Letter of interest to get Interview?

[step2now]

Hey all,

Had a query. I'm thinking of sending letter of interest to the places I have applied. People say personalize it. But what to do about places I don't have any connections with or any particular reason to get an IV at. Some ppl state family or geographical location. What to do if neither of it is there? A bit confused. Please give your insights regarding this.

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[Doctor Bob]

We get a metric ton of these emails/letters every day during application season...

At best, we ignore them (this happens to 99% of them)
At worst, you say something weird or there is something offputting about the letter and it draws our attention in a negative way which causes us to look at your application and move it to the "do not invite" pile (this happens to 1% of them)

We know you're interested; you sent an application. Uninterested people don't do that.

 

[step2now]

We get a metric ton of these emails/letters every day during application season...

At best, we ignore them (this happens to 99% of them)
At worst, you say something weird or there is something offputting about the letter and it draws our attention in a negative way which causes us to look at your application and move it to the "do not invite" pile (this happens to 1% of them)

We know you're interested; you sent an application. Uninterested people don't do that.

So you think it doesn't help to write letter of interest?

 

[GoSpursGo]

So you think it doesn't help to write letter of interest?

99% of the time, no, because most people who are disappointed with the number of interviews they've received thus far are doing the same thing.

If you can honestly point to a reason you are particularly interested in a program (proximity to family, a particular track that you're interested in, etc), then it may be worth it to try. Otherwise, it's probably not going to hurt, but sending a generic letter isn't going to help.