letter of interest questions

[Mistress S]

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I am planning to send letters of interest to some of the 10 schools I am complete at and have heard nothing from, both to express my continued interest and to update them/let them know about some changes in my app. Having never written one before, I have a few questions:

1.) Do I address the letter to the dean or the admissions committee?

2.) I am planning to write a paragraph or so about my interest in the school/why I would be a good match there, a paragraph about what I've been up to, and then conclusion ("please interview me soon" 🙂 ). Any other suggestions for what should go in this type of letter?

3.) I have completed my undergraduate degree since filling out AMCAS, but I haven't taken any new classes. Should I send an updated transcript reflecting this, or just talk about it in the letter?

4.) There has been one significant change in my app from AMCAS (I did not complete an optional honors thesis that I listed as an upcoming course on AMCAS and mentioned briefly in some of my secondaries). I plan to discuss this in the letters, just letting them know that I've graduated with honors and to disregard the planned coursework that was listed for fall term (the thesis). For schools that I have interviews scheduled at that do not know about this, do I need to send them letters also? I am a little nervous about just letting them know at the interview, since it may not be viewed as an entirely positive thing, but it doesn't seem to make sense either to send a letter of interest style letter to a school that has already offered me an interview. Should I send an e-mail to those schools just letting them know about that, bring my updated transcripts to the interview, or does anyone have other ideas? 😕

 

[VeggieGal]

i really wouldn't make these letters long b/c they might not get read. i wouldn't include the thing about your thesis. i would just tell them at the interview.

 

[LionKing]

i really wouldn't make these letters long b/c they might not get read. i wouldn't include the thing about your thesis. i would just tell them at the interview.

I def. concur- the whole purpose of the update is a gentle reminder that you are there, and just update them on a few positive things that have been going on since your app has been complete- If this letter drones on, you could possibly put them to sleep before they theoretically even reach your personal statement.

1) address it to a specific Dean of the Admissions Committee.
2) Its a good start- try not to make it too desperate sounding in the final paragraph: (I can answer any questions you might have about my application...)
3)I would just talk about it in the letter- again they might be like "Why is she sending us another copy of her grades?" Think short and sweet.
4) I wouldn't include the thesis in the letter either: Think positively. In fact i don't even know If I would bring this up in the interview- but I could be wrong here.

 

[PhotoMD]

For a profession where you have to admit mistakes that you make and be honest and open, I think it would reflect better on you to mention that you will not be completing coursework that is significant that might have attracted them to you. For instance, I replaced a bacteriology class with virology, but didn't think that was really significant enough to mention. Not doing a thesis probably is. Good luck, let us know what you ultimately do.

 

[Mistress S]

Thanks to all for the advice so far. Since I listed the thesis under my planned coursework on AMCAS, I think I do need to let them know that I didn't do it. I probably will get asked about it in interviews since I listed on my app. I was an English major so it's not like my thesis would have been especially relevant to medical school anyway, but I'm still a little worried that it might look bad. I originally planned to complete a thesis although it is optional at my school (only necessary to graduate through the honors college), but I am working full-time + applying and just didn't feel I could put in the time to write a decent thesis. So I didn't graduate through the honors college, but I still get the latin honors on my diploma (cum laude) based on my GPA. I guess I'll let schools that I am interviewing at know about it then, and in the update letters I'm just going to mention it in terms of disregarding the planned coursework on AMCAS and focus on the positive (that I finished my degree with honors).