Letters of Interest

[kj8210]

Been complete for 3 months at most schools and haven't heard a single word back. I was thinking of writing a letter of interest to some of the schools and was wondering what I should include and how long it should be? Any tips and advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

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[VisceralFlame]

I recommend you do, but you should email/call the schools to see if they welcome letters of interest or update letters. I would keep it to a page, write it in a "formal letter" format, and send it as a PDF. You should include specific reasons for why they should grant you an interview over other students and why you desire to go to that school specifically. Another good thing to do is to include updates to your application since your submission three months ago. A letter that only re-declares your interest wouldn't hold as much weight as one that also adds additional components to your app. You can show them that you are continuously working towards bettering yourself and improving your application. You can message me if you have any specific questions too. I received an interview invite a week and a half after sending an update letter to a school after I hadn't heard anything for a few months. It may have been a coincidence, but who knows?

 

[Goro]

Don't bother. These things have no influence on admissions decisions.

Been complete for 3 months at most schools and haven't heard a single word back. I was thinking of writing a letter of interest to some of the schools and was wondering what I should include and how long it should be? Any tips and advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[group_theory]

Don't bother. These things have no influence on admissions decisions.

I always wonder when letters of interest became so popular among applicants. When I was applying, letters of interest did not exist. You showed interest by paying for the secondary application/fee and going to interviews.

If you think about it, letters of interest are not legally binding, and people send multiple letters of interests to multiple schools. So how is it helpful? Now if it is an update letter (eg FYI, I just got back my grades from last semester, all As, and my article was accepted for publication as a first author in Science), then I can see how it can influence things. But letters of interest saying "oh, I am still interested" doesn't really help (esp since it's not binding and people are starting to send them to multiple places, which dilutes the purpose/intent of letters of interest)

And I'm starting to see it show up in residency/fellowship applications. So far it has no bearing (and not even mentioned) during our rank list meetings (for this year's fellowship ranking, and in prior years for residency ranking since this year's ranking hasn't occurred yet)

 

[VisceralFlame]

I always wonder when letters of interest became so popular among applicants. When I was applying, letters of interest did not exist. You showed interest by paying for the secondary application/fee and going to interviews.

If you think about it, letters of interest are not legally binding, and people send multiple letters of interests to multiple schools. So how is it helpful? Now if it is an update letter (eg FYI, I just got back my grades from last semester, all As, and my article was accepted for publication as a first author in Science), then I can see how it can influence things. But letters of interest saying "oh, I am still interested" doesn't really help (esp since it's not binding and people are starting to send them to multiple places, which dilutes the purpose/intent of letters of interest)

And I'm starting to see it show up in residency/fellowship applications. So far it has no bearing (and not even mentioned) during our rank list meetings (for this year's fellowship ranking, and in prior years for residency ranking since this year's ranking hasn't occurred yet)

I agree! I sort of lumped "letter of interest" in with "update letter" and I shouldn't have because they're different. I wouldn't recommend sending a letter of interest, but I think that update letters (that convey continued interest and legitimate updates) can be beneficial. When I was waitlisted at CCOM, for example, the dean of admissions told me to send update letters monthly to show that I was still interested and to provide updates. I was waitlisted at two schools and I think my updates helped me get off both lists