ok to send 2 letters of intent?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

throwawayaeiou

Membership Revoked
Removed
Joined
Dec 12, 2019
Messages
11
Reaction score
2
I was WL'd at my #1 choice to which I sent a letter of intent post-interview. after sending that letter, I interviewed elsewhere, and actually decided that this new one was my #1 choice. is it ok to send this one a letter of intent?

Members don't see this ad.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
so... I guess I should send letters of conditional intent from now on? :laugh:
Is your post a troll, or are you actually expecting any answer other than "you should absolutely, positively feel free to send a sincere, unconditional LOI to every school you even thought about applying to if it makes you feel better, because they are not taken seriously by the adcoms?

Lots of people get hung up on the ethics of what you are asking, but the reality of the situation is that the ethics are really irrelevant because adcoms really don't place a lot of value on your desire, sincere or not, to receive an A (or an II). They're going to do what they're going to do, regardless of your stated intent. As @gyngyn intimated, that changes somewhat in May when you are begging to be taken off a WL, but it doesn't drive decisions in December, so feel free to knock yourself out without seeking approval from SDN! 🙂
 
Last edited:
I was WL'd at my #1 choice to which I sent a letter of intent post-interview. after sending that letter, I interviewed elsewhere, and actually decided that this new one was my #1 choice. is it ok to send this one a letter of intent?

I know that med school applications/intervciews are an anxiety provoking condition, but my trolldar is starting to go of f after reading your other posts.

In the event that you're serious,
“How are LOIs worthless? Do they just hold no weight whatsoever/not get read usually?”

How would you interpret a nonbinding promise from a desperate applicant?

Here’s one Adcom member’s thoughts on the matter:

“We only invite amazing students to interview. It is quite unlikely that further good deeds or achievements will have an effect since only the students who have already wowed us are interviewed.”

“One serious thought for a moment. You want to become a physician, a profession that highly values ethical behavior. Yet even before you start training for this profession, you want take the unethical act of making promises to two different schools that you will attend over any other school?”
-gonnif

From the wise Med Ed: [What med schools…] accept and desire are two different things. My institution, for instance, will accept practically anything a given applicant wants to forward along, but only rarely do we consider it a worthwhile addition to the package.

And yes, some of us have gotten a little jaded about LOI's. I could fill a barrel with all the post-interview correspondence I have received that has not translated into a single matriculant. This has all gotten mighty complicated and burdensome for what is essentially a zero sum game.

It's generally not burdensome for an applicant to upload something to the portal, and once in a great while it does tip us off with some useful info. I can think of one individual who had a stellar application, like Harvard/Yale/Stanford-worthy, and a superb interview, who sent us several updates and a LOI. We were somewhat perplexed by this person's tenacious interest in our program. Turns out there were family/geographical reasons behind the whole thing, the applicant just never felt comfortable directly playing that card.

When it comes down to waitlist time I will scan through what folks have uploaded post-interview. The vast majority of times it has no impact. Occasionally I have seen it hurt people's chances. Come to think of it, in my experience this is probably more likely, than such correspondence having a positive impact.


See the following for classic examples of why most Admissions deans treat these as lies.

https://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/loi-and-interviews.1252832/#post-18849958


And if you still don’t believe me, read these:

HomeSkool's Guide to Letters of Intent


I'll be adding yours to the list
 
I know that med school applications/intervciews are an anxiety provoking condition, but my trolldar is starting to go of f after reading your other posts.

In the event that you're serious,
“How are LOIs worthless? Do they just hold no weight whatsoever/not get read usually?”

How would you interpret a nonbinding promise from a desperate applicant?

Here’s one Adcom member’s thoughts on the matter:

“We only invite amazing students to interview. It is quite unlikely that further good deeds or achievements will have an effect since only the students who have already wowed us are interviewed.”

“One serious thought for a moment. You want to become a physician, a profession that highly values ethical behavior. Yet even before you start training for this profession, you want take the unethical act of making promises to two different schools that you will attend over any other school?”
-gonnif

From the wise Med Ed: [What med schools…] accept and desire are two different things. My institution, for instance, will accept practically anything a given applicant wants to forward along, but only rarely do we consider it a worthwhile addition to the package.

And yes, some of us have gotten a little jaded about LOI's. I could fill a barrel with all the post-interview correspondence I have received that has not translated into a single matriculant. This has all gotten mighty complicated and burdensome for what is essentially a zero sum game.

It's generally not burdensome for an applicant to upload something to the portal, and once in a great while it does tip us off with some useful info. I can think of one individual who had a stellar application, like Harvard/Yale/Stanford-worthy, and a superb interview, who sent us several updates and a LOI. We were somewhat perplexed by this person's tenacious interest in our program. Turns out there were family/geographical reasons behind the whole thing, the applicant just never felt comfortable directly playing that card.

When it comes down to waitlist time I will scan through what folks have uploaded post-interview. The vast majority of times it has no impact. Occasionally I have seen it hurt people's chances. Come to think of it, in my experience this is probably more likely, than such correspondence having a positive impact.


See the following for classic examples of why most Admissions deans treat these as lies.

https://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/loi-and-interviews.1252832/#post-18849958


And if you still don’t believe me, read these:

HomeSkool's Guide to Letters of Intent


I'll be adding yours to the list

Thanks for the extensive response!

There are several "reputable" websites (linked below) out there describing what letters of intent are and how to write them, and sort of talking them up. So, it's a difficult situation for premeds like me who get sort of conflicting opinions about them.


 
Thanks for the extensive response!

There are several "reputable" websites (linked below) out there describing what letters of intent are and how to write them, and sort of talking them up. So, it's a difficult situation for premeds like me who get sort of conflicting opinions about them.


these websites profit by persuading premeds that their consultation will help to ensure a successful cycle so ofc they are going to talk up the value of LOIs etc. They'll post articles about just about anything as long as it will drive traffic to their website where naive premeds or their family members will pay an exorbitant amount for advice which more than likely could be obtained by utilizing the search function here or on the aamc website
 
This is just fine in the same way that you are dating someone and you ask them to marry you and they tell you they are already engaged and ask if you're cool with going ahead with the engagement.
 
these websites profit by persuading premeds that their consultation will help to ensure a successful cycle so ofc they are going to talk up the value of LOIs etc. They'll post articles about just about anything as long as it will drive traffic to their website where naive premeds or their family members will pay an exorbitant amount for advice which more than likely could be obtained by utilizing the search function here or on the aamc website
I'm pretty sure @Goro's trolldar correctly got a hit on this one. Just look at the user name and account create date. What are the odds this isn't a troll and yet he's got all these other resources, just found SDN the day before yesterday, and now suddenly has all these urgent, somewhat ridiculous questions (interview + hair loss, 2 LOIs, and skipping optional events)? Given that he specifically referenced a California optional event, it looks like @calipremed is signalling a return! 🙂
 
I'm pretty sure @Goro's trolldar correctly got a hit on this one. Just look at the user name and account create date. What are the odds this isn't a troll and yet he's got all these other resources, just found SDN the day before yesterday, and now suddenly has all these urgent, somewhat ridiculous questions (interview + hair loss, 2 LOIs, and skipping optional events)? Given that he specifically referenced a California optional event, it looks like @calipremed is signalling a return! 🙂

I appreciate your response. These aren't trolling questions. As my username suggests, I made an additional throwaway account to ask these questions.
 
I appreciate your response. These aren't trolling questions. As my username suggests, I made an additional throwaway account to ask these questions.
If they're not trolls, why do you need a throwaway account to ask them?
 
Top