Letter of intent/early decision

[Cyclechick]

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Hopefully I'm not posting a redundant question here, but I can't find any info on this subject.

I live in a state with a great med school that gives a strong preference to in staters. The problem is that I very much want to go to school in NOLA because I love the city. I know that I can't apply to LSU as an OOS, but I was thinking of sending a letter of intent to Tulane and possibly applying ED there.

Of course I would be thrilled to get in anywhere, so far in this process I'm in a decent position, but I know I probably won't get my pick of schools. But four years is a long time and I'd love to spend them in New Orleans if possible; just as long as I'm not hurting my overall chances of acceptance.

So is this: a) dumb or b) smart?

 

[Pons Asinorum]

So is this: a) dumb or b) smart?

Only you can choose between those two. Here's my $0.02. No need for a letter of intent; apply EDP to Tulane. By applying EDP, you are contractually agreeing to attend if they grant you an acceptance. It's redundant. If you apply EDP, they'll understand what signal you're trying to send. The caveat re: EDP is that you should only apply EDP if you're willing to sit out the application cycle. If you're situation allows a relatively pain-free option of sitting on the sidelines a year because you didn't get picked up EDP, knock your socks off. That's in general. In specific, in 2008-2009, there were 2 matriculants to Tulane via EDP, and they advertise that they keep 10 EDP slots. I have no idea what that means. It does demonstrate the power of the MSAR though, and why I highly recommend it 🙂

I know that I can't apply to LSU as an OOS

False. According to my 2010-2011 copy of the MSAR at least. For LSU SOM-NO, in 2008-2009 168 IS and 11 OOS students matriculated. Now, I would suggest that a strong desire to provide health care to the citizens of LA be your long-term goal, as that is the school's mission regardless of how rad one thinks it would be to go to med school in NO (which it would be.) I would contact the admissions office there and find out what is the story.

Regardless, best of luck.

 

[njbmd]

Hopefully I'm not posting a redundant question here, but I can't find any info on this subject.

I live in a state with a great med school that gives a strong preference to in staters. The problem is that I very much want to go to school in NOLA because I love the city. I know that I can't apply to LSU as an OOS, but I was thinking of sending a letter of intent to Tulane and possibly applying ED there.

Of course I would be thrilled to get in anywhere, so far in this process I'm in a decent position, but I know I probably won't get my pick of schools. But four years is a long time and I'd love to spend them in New Orleans if possible; just as long as I'm not hurting my overall chances of acceptance.

So is this: a) dumb or b) smart?

If Tulane has an Early Decision Admissions Program(EDP), you cannot apply to other schools(meaning your state school) until they (Tulane) decide NOT to admit you and release you from the EDP. In general, EDs are made near September (and may be later depending on the school) which would put you later applying to other schools. What ED admissions does is allow very strong candidates to indicate their preference for one school where they stand a very strong chance of admittance. ED is not for candidates who are average or slightly above average as you do yourself a disservice by being in a later group of applicants to other schools.

Letters of Intent are fairly meaningless to most of us on admissions committees. This is because we tend to accept more people that we need to fill the class(not everyone offered admission will accept). We just move to the next people on the list until our class is filled usually by mid January. After that, less than ten of the people that we have offered admissions to, will elect to go elsewhere. In short, we figure that you would not have applied to our school unless you wanted to attend our school.

My point, is that EDP can severely limit your choices unless you are a very, very strong candidate for admissions. Your strength as a candidate should be evaluated by someone who is famililar with the particualar school that you are interested in and thoroughly familiar with everything in your application(not by you comparing yourself to numbers in the MSAR). Again, you can have perfect numbers and still not be a good match for a particular school which will put you in a later group in terms of application to other schools.

Most people tend to over-estimate their competitiveness as a candidate for medical school admission. If you do this with an ED application, you can greatly decrease your chances of acceptance at any school.A better choice would be to apply broadly and then express your strong interest when invited for an interview. Good luck.

 

[Cyclechick]

Thank you both very much for your advice. That really clears things up for me.

Thanks again,

C