Letter of Intent/Interest

[preppy36]

Hey guys,

I just had my interview at my top choice and it went ok but not as i hoped. The interviewer really didnt let me get everything i had to say out and the questions asked could have been answered reading my application. Anyway this is my top choice and was wondering what you think of sending a letter of intent or interest now before i get a decision in a month. The only reason i wouldnt go there if accepted would be if i got into a better private school that gave me a good aid package. (big if) Otherwise I really liked the school and really want to go there. My fear is i dont send a letter of intent now and dont get accepted or waitlisted but am instead outright rejected. thanks for any input

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[dmtang2]

Hey guys,

I just had my interview at my top choice and it went ok but not as i hoped. The interviewer really didnt let me get everything i had to say out and the questions asked could have been answered reading my application. Anyway this is my top choice and was wondering what you think of sending a letter of intent or interest now before i get a decision in a month. The only reason i wouldnt go there if accepted would be if i got into a better private school that gave me a good aid package. (big if) Otherwise I really liked the school and really want to go there. My fear is i dont send a letter of intent now and dont get accepted or waitlisted but am instead outright rejected. thanks for any input

usually a letter of interest / intent is for people who are in the interview pool or in the waitlist.

i would not recommend writing one in your case because you had a chance at the interview and writing an additional letter would seem desperate... as if you knew u messed up. adcoms will eventually vote on a decision and your interview will weigh more than your letter of interest / intent.

 

[CuddlyKumquat]

usually a letter of interest / intent is for people who are in the interview pool or in the waitlist.

i would not recommend writing one in your case because you had a chance at the interview and writing an additional letter would seem desperate... as if you knew u messed up. adcoms will eventually vote on a decision and your interview will weigh more than your letter of interest / intent.

I don't see how being desperate to get into a certain school is a bad thing. I would think that if someone expressed great interest, they would like you better

 

[DrHuang]

I don't see how being desperate to get into a certain school is a bad thing. I would think that if someone expressed great interest, they would like you better

i agree...schools like it when you show youre really interested

 

[badlydrawnvik]

in fact mt. sinai told us that if they are our first choice to make sure they know it at some point. maybe not this early though, they seemed to mean after we had had several interviews and really made up our minds.

 

[preppy36]

thanks for the replies. you think i just email them indicating my interest or send an actual letter?

 

[DrHuang]

thanks for the replies. you think i just email them indicating my interest or send an actual letter?

send em an actual letter

 

[KudosLaLa]

I had actually prepared a letter of intent/update letter and hand-delivered it to my interviewer on the date of my interview. I don't see how it can hurt to send in your letter of intent now. You might as well let them know (before it's too late) that you are really enthusiastic about attending the school.

 

[thegenius]

Have you heard from the school yet after you interviewed? I would probably wait until you get a decision from them. Then send them a letter a few weeks afterwords.

For instance, I got a deferred decision at my (probable) top choice. I guess I don't really have a top choice, it all depends on where I get in. Hmm...well if I get into Stanford then I have to go there, because my wife won't let me go anywhere else (we live in the bay area.)

So the point of this is I'm going to wait for the letter of intent. Schools do like to hear that you are interested in them, but it's really early in the process. I suppose it can't hurt but schools will most likely want to look at other applicants first.

So overall, my advice to you is to wait until you hear from the school, then maybe send a letter of intent 2-4 weeks later.

 

[J'kwan]

So overall, my advice to you is to wait until you hear from the school, then maybe send a letter of intent 2-4 weeks later.

I don't think I agree with this. What if preppy36 here's from the school by getting a rejection letter? It seems to me that a letter of intent wouldn't do much good at that point. But if he sends a letter now saying how impressed he was with the school and if he was fortunate enough to be accepted he would most certainly attend (or whatever you'd say), I think it could have some impact.

By the way, I'm in the same boat as you genius wrt leaving the Bay area. I'm keeping my fingers crossed hoping to get lucky and get into UCSF, Stanford or UCD. Best of luck!

 

[thegenius]

That makes sense. Fair enough. After more thought maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to send one early.

I already got rejected from UCSF, Stanford is probably a stretch, and I haven't received a secondary from UCD yet. So it looks like I'm moving from San Francisco.

 

[J'kwan]

That makes sense. Fair enough. After more thought maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to send one early.

I already got rejected from UCSF, Stanford is probably a stretch, and I haven't received a secondary from UCD yet. So it looks like I'm moving from San Francisco.

Sorry to hear it! It looks like I'm going to have to leave too. I got a secondary from UCD but haven't heard from them for a long time and I'd be very surprised if I got interviews from UCSF or Stanford.

But there's still plenty of hope left. I just looked at your stats page. You're a very strong candidate! I'm sure you'll end up in a great place. Congrats on getting an invite from USC!

 

[KevinZ]

I agree with the posters that say wait for the decision. Here's why:

1) A letter of interest just doesn't seem to mean a whole lot. The letter has no binding quality. Everyone who took the time to interview at the school should be "interested," right? People who consider a school their 3rd choice can send a letter of interest because nothing prevents them from backing out of it later. A letter of INTENT has much greater value and if that's plan, I'd say go for that instead.

2) There's no rush this early. Make up your mind as to which school you want to go to first. From your original post, it seems that there still other factors (like aid) that might swing the pendulum for you. A letter of intent won't lose value this early in the game.

3) Someone posted above that it'd be important if you were to get rejected instead of waitlisted. However, if you were rejected flat-out, a letter of intent probably won't do much good. There'd probably still be a lot of people on-hold/waitlisted that the school is going to look and offer admissions to before you, despite your letter. It's really to help the school with borderline applicants. Of the seven schools I've interviewed at, none have ever indicated anyone coming off a reject list. A couple of the schools that have "on-hold" or "deferral" status didn't even take people off the waitlist last year.

I was accepted to a school on Oct 15th that I planned to send a letter of intent to after my interview and I'm immensely glad I didn't. Now I have options and the chance to look at other financial aid packages when the time comes.

Good luck!