentioning that going back on your word can result in being blacklisted, but I haven't read that anywhere else.
Now, I'm not thinking about sending an insincere letter of intent or anything, but I'm wondering just how serious a letter of intent really is. If it is truly binding, then it should have a huge impact. But what I'm wondering is how adcoms view LOI's -- are they taken very seriously as testaments to an applicant's commitment to the school, or do they simply dismiss LOI's as a meaningless formality?
Now, I'm not thinking about sending an insincere letter of intent or anything, but I'm wondering just how serious a letter of intent really is. If it is truly binding, then it should have a huge impact. But what I'm wondering is how adcoms view LOI's -- are they taken very seriously as testaments to an applicant's commitment to the school, or do they simply dismiss LOI's as a meaningless formality?