Letter of Intent / Interest / Update

[Doctora Foxy]

Just a few questions:

1) I sent an informal letter of intent to my first choice when I accepted my waitlist spot--is it too late to send a real letter of inent saying "I will withdraw from all schools if accepted"? I wrote the first letter before I had any acceptances, so now I could make it stronger.

2) I would like to address it to the dean, but also to the admissions committee. What's the best way to write that? Dear who? And what would I write on the envelope?

3) OK, so I admit I have been lazy and should have sent out letters of interest & updates a while ago, but until Wed. I'm caught up in exams. Is it too late to update schools and tell them I'm still interested? I have 5 waitlists so it's kind of overwhelming to me to write so many letters since they have to be perfect.

Any comments about these letters in general? Have you sent them yet, or do you plan to?

p.s. Is it absolutely necessary to send updated final transcripts to schools you are waitlisted at? I don't think my grades will be very good this semester.

Thank you!

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[The Fly]

Hey Foxy --

Answering the q's:

1. Absolutely send in a second letter! If you'd already sent 10, I'd say an 11th would be pushing it ( :wink: ) but send in that second letter. The 'I will withdraw from all others' is the only power we have when we're on waiting lists.

2. Address it to the dean of admissions -- first try to find out who it is via the internet and if you can't, address it to 'Director of Admissions' start the letter with "Dear Sir or Madam."

3. Write those letters!! You can recycle a lot of what's in each one, however -- they're not going to share. Although its totally obvious, make absolutely certain you change the school name in the document!! And make sure you put the right letter in the right envelope.

You know how important this is foxy -- as unpleasant as it will be, you need to do it!!!

Good luck foxy!!!

Re: PS -- While it would be nice, if you're grades are subpar, I would send in those letters pronto such that they think you're grades aren't ready yet . . . :wink:

 

[Assassin]

just thought i'd share something interesting concerning the #2
the dean of admissions is not necessarily the most influential person on the admissions committee (of course it's different for different schools, but often times it's just some old fart faculty member whose vote carries the most weight). you'd need some insider info to get that name, and even then putting his/her name on the letter may not do you much good anyway, but it can't hurt either

 

[naya]

I assumed that whether you sent a letter to the Dean of Admissions or to the Admissions committee, the letter would eventually end up in your 'file' for review by the committee. Of course, it was just an assumption.

 

[naya]

I assumed that whether you sent a letter to the Dean of Admissions or to the Admissions committee, the letter would eventually end up in your 'file' for review by the committee. Of course, it was just an assumption.

 

[Legend]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by naya:
•I assumed that whether you sent a letter to the Dean of Admissions or to the Admissions committee, the letter would eventually end up in your 'file' for review by the committee. Of course, it was just an assumption.•••••I think your assumption is very likely to be true.

 

[c33]

I just addressed it to:

Dr. ___, Dean of Admissions
c/o Admission committee

 

[ckent]

•••quote:•••
1) I sent an informal letter of intent to my first choice when I accepted my waitlist spot--is it too late to send a real letter of inent saying "I will withdraw from all schools if accepted"? I wrote the first letter before I had any acceptances, so now I could make it stronger. ••••Yes, that will probably be a stronger letter of intent, to indicate you will withdrawl your position at your other school if this school accepts you. Don't bombard the ADCOM with letters, but you should always update the ADCOM of the school that you are interested if anything significant happens that might influence their decision. THis is just my opinion though, I'm sure that someone out there also thinks that you shouldn't tell the ADCOM that you have been accepted somewhere else because the ADCOM might be more inclined to accept you if they think you really need their spot. You also might want to wait until you get grades back from this semester before you send your letter off if you think that your grades will be good too.
•••quote:••• 3) OK, so I admit I have been lazy and should have sent out letters of interest & updates a while ago, but until Wed. I'm caught up in exams. Is it too late to update schools and tell them I'm still interested? I have 5 waitlists so it's kind of overwhelming to me to write so many letters since they have to be perfect. ••••Of course it is not too late. ADCOMS will be meeting all summer at most schools to make final decisions. Some people actually are not taken off the waitlist until only a few days before classes start <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" /> .

•••quote:••• p.s. Is it absolutely necessary to send updated final transcripts to schools you are waitlisted at? I don't think my grades will be very good this semester.••••Hmm, I don't know about this one. Maybe you should just send that letter before you get your grades back. If you don't send them your grades, you might try sending the additional letters of rec from faculty members just so that they know that you are still extremely interested. You can even get the faculty members to write it specific for that school, eg, in the letter of rec: "Foxy has informed me that she is very interested in attending school..."

 

[Doctora Foxy]

Is it helpful to mention that I'm graduating cum laude in my update letter? Or would it hurt me since it's not the highest honor? I'm looking for honest opinions here!

 

[hassan148]

Hey Fly if you don't mind what med school going too next year?

 

[Doctora Foxy]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by hassan148:
•Hey Fly if you don't mind what med school going too next year?•••••He's going to U Penn

I'll repost my question here so it will hopefully be answered :

Is it helpful to mention that I'm graduating cum laude in my update letter? Or would it hurt me since it's not the highest honor? I'm looking for honest opinions here!

 

[A. Caveman]

hey foxy,

it's an honour..i would include it. it distinguishes you. it may not be the very best, but it's damn good. it can only help..i mean, stating it won't make them think "wait, why not magna cum laude--no way this one's a stinker." it'll be more like "wow, this chick's impressive, we NEED her here."

 

[inkysphinx]

Foxy,

I'm pretty new here, so I may have missed it, but where did you decide to go to medical school?

Thanks!
Inky

 

[Doctora Foxy]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by inkysphinx:
•Foxy,

I'm pretty new here, so I may have missed it, but where did you decide to go to medical school?

Thanks!
Inky•••••Finch/Chicago Med .....unless I get in off a waitlist elsewhere

 

[SeeGulz]

•••quote:••• Is it helpful to mention that I'm graduating cum laude in my update letter? Or would it hurt me since it's not the highest honor? I'm looking for honest opinions here! ••••Personally, I would just write "I am graduating with honors," and perhaps give your expected GPA. Cum Laude is a fine acheivement, but in this case I think that you are better off not specifying.

You might think about next day air for your letters of interest, too. I just sent in a second letter of interest to GW (addressed to Dr. Brian McGrath, the Associate Dean), and I think the 20 or so dollars was a good investment to get it there right away.

Good Luck

 

[Doctora Foxy]

Thanks for the advice SeeGulz--I was already planning on next day delivery, and it's easy to track online.

I won't say I'm graduating with honors, because I think that implies the highest achievement, such as people who write theses or graduate with a 4.0 and get "honors." So I'll just leave it alone. I would think that most people who get into med school have graduated with some honor since the average acceptance gpa is 3.6, so it's not a big impressive achievement.

 

[Sammmeyeam]

From my experience, a letter of intent doesn't really carry much weight... you're given a ranking based on a score.

If you look at the people that were accepted off of the waitlist, or given an immediate acceptance, most of them say that they did not write the school.

Anyone have any success stories with their letter of intent?

 

[Doctora Foxy]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by Sammmeyeam:
•From my experience, a letter of intent doesn't really carry much weight... you're given a ranking based on a score.

If you look at the people that were accepted off of the waitlist, or given an immediate acceptance, most of them say that they did not write the school.

Anyone have any success stories with their letter of intent?•••••Clarissa got into hopkins and penn and one other school after writing a letter of intent. I don't think it hurts. :wink: Even if it doesn't carry much weight, it's good to have it on file.