Letter of Intent Confusion

[CES5]

Hello!

I am in the process of writing a letter of intent to a school that I got WL at (WL came about a month ago). I have significant updates I am planning on including in my LOI and know for a fact I want to go to this school in particular.

What I am confused about is whether or not to list the other schools where I have received an acceptance. I have already been accepted to 3 other schools. Additionally, I just recently interviewed at one (will hear back early Feb), and have my last interview scheduled on Feb 1st. Should I list the schools I have gotten into? And if so, should I wait to hear back from the two schools or should I just go ahead and send in the LOI with only 3 acceptances in the interest of time? I've read that you should give it about a month for a LOI to be sent in so I don't want to look like I forgot to do it until the end of the cycle.

Another option is to just send in my updates now and save the Letter of Intent for later in the cycle when I have heard back from everywhere.

Thank you so much everyone! Best of luck!

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[deleted931910]

From what I've heard, you should say you got accepted to another school but not name the school itself.

 

[CES5]

Oh okay cool, thank you!

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I agree with gonnif, and that’s what I did in my LOI. Not sure how much it helped, but I got accepted so it definitely didn’t hurt.

 

[Goro]

Personally, I disagree. While I am sure it would be good professional practice, until this year, schools that accepted you could see all the other schools that accepted you. I think that naming the other schools that have accepted you and saying you would prefer to attend the school you were WL at carries a stronger message as it is specific and personal

Agree 100% with my learned colleague. This is how you display some leverage.

 

[HomeSkool]

I agree with the above. Name names. A school that's waitlisted you isn't going to say, "Well, we were going to let CES5 in, but then she told us who else has accepted her so we're no longer interested." They're going to say, "She's willing to dump those other acceptances to come here? Right on!"

Caveat: if you're currently holding an acceptance to, say, Toledo, Harvard won't be moved by your love letter. On the other hand, if Harvard's offered you a spot but you really want to stay in your hometown of Toledo, that acceptance can help you.

 

[CES5]

Perfect. So I will include the three that I have been accepted to for sure. Now should I wait until I hear back from the other two schools to send the LOI? If I am accepted to those I could also include them in my letter. Or is time a more pressing issue?

 

[CES5]

Even if the other schools I'm waiting on are "better" than the WL in question? The three acceptances I have now are to schools that are slightly lower ranked than the WL, and I figured the more weight each school pulled the better.

You have already been accepted by three. Additional acceptance would have negligible have influence on the LOI target school. Send it now

 

[CES5]

Sorry for all the questions, I just want to maximize my chances of getting in!

 

[DokterMom]

Right now, you have the control. If you wait for the other schools to either accept you, waitlist you or torture you with silence, you are ceding control to external factors. (If you allow them to keep you waiting, Murphy's Law dictates they will take it.)

If those other schools are 'better enough' to impress just by having interviewed you, you could state that you are waiting to hear back from Harvard, but that even if they accept you, you'd still prefer Toledo.

 

[Goro]

If those other schools are 'better enough' to impress just by having interviewed you, you could state that you are waiting to hear back from Harvard, but that even if they accept you, you'd still prefer Toledo.

This isn't going to impress anyone. Interviews =/= accepts.

Put it another way how does "even if Nathalie Portman agrees to marry me, I'd rather marry you, DokterMom" sound?

 

[DokterMom]

This isn't going to impress anyone. Interviews =/= accepts.

Put it another way how does "even if Nathalie Portman agrees to marry me, I'd rather marry you, DokterMom" sound?

You're just trying to illustrate your oft-cited point about LOIs not being worth the paper they're written on!