letter of intent/interest question

[neurotik]

so im writing a letter of interest to some schools and i just had a question regarding the wording. for example, if i wrote "barring any unexpected circumstances, i would be attending this school if accepted" or something of that nature, would that be too committed and would count more as a letter of intent? if you think about it, its not lying, bc i would attend this school unless i was accepted off the waitlist at a different school, which would count as an unexpected circumstance.

any opinions?

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[JohnyWalker]

so im writing a letter of interest to some schools and i just had a question regarding the wording. for example, if i wrote "barring any unexpected circumstances, i would be attending this school if accepted" or something of that nature, would that be too committed and would count more as a letter of intent? if you think about it, its not lying, bc i would attend this school unless i was accepted off the waitlist at a different school, which would count as an unexpected circumstance.

any opinions?

IF getting accepted off of a wailtist is unexpected then there would not be such a thing as a waitlist. Everyone expects, to a certain degree, to get off of a waitlist. These things are tricky, but your comment sounds like a letter of intent and if you write a letter of intent to a school that goes on to accept you and you reject them for another school you actually risk losing admissions to both schools. They take this stuff seriously.

 

[4paw]

Do they really?
I asked at an informal gathering during interviews, and the second year talked as if she didn't know what a letter of intent was.

is a letter of intent truly a big factor? has anyone heard from an adcom's mouth on this one?

or is it starting to be urban legend?

i was shocked, myself, to get the response I did when I asked about letters of intent -

 

[BozoSparky]

i remember what the dean of admissions at washu told me last year at the end of my interview, "when you know, it's very important that you tell a school they are your number one choice"

i think schools want to know you'll come if an offer is made. especially so from the waitlist...

 

[neurotik]

IF getting accepted off of a wailtist is unexpected then there would not be such a thing as a waitlist. Everyone expects, to a certain degree, to get off of a waitlist.

i dont understand that logic. why do u say everyone expects to get off the waitlist, when that is obviously not true?

 

[lookslikerain]

i dont understand that logic. why do u say everyone expects to get off the waitlist, when that is obviously not true?

yeah, no one expects to, but everyone hopes to.

 

[JohnyWalker]

yeah, no one expects to, but everyone hopes to.

There is always movement in the waitlists so if you happen to be taken off of the waitlist and get accepted, that is not totally unexpected. However, if you were rejected post interview and then in august you got a call from the school saying, "Yeah, we changed our minds, can you start tomorrow?" that is unexpected. Hope this makes more sense now.

 

[neurotik]

yes it does JohnyWalker.
thx for ur advice, i guess its better to be safe and not write something that strong in a letter of interest...