Letter of Interest Pre-interview

[ReginaZ0403]

Hi fellow applicant, I wonder if it is worth it to send a letter of interest to a DO program pre-interview that I am would be committed to attending if accepted? I have already got a very good offer from an allopathic medical school, but the geographic location of this DO school puts it on top of my list. My stats are definitely or even beyond their acceptance range. I completed my secondary pretty late (early Nov) though... Please let me know your thoughts on this, and suggestions on what to include in the letter! Thank you very much!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Goro]

How would you interpret a nonbinding promise from a desperate applicant?

Here’s one Adcom member’s thoughts on the matter:

“We only invite amazing students to interview. It is quite unlikely that further good deeds or achievements will have an effect since only the students who have already wowed us are interviewed.”


“One serious thought for a moment. You want to become a physician, a profession that highly values ethical behavior. Yet even before you start training for this profession, you want take the unethical act of making promises to two different schools that you will attend over any other school?” -gonnif

From the wise Med Ed: [What med schools…] accept and desire are two different things. My institution, for instance, will accept practically anything a given applicant wants to forward along, but only rarely do we consider it a worthwhile addition to the package.

And yes, some of us have gotten a little jaded about LOI's. I could fill a barrel with all the post-interview correspondence I have received that has not translated into a single matriculant. This has all gotten mighty complicated and burdensome for what is essentially a zero sum game.

It's generally not burdensome for an applicant to upload something to the portal, and once in a great while it does tip us off with some useful info. I can think of one individual who had a stellar application, like Harvard/Yale/Stanford-worthy, and a superb interview, who sent us several updates and a LOI. We were somewhat perplexed by this person's tenacious interest in our program. Turns out there were family/geographical reasons behind the whole thing, the applicant just never felt comfortable directly playing that card.

When it comes down to waitlist time I will scan through what folks have uploaded post-interview. The vast majority of times it has no impact. Occasionally I have seen it hurt people's chances. Come to think of it, in my experience this is probably more likely, than such correspondence having a positive impact.

See the following for classic examples of why most Admissions deans treat these as lies.

https://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/loi-and-interviews.1252832/#post-18849958

I told a school I'd go if accepted, now not so sure

And if you still don’t believe me, read these:

HomeSkool's Guide to Letters of Intent

Second letter of intent? Help!

 

[Mr. Babe]

If your stats are good then you should have received an interview by now in my opinion. But why the hell would you choose DO over MD? If it's solely location, that's not a good reason. If the DO school really was a better fit for you, then you might take the leap, but the MD school is probably cheaper and you're going to have a much much better chance getting a residency that you want.

 

[ReginaZ0403]

If your stats are good then you should have received an interview by now in my opinion. But why the hell would you choose DO over MD? If it's solely location, that's not a good reason. If the DO school really was a better fit for you, then you might take the leap, but the MD school is probably cheaper and you're going to have a much much better chance getting a residency that you want.

There might be two reasons why I still have not received an II, first being that I am an international applicant, and the other is that I completed the application pretty late (early Nov). Yes you are right this preference is solely based on geographical location. At the end of the day, I might regret choosing DO over MD (if there is a choice), but this is what I deem extremely important right now.

 

[Mr. Babe]

If you're international then you should definitely go MD because you're at a disadvantage. You'd put yourself in a tougher spot for residency by going DO. Unless this MD school is International then you need to stay far away from it.

 

[Goro]

If you're international then you should definitely go MD because you're at a disadvantage. You'd put yourself in a tougher spot for residency by going DO. Unless this MD school is International then you need to stay far away from it.

The problem is that internationals need to be superstars for MD schools.

 

[Mr. Babe]

The problem is that internationals need to be superstars for MD schools.

You're talking about being admitted correct? Because if OP is accepted to a national MD school then they're already in a good spot. It's just tough all around for internationals, but I suppose that's understandable.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

Goro is very anti-LOI, but I've seen it work at my medical school and even got a residency interview based on that.

I wouldn't advise making a letter of interest saying you will mateiculate but rather explaining why you want to attend and be very detailed in all the specifics the school offers for that goal. "I like the location" is not going to cut it

 

[Goro]

You're talking about being admitted correct?
Yes

Because if OP is accepted to a national MD school then they're already in a good spot.
If OP is admitted to an MD school, then we would not be having this conversation.

And to Albino, I can't speak as to the residency world, but for med schools in general (keeping mind that there are needy schools, or those that like seeing you grovel), don't engage in this type of thinking:
Your logical fallacy is false cause

 

[Magus5454]

You're talking about being admitted correct? Because if OP is accepted to a national MD school then they're already in a good spot. It's just tough all around for internationals, but I suppose that's understandable.

Look at the OPs post history. It's not a US med school.

 

[Deecee2DO]

I wouldn't send a LOI, and especially never BEFORE an interview. If you are already accepted at a considerably better school overall (like Top 25ish) and you want to attend the worse school then you have a reason to send a LOI, because it basically says I could go to Yale but I'd rather go to your school for such and such reason. This would be a legit reason to write a LOI AFTER an interview has taken place. Another exception would be post-interview when you have been placed on a WL at said school, but still this may be hit or miss

 

[ReginaZ0403]

Status update:
I sent out my LOI on Sunday and got the interview invite this morning! Beyond excited! Thank you everyone for your valuable opinions. I guess each school is different regarding their attitudes on the LOI, and I just got lucky that this school considered me sincere enough to give me a chance.

 

[Magus5454]

Status update:
I sent out my LOI on Sunday and got the interview invite this morning! Beyond excited! Thank you everyone for your valuable opinions. I guess each school is different regarding their attitudes on the LOI, and I just got lucky that this school considered me sincere enough to give me a chance.

Correlation does not imply causality