Pretty bummed and need some advice please.

[Mr. MCAT]

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Okay so I posted a while back how I had no interviews this cycle. Then I miraculously got 3 interviews, the last of which will be this Wednesday at Eastern Virginia. I have received an alternate list at Western University (D.O.) and I just got rejected today from Rosalind Franklin, which is part of the reason I'm posting this.

Here is my debacle: should I send a letter of intent to Western University and hope to get in? Or should I just wait to reapply next year? Or should I send one to Eastern Virginia? As I understand, you should only send one letter of intent and if you send it, it pretty much means you are committing to go to whatever school you send one to. I am going to assume I won't get into Eastern Virginia, as it appears they are mostly alternate-listing and rejecting at this point, and their alternate list is 300+ apparently, which is why I was thinking I'd send one to Western.

Part two of my debacle: if I'm being honest with myself, I probably am not going to want to go into primary care in the future. Western has a high match with primary care. Therefore, I'm slightly worried that by writing a LOI to Western, I might be slightly screwing myself over in the future when it comes to Match time. Then again, who is to say I'll even get alternate listed with next application cycle, so by not writing a LOI, I may be screwing myself even more?

Question comes down to this: should I just say screw it and write the LOI to Western before it is too late? Or should I wait to reapply and work on my app in the meantime (which I have already been doing), in hopes that I will get into a different medical school that may have a more matches not in primary care? I am leaning toward the LOI to Western (and no I do not care if my name has a D.O. after it) and I think I MAY stand of chance of actually getting in there if I do it (I think my interview went fairly well and my stats are pretty good for that school). Obviously I am kind of counting my chickens before they hatch or whatever, but I am running out of time and need to make a plan soon. And how bad would it look if I rescinded my acceptance from Western if I do later decide not to attend there, even after sending a LOI?

Sorry for the long post, and sorry if this somehow offends anyone that I'm asking this stuff. I am definitely not trying to rag on Western or whatever and I would be happy to attend there.

Side note: I was thinking about calling or emailing specific medical schools I have applied to in order to determine exactly where my weaknesses are in my app. I head people have had success with this but just want to see if anyone else has, and at which schools. I already have some idea what went wrong but just want to make sure. Thanks! Sorry for the long post.

 

[winged_foot]

From what I've gathered here, letters of intent are meaningless, especially if you are not currently holding acceptances. They are not binding and students write them all the time thinking they make a difference when in reality they don't.

 

[Shepadil]

Okay so I posted a while back how I had no interviews this cycle. Then I miraculously got 3 interviews, the last of which will be this Wednesday at Eastern Virginia. I have received an alternate list at Western University (D.O.) and I just got rejected today from Rosalind Franklin, which is part of the reason I'm posting this.

Here is my debacle: should I send a letter of intent to Western University and hope to get in? Or should I just wait to reapply next year? Or should I send one to Eastern Virginia? As I understand, you should only send one letter of intent and if you send it, it pretty much means you are committing to go to whatever school you send one to. I am going to assume I won't get into Eastern Virginia, as it appears they are mostly alternate-listing and rejecting at this point, and their alternate list is 300+ apparently, which is why I was thinking I'd send one to Western.

Part two of my debacle: if I'm being honest with myself, I probably am not going to want to go into primary care in the future. Western has a high match with primary care. Therefore, I'm slightly worried that by writing a LOI to Western, I might be slightly screwing myself over in the future when it comes to Match time. Then again, who is to say I'll even get alternate listed with next application cycle, so by not writing a LOI, I may be screwing myself even more?

Question comes down to this: should I just say screw it and write the LOI to Western before it is too late? Or should I wait to reapply and work on my app in the meantime (which I have already been doing), in hopes that I will get into a different medical school that may have a more matches not in primary care? I am leaning toward the LOI to Western (and no I do not care if my name has a D.O. after it) and I think I MAY stand of chance of actually getting in there if I do it (I think my interview went fairly well and my stats are pretty good for that school). Obviously I am kind of counting my chickens before they hatch or whatever, but I am running out of time and need to make a plan soon. And how bad would it look if I rescinded my acceptance from Western if I do later decide not to attend there, even after sending a LOI?

Sorry for the long post, and sorry if this somehow offends anyone that I'm asking this stuff. I am definitely not trying to rag on Western or whatever and I would be happy to attend there.

Side note: I was thinking about calling or emailing specific medical schools I have applied to in order to determine exactly where my weaknesses are in my app. I head people have had success with this but just want to see if anyone else has, and at which schools. I already have some idea what went wrong but just want to make sure. Thanks! Sorry for the long post.

If I were you, I'd focus on nothing else but killing the Interview this Wednesday.

 

[PharmHopefulLonghorn2015]

Focus on your interviews and be very prepared for possible curve ball questions.

 

[Mr. MCAT]

From what I've gathered here, letters of intent are meaningless, especially if you are not currently holding acceptances. They are not binding and students write them all the time thinking they make a difference when in reality they don't.

That's actually very interesting and good to know. Definitely not what I have heard but, then again, I've only heard the opposite from very few sources. And Goro liking the post makes me more assured you are right. But yeah, I'm planning on just extensively preparing for the interview in the next two days.

What is your opinion of this... In Western's alternate letter, it says the following (and I quote): "Please be assured that we are very much interested in the possibility of your matriculation this year. We hope that you share the same enthusiasm for our program and will keep us informed of your interest." Is this code for "give us an LOI?" Or am I just stupid and this is just generic for "give us an update letter?" I'm assuming the second one is the correct answer.

 

[Stagg737]

Side note: I was thinking about calling or emailing specific medical schools I have applied to in order to determine exactly where my weaknesses are in my app. I head people have had success with this but just want to see if anyone else has, and at which schools. I already have some idea what went wrong but just want to make sure. Thanks! Sorry for the long post.

I would definitely do this after you interview. If you want to write a letter to Western saying why you want to go there (letter of intent), I don't think it will hurt. Chances are it won't help either unless you have some ties to the school/local area or you are on the borderline of getting in off of the waitlist. Calling/writing to ask why you weren't accepted and how you can improve your application for the following cycle can be very helpful. A good amount of the time you won't get any response, but some schools will give you useful tips about where your application is lacking. In very rare occasions it may put you on their radar for the following year or possibly change a decision.

During my first cycle I called and e-mailed a school to ask why I was rejected pre-interview as I was above average for all of their criteria and felt I had pretty outstanding ECs. They later sent me a letter inviting me to interview later that year because I was a solid applicant and conveyed my interest in their school pretty heavily. I ended up being rejected, but I got an extra interview opportunity because I was proactive. I know of 2 other people who had similar situations. One of them received a rejection letter when they had actually been accepted. If she hadn't called to ask what happened she would not have been accepted anywhere that year. The other was rejected pre-interview and was granted an interview and accepted after talking to the admins. She also had some very unique connections and we were surprised to hear she was ever rejected at the school in the first place.

Even with all that, it is extremely rare for things like that to happen, and the best you should realistically hope for is some advice on how to improve. If you're really lucky an admission counselor may remember you calling/contacting in future cycles if you have to reapply and give you a little bump. For now, just put as much energy into focusing on your interview and getting in at Eastern.

 

[DokterMom]

That's actually very interesting and good to know. Definitely not what I have heard but, then again, I've only heard the opposite from very few sources. And Goro liking the post makes me more assured you are right. But yeah, I'm planning on just extensively preparing for the interview in the next two days.

What is your opinion of this... In Western's alternate letter, it says the following (and I quote): "Please be assured that we are very much interested in the possibility of your matriculation this year. We hope that you share the same enthusiasm for our program and will keep us informed of your interest." Is this code for "give us an LOI?" Or am I just stupid and this is just generic for "give us an update letter?" I'm assuming the second one is the correct answer.

Actually, that does sound to me like "The students who demonstrate high levels of interest will have the best chances of coming off the wait list."

In your letter, be sincere and be specific. What did you like about Western, their mission, or the area that would not be true about the other schools where you've interviewed? Of course, the schools will know soon where you do/do not hold acceptances, and an applicant who is not holding another acceptance is highly likely to matriculate.

But it can't hurt --=

 

[Doug Underhill]

I don't know, it sounds to me like Western gives the waitlist spots to people who are extremely interested in going there. If they didn't want LOIs, they wouldn't have included that. Sending the LOI can't hurt.

 

[Mr. MCAT]

Okay I just had my interview at Eastern Virginia Medical School and it went SWIMMINGLY. Definitely the best I've felt about an interview so far.

BUT just in case, I just sent Western University a Letter of Interest/Update Letter. Does anyone think it would be a bad idea to make this a letter of intent and commit myself to Western? Especially since Eastern Virginia is basically seemingly putting everyone on the alternate list now. I won't hear back from Eastern Virginia for about a month, it sounds like. How bad does it look if I were to get accepted to Western, then later get accepted to Eastern Virginia, then revoke my acceptance at Western? Pretty bad, correct?

 

[Rainbow Zebra]

Okay I just had my interview at Eastern Virginia Medical School and it went SWIMMINGLY. Definitely the best I've felt about an interview so far.

BUT just in case, I just sent Western University a Letter of Interest/Update Letter. Does anyone think it would be a bad idea to make this a letter of intent and commit myself to Western? Especially since Eastern Virginia is basically seemingly putting everyone on the alternate list now. I won't hear back from Eastern Virginia for about a month, it sounds like. How bad does it look if I were to get accepted to Western, then later get accepted to Eastern Virginia, then revoke my acceptance at Western? Pretty bad, correct?

No commitments are binding until end of April, I think .

 

[caffeinemia]

Okay I just had my interview at Eastern Virginia Medical School and it went SWIMMINGLY. Definitely the best I've felt about an interview so far.

BUT just in case, I just sent Western University a Letter of Interest/Update Letter. Does anyone think it would be a bad idea to make this a letter of intent and commit myself to Western? Especially since Eastern Virginia is basically seemingly putting everyone on the alternate list now. I won't hear back from Eastern Virginia for about a month, it sounds like. How bad does it look if I were to get accepted to Western, then later get accepted to Eastern Virginia, then revoke my acceptance at Western? Pretty bad, correct?

Did you have that feeling when you walked out that you were just yourself? That you didn't have to try to impress everyone, but everyone was all smiles anyway?

I would say that feeling gave me like an 80% intuition on where I was getting in... I definitely did worst when I came out of an interview going... "phewwww" or "what did I just say? that sounded so stupid." I'm just curious if anyone else ever experienced that phenomenon.

 

[Mr. MCAT]

Yeah and I had ended up reading these books and mentioning things that the two interviewers had apparently been talking about RIGHT before I entered. So they both started smiling at each other when I would talk about them and then told me they had JUST been talking about that. So pretty coincidental. And I felt like I had a good vibe with them.