Originally posted by DarkChild
letters of intent arent legally binding... perhaps morally compelling, but definately not binding.
I actually believe that letters of intent are technically legally binding -- although it all depends on how it is written. I wrote a letter of intent to the University of Missouri the day after I interviewed. I would not recommend this unless you are 100% certain you will attend if the school accepts you. I wrote the letter to one of the two people that interviewed me and I asked them to convey this information to the admissions committee. In this particular case, I knew that the interviewer would be at the committee meeting when my application was discussed. The letter I drafted said in part:
"I am writing this letter to inform you and the Admissions Committee that my number one choice of medical schools is the University of Missouri School of Medicine. If MU?s medical school extends me an offer of admission, I will accept the offer without any reservation and I will withdraw all of my applications at other medical schools."
I believe this to be legally binding. Although I am a lawyer, I am by no means an expert in contract law. Nevertheless, the above statement has all the markings of an offer to enter into a contract -- the contract being that I agree to withdraw my other applications and attend if the school agrees to offer me a spot in the class. If the school offers me a spot in the class, I would view this as an acceptance of my offer (and an offer to enter into a new agreement, but let's stay focused on the letter of intent). In my view this has all the elements of a contract under common law: 1) offer, 2) acceptance, and 3) consideration.
Having said that the letter is legally binding, I will also say that I don't believe that any school would, as a practical matter, ever sue you for breaching your promise to attend. Because the law prevents involuntary servitude, a school could not get a court order forcing you to attend their school, and instead could only sue for monetary damages. Well, it's going to be tough for any U.S. medical school to show much in the way of damages, because they can always fill your spot. In addition, letters of intent are broken all the time in the legal community, and most of the time people do not institute any kind of legal action. But it does happen sometimes.
The school could also report your breach to AMCAS, which could possibly create problems. In short, I recommend that no one sends a letter of intent (at least one where you say you will withdraw all other applications) unless you are 100% sure you will attend if accepted.
Because I was accepted to Mizzou last week, I just sent out 13 letters to medical schools withdrawing my applications this morning. There are three other schools that I never got around to filling out secondaries for, so I don't think I need to send them letters.
I do not feel that a letter of interest, that is saying "_____ school is one of my top choices, and I look forward to the possibility of attending in the fall, etc," would be legally binding. Again, all this probably depends on the exact wording used in the letter. Anyway, I just thought I'd give my thoughts on all of this.
