Quick Question about LOI's

[PowerButton]

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I apologize in advance if this has been answered elsewhere.

I finished secondaries in August (applied to 25 schools), and in the first 2 months after that, I received 5 rejections and 1 interview. Since then, I have not heard anything else from the other 19 schools. A couple of the schools' sites have my app status at "reviewed, pending interview decision".

At this point, should I write any pre-interview letters of interest/intent? What can I really write (I haven't even actually been to 18 out of the 19 schools, or know anybody who goes there..)? Would it help at all, or would it make me seem desperate?

I know it's January. But that's what I told myself when it was November and December.

Any input is appreciated.

 

[luckyducky87]

I can't believe it's January already 🙁 I think I should have sent a letter earlier in the cycle because I think interview invites may be "running out" at this point at some schools.

BUT! I did write to the silent schools, pre-interview, with a few updates (not really a LOI) including my fall 2008 transcript and two new and relevant activities, hoping that maybe this will get them to flip through my file once more? Who knows. Maybe it was an attempt in vain but that's okay. I don't think it can hurt at this point.

 

[nick_carraway]

I sent letters to schools with info on what I've done since my initial AMCAS upload.

I would write something and mail it in. It can never hurt you and it could even help.

Good luck! I know the frustration.

 

[xover]

hey
i'm a canadian student, how does this letter of intent thing work? you just send in an update of yourself? who does it go to? thanks!

 

[Greonis]

It is very hard to know for sure, and in reality, it is likely that every admissions office/adcom will have a differing view on a pre-interview LoI. Some may ignore it, others may consider it in the light of an already completed initial review, while others still may decide to completely re-review your application using the updated data. Because you cannot be sure (unless you go through the effort of contacting all of those schools to ask, which may not even be possible) and because it is getting late in the application cycle, I encourage you to send in letters. How many you send and what you write is up to you, but in general, your message should convey a strong interest in that particular school (try your best to find some school-specific traits that you are drawn to) and - if applicable - how you've improved since you submitted your initial AMCAS application (you may, for example, let them know about recent grades that you've received). Focus first on your top choices, as your letters are likely to be stronger and you will maximize your chances of being looked at (again) by sending the letter in earlier. Will you sound desperate? Again, difficult to say, due to the gamut of different offices/adcoms.

I would only avoid sending in a letter if the school explicitly asks you not to (for example, I believe that Albany has this policy stated somewhere within their secondary application). Be 100% sure of this, however, and try to avoid being swayed by "SDN rumors" (generally individuals who claim that the school doesn't like such letters yet only use tenuous evidence to back it up). Also, you may want to send in post-interview update letters/LoI's down the line, so save a few updates/attributes of the school for later if you can.

 

[luckyducky87]

hey
i'm a canadian student, how does this letter of intent thing work? you just send in an update of yourself? who does it go to? thanks!

This is my understanding:

1. Update letter: you really just update your file. New activities, publications, etc.

2. Letter of interest (LOI): you tell them why you think you are a good fit to the school, why the school is a good fit for you, why you love the school, etc 😍

3. Letter of intent (also... LOI): you tell the school that if you get accepted, you will go there and withdraw from all others. You should really just send this to one school and keep your promise if you do get in. But I'm not very sure about sending such a strong letter before you even interview, especially if you've never even been to that school before.

You could also merge #1 with #2 or #3 I think. But based on your other post you probably dont want to do a LOIntent at this stage...

I've been addressing a letter to the adcom and emailing it to the most relevant email address I could find on the school webpage...

 

[PowerButton]

It is very hard to know for sure, and in reality, it is likely that every admissions office/adcom will have a differing view on a pre-interview LoI. Some may ignore it, others may consider it in the light of an already completed initial review, while others still may decide to completely re-review your application using the updated data. Because you cannot be sure (unless you go through the effort of contacting all of those schools to ask, which may not even be possible) and because it is getting late in the application cycle, I encourage you to send in letters. How many you send and what you write is up to you, but in general, your message should convey a strong interest in that particular school (try your best to find some school-specific traits that you are drawn to) and - if applicable - how you've improved since you submitted your initial AMCAS application (you may, for example, let them know about recent grades that you've received). Focus first on your top choices, as your letters are likely to be stronger and you will maximize your chances of being looked at (again) by sending the letter in earlier. Will you sound desperate? Again, difficult to say, due to the gamut of different offices/adcoms.

I would only avoid sending in a letter if the school explicitly asks you not to (for example, I believe that Albany has this policy stated somewhere within their secondary application). Be 100% sure of this, however, and try to avoid being swayed by "SDN rumors" (generally individuals who claim that the school doesn't like such letters yet only use tenuous evidence to back it up). Also, you may want to send in post-interview update letters/LoI's down the line, so save a few updates/attributes of the school for later if you can.

Thanks Greonis, that helps a lot. It's just such a downer to be in this position. I don't even have much that I can "update" about myself (I've essentially been working crazy hours since graduating last year), but I suppose it wouldn't hurt at this point to tell some schools that I'm interested.

 

[xover]

do you think if we don't hear back for interviews as an international student, that we're pretty much done??
i would assume that schools would give invites asap to international students they're interested in, especially since the travelling is more complicated than for us citizens...
i have only received some emails back from schools that say they're done reviewing my file, and one of them said it's in a favourable pile, but that there may not be enough spots to interview me.

are there stats as to how many international students are interviewed at each school? i applied only to private schools...

 

[luckyducky87]

I don't know about Canadians in particular but I know that med school admissions is really tough for international students in general... I heard somewhere it's more or less a question of whether you can afford medical school because you can't get federal money if you're "international."

I *think* the MSAR gives you info on international student numbers, although I don't have the MSAR with me right now...


To the OP: could you maybe update them about your work?? Do the schools already know about it? I've always heard grim stuff about a LOInterest pre-interview, because you've already "shown" some degree of interest in their school by just applying. But I don't think it can hurt - just an evaluation of whether it's worth your time researching on each school and writing the letters!

 

[PowerButton]

To the OP: could you maybe update them about your work?? Do the schools already know about it? I've always heard grim stuff about a LOInterest pre-interview, because you've already "shown" some degree of interest in their school by just applying. But I don't think it can hurt - just an evaluation of whether it's worth your time researching on each school and writing the letters!

Yeah, my work was on my primary app, even my promotion to supervisor just before I submitted my AMCAS app. It's also what I wrote about in my personal statement - I think any more about my job at the hospital would be overkill on the subject.

I'm just baffled because my numbers are competitive - 3.74 (cum and bcpm), 34R (11, 11, 12). Maybe nobody liked my personal statement for whatever reason?? 🙁

 

[luckyducky87]

Yeah, my work was on my primary app, even my promotion to supervisor just before I submitted my AMCAS app. It's also what I wrote about in my personal statement - I think any more about my job at the hospital would be overkill on the subject.

I'm just baffled because my numbers are competitive - 3.74 (cum and bcpm), 34R (11, 11, 12). Maybe nobody liked my personal statement for whatever reason?? 🙁

Hm, yeah, that's hard 🙁 I don't understand this process at all. Maybe it was your LoR?? I found out from one of my interviews that my prehealth advisor (writing the "committee letter") wrote about how my initial interest in medicine was from my parents pushing me to go into medicine. I even forgot that I ever mentioned this to her and I don't know what she said about this in the letter since that's confidential... but I'm wondering if that has any effect...

Anyway, good luck! I hope 2009 will bring us some good news. The earlier half anyway