Plugging holes in application; pre-interview... send letters?

[centrigeugle]

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Oh hey there guys.

So I'm in the same situation as many of you - complete as most of my schools and nervously checking my email day after day, only to be emotionally devastated every time it has nothing new.

My stats are quite nice, and I have a fair spread of clinical, teaching, and leadership experience (no research though.) However, my clinical extracurriculars aren't in the hospital, but rather out in events serving as EMS etc. My shadowing isn't anything special either.

I recently scored some epic volunteering positions (trauma bay and abdominal organ transplant unit) and secured a nice GP to shadow. With these additions I think the competitiveness of my application is significantly strengthened. So here's the thing:

Should I save these goodies for the interview(s) I (hopefully) have? I'll have more logged hours by then, as well. Or should I send letters now? Upon searching SDN, the response to pre-interview letters seems to be generally tepid.

Plaes halp:

 

[ppfizenm]

From what I've heard others say on here it isn't a common practice to do it pre-interview. That is more something to bring up during interviews. I do have some experience with this. I had very little volunteer experience last year when I submitted my primary but on the secondaries I wrote about stuff I had started doing since (volunteering in ER and with AIDS group). I wouldn't really say it helped or they even paid attention to it. I think they give most weight to what's on your primary.

 

[mauberley]

Oh hey there guys.

So I'm in the same situation as many of you - complete as most of my schools and nervously checking my email day after day, only to be emotionally devastated every time it has nothing new.

My stats are quite nice, and I have a fair spread of clinical, teaching, and leadership experience (no research though.) However, my clinical extracurriculars aren't in the hospital, but rather out in events serving as EMS etc. My shadowing isn't anything special either.

I recently scored some epic volunteering positions (trauma bay and abdominal organ transplant unit) and secured a nice GP to shadow. With these additions I think the competitiveness of my application is significantly strengthened. So here's the thing:

Should I save these goodies for the interview(s) I (hopefully) have? I'll have more logged hours by then, as well. Or should I send letters now? Upon searching SDN, the response to pre-interview letters seems to be generally tepid.

Plaes halp:

It's still pretty early in the application cycle. I'd wait.

 

[centrigeugle]

It's still pretty early in the application cycle. I'd wait.

Are pre-interview letters appropriate at ANY point? Or mostly as a desperation move?

 

[ppappui]

If you've just gotten it then wait till u have some significant hours before updating them. If u get an interview before that, then u can bring it up then. If no inyerview, then send them an update letter with what you've been doing. That way they'll know u have been committing to that work

 

[Schizotypy]

Before you stress over this too much, keep in mind that not that many schools actually accept pre-interview updates. I specifically wrote all of my schools to ask (so that I wouldn't assume they were reading the letter if they really weren't), and only 5 of the 20 schools I applied to will accept them.

For what it's worth, I just sent a brief update letter to the few schools I applied to who will accept letters. Like you I thought the updates (to my extracurriculars) were important and emphasized aspects of my application that were somewhat weak, even though I've thus far been involved only for a short time. It seems to me the schools who accept updates probably don't mind getting them, if they're relevant. I doubt they will help or harm your application too much. For the schools I have interviews at, I just printed a copy of this letter to bring with me.