LOI Timing/Content for those Waitlisted

[ItAintEasyBeingCheesy]

Three questions about LOI's (for waitlisted candidates),

1. Should we send it in right now, or would it be more advantageous to send it closer to April 15th?

2. Should the LOI include updates, or should we send updates as a separate file?

3. If we include updates in the LOI, would it be ok for it to be longer than a page? Or should we really limit it to 1 page?

Thanks ^_^

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[FatherTime-PhD]

1. I’d personally send it as soon as you can. But I can see the some people saying closer to the deadline because maybe you’ll be fresher in their head?

2. I’d include the update

3. Give your reasons why you are a perfect fit for the school but keep it short and sweet.

 

[Kirby Smart]

This may very well vary by school, but for the school's I'm still being considered for, the adcom meets once a month and reviews everyones file that they are interested in reviewing. I've been told that the only time an LOI or update would be reviewed is at these times - it's not like right when you send it there is someone who will review it right away and be contacting the adcom to address it. Again, this is at least the case for the school's I'm waiting to hear from, but maybe not all?

Therefore, I don't see why waiting to submit the LOI until later for it to be "fresher on their mind" would really benefit you, because it will simply be reviewed whenever the adcom decides to look at your file and they would likely not see it other that at those times. So, I think the best thing to do would be just to submit it asap so that it's possible that it would be reviewed any any upcoming adcom meetings as opposed to it not being factored in at one of those meetings and then they choose to reject you or choose someone else off the WL, etc.

Hope that makes sense, lol.

 

[ItAintEasyBeingCheesy]

This may very well vary by school, but for the school's I'm still being considered for, the adcom meets once a month and reviews everyones file that they are interested in reviewing. I've been told that the only time an LOI or update would be reviewed is at these times - it's not like right when you send it there is someone who will review it right away and be contacting the adcom to address it. Again, this is at least the case for the school's I'm waiting to hear from, but maybe not all?

Therefore, I don't see why waiting to submit the LOI until later for it to be "fresher on their mind" would really benefit you, because it will simply be reviewed whenever the adcom decides to look at your file and they would likely not see it other that at those times. So, I think the best thing to do would be just to submit it asap so that it's possible that it would be reviewed any any upcoming adcom meetings as opposed to it not being factored in at one of those meetings and then they choose to reject you or choose someone else off the WL, etc.

Hope that makes sense, lol.

My bad. I was talking about after being waitlisted. I was thinking submitting it closer to April 15 (when WL movement begins) might be beneficial since you'll be fresher in their minds.

 

[ItAintEasyBeingCheesy]

1. I’d personally send it as soon as you can. But I can see the some people saying closer to the deadline because maybe you’ll be fresher in their head?

2. I’d include the update

3. Give your reasons why you are a perfect fit for the school but keep it short and sweet.

It's not the letter itself I'm worried about being longer than a page, it's the actual updates. I have a lot of updates that might extend over a page. Not sure if I should condense them to keep it a page or not.

 

[Kirby Smart]

My bad. I was talking about after being waitlisted. I was thinking submitting it closer to April 15 (when WL movement begins) might be beneficial since you'll be fresher in their minds.

Ahh okay. Obviously it's up to you but I still believe that the LOI likely isn't read right when you send it anyways, but rather any time that they decide to review your file if for example they are looking to pull someone off the WL.

Therefore, if they went to do that on April 30th, it shouldn't be a negative that you submitted your LOI on March 15th vs on April 15th. On the other hand, if they happened to need to pull someone of WL in March and you didn't send it until April, it obviously wouldn't be seen if they reviewed your file again.

This is what I understand to be the general process after talking with admissions at the schools I'm waiting to hear from/WL'd at, so I assume this is generally the process most adcoms use. Do you know for a fact that the schools that you will submit an LOIs to are having someone from admissions read that LOI immediately when it is received as opposed to it just being assigned to your file to be seen if your file gets re-reviewed?

 

[gyngyn]

This process varies quite a bit by school. The only thing I can say for sure is that they are likely to be looking for the words: " I will drop all acceptances and waitlists if you accept me." If you choose to add more, make it as short as possible, certainly less than page!