If I have a clear first choice/schools I'm very interested in attending, when is the earliest I can/should express this (if they accept such letters)?
Letter of Interest/Intent
- Thread starter Kameha01
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Have you been marked complete at that school? If so they know you are interested. I doubt they’ve even read your application. I’d wait a few months and see how it plays out.
Good Luck and relax.
Good Luck and relax.
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This^^^^. If you did not apply ED, it's all talk at this stage. EVERYONE is very interested in EVERY school they apply to, at least until they receive their first A.
Schools know this. In fact, most adcoms on SDN say most schools treat these as lies, period, based on their experiences over the years of having candidates not follow through when things change (i.e., receiving an A later that they weren't expecting from a school they like even more, or that gave them money, etc.).
Bottom line -- these things have absolutely no value until AFTER a school has expressed some independent interest in you via an II. After that, a select few schools value groveling when deciding who gets an A, or who gets called off a WL.
If and when this becomes relevant to you, you'll learn more on the school specific threads. Right now, as @candbgirl said, your LOI is your application and your secondary fee. Nothing to do now but wait to see whether you pass the first and by far most difficult screen and receive an II. Begging before receiving an II, beyond whatever you said in your application, is not going to help at all, but WILL make you look extraordinarily desperate and lacking in confidence. Good luck!!!
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You only send them after you interview and the impact is marginal to nonexistent
They’re more to help applicants know they did all they could
They’re more to help applicants know they did all they could
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If you haven't done your homework and gone to recruitment events or met with students who attended the school before you even started your application, letters aren't going to help you now. There's no guarantee that prior networking is going to help you, but you can give yourself a shot at a favorable first-impression by the time the process begins. You can also show your interest in your applications by the way you answer the secondary essay prompts (depending on what the prompt is and the constraints).
