Question about letter of intent

[nolee]

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If I more or less have a number 1, but there is a chance I may not attend the program if another one gives me a substantial scholarship, should I still send them a letter of intent, or does a letter of intent mean that I plan to go to ____ school no matter what scholarships I get?

[Thank you guys~!]

 

[Pacna]

A letter of intent is 100% nonbinding. However, you're supposed to be a professional at this point and without adding awkward caveats like "unless the scholarships you offer blow compared to another school," it's going to reflect poorly on you if you do not follow through with your promise.

You should only send a letter of intent if your intent is earnest.

 

[Amba]

Don't send a letter of intent unless your desire to attend the school transcends other variables such as differences in cost. Sending one and backing out is not only unprofessional, but also ruins it for people that do send genuine letters of intent. (this subject is somewhat personal for me because I recently sent a letter of intent to my top choice)

 

[cookiemonsters]

LOI are mostly useless, but it can come back to bite you in the ass if you get caught sending it to multiple places. If we want to accept a student off our waitlist and he's already down to 1 acceptance elsewhere, it's our professional courtesy to call that school. If we find out that he sent us both LOI's, we're gonna be pissed.

 

[yankees26]

yea ive heard bad stories with Letter of Intents coming to backfire. I was surprised by how much the deans from "top" schools talk to each other.

 

[Microglia]

yea ive heard bad stories with Letter of Intents coming to backfire. I was surprised by how much the deans from "top" schools talk to each other.

It's like they have a breakfast club.

 

[nolee]

yikes! thank you guys so much for your input, i understand now. what about sending similar letters of interest to 2-3 schools? do you think the deans will be like "what the, these are all the same!" or is it okay since they're just letters of interest and not as serious?

thank you!

 

[snowflakes]

yikes! thank you guys so much for your input, i understand now. what about sending similar letters of interest to 2-3 schools? do you think the deans will be like "what the, these are all the same!" or is it okay since they're just letters of interest and not as serious?

thank you!

Also curious about this. Can you use a conserved template with some level of customization for each school?

 

[nemo123]

Sending letters of interests to multiple schools is fine. Just make sure the schools you send them to are receptive to them. However, some schools don't care much about them before decisions are released. They play a bigger role when you're on waitlists because it shows you're still interested in the school and want a spot.

 

[medmedman]

Also curious about this. Can you use a conserved template with some level of customization for each school?

How would different schools know that you sent a similar LOI? I say go for it!

 

[Aerus]

It's not like schools will take your promise seriously, so you won't gain anything outside of sending a regular letter of interest. However, I don't think you'd want to be caught doing something like lying, so Letters of Intent will at best do nothing and at most, come back to bite you.