LOI/Update Letters/General Post-Interview Advice

[WaryWildcat]

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Here's the deal. I got into med school a couple of weeks ago at UIC, which I am thrilled about. However, while I would happily go there, it is not my top choice. I am currently on hold at two schools which I prefer to UIC (Case Western and Pritzker); I interviewed at these schools very early in the season, and since they were my first two, I didn't really know what I was doing, and in retrospect, realize that I gave very poor interviews at both schools. My subsequent interviews have gone much better; however, I still like Case and Pritzker better than any of the other schools I have interviewed at.

I was wondering what I can do now that I am on hold to bolster my chances of admission. As far as I understand, there are a few options, including letters of interest, letters of intent, and update letters. I am considering the following options:

1) Write each school a letter of interest right now, and then update them at the end of my fall quarter on my grades/achievements from the preceding quarter
2) Skip the letters of interest and just wait for the update letter

I was wondering which option you all think is preferable, and why? Also, I was wondering what the general strategy was for writing LOIs (how to not make them sound really toolish and/or pandering to the school), or on generally indicating interest to schools. I looked for a general LOI thread on SDN, but couldn't find it? Do you guys have any thoughts on this matter, or can you link me to a thread where I can find this stuff?

 

[JJMrK]

I think most people write a letter of interest/letter of intent/update letter all at once. You can start out by saying you have some new things to mention, and then move onto the fact that you are interested in the school and think it's a great fit.

BTW, by "on hold" you mean waitlisted correct?

 

[WaryWildcat]

No, I think that they form the waitlist later in the cycle. "On hold" means that they are still deciding what to do with my application after the interview, as far as I am aware.

And I know it would be better to update the schools/indicate my interest all in one fell swoop. However, do you think it would be waiting too long if I did so in ~6 weeks when my quarter ends?

 

[JJMrK]

No, I think that they form the waitlist later in the cycle. "On hold" means that they are still deciding what to do with my application after the interview, as far as I am aware.

And I know it would be better to update the schools/indicate my interest all in one fell swoop. However, do you think it would be waiting too long if I did so in ~6 weeks when my quarter ends?

I don't know, hard to say. I guess, IMO, it depends on how many people the school pulls from the waitlist. If it's not very many, you probably want to do it soon to try to prevent getting WLed. If it's a lot, you may want to wait until you have something more substantial to talk about in the letter (In other words, if you get WLed it's not such a big deal, and you send the letter in hopes of moving off the WL.)

 

[flip26]

Unless you are updating schools with really significant stuff (research pubs), I think it junks up a letter.

I think the best letters are concise, not drawn out. Make one or two key points in support of your "intent/interest."

Then close the letter by telling them that you are interested in attending, or if you really want to go all out, tell them you will attend if accepted.

 

[WaryWildcat]

The other thing about this is that my interview at U of C went relatively poorly for two reasons:

1) It was my first one, and I had much less aptitude for interviewing than I do now

2) There was a scheduling error with one of my interviews, which predicated that I interview later in the day with the Dean of Admissions. This went really poorly, as I was nervous from waiting around all day and because of who it was I was interviewing with.

Thus, given these circumstances, do you think there would be any possibility of asking for a re-interview? I think that I would do far, far better now than I did in September. However, I would understand if they were incapable of doing this, as they only have the space and time to interview a certain number of people in the first place.

 

[WaryWildcat]

bump