Sending a letter of interest, pre-interview

[theBriefing]

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Would it be appropriate to send a letter of interest, via mail, to a medical school before being invited for an interview? For a particular school, I feel that I did not amply express why I think the school is a great match for me (and why I would be a good match for the school).

 

[LizzyM]

It seems rather pathetic. The school assumes you are interested if you took the time to complete the application and if you paid a fee (if you were asked to do so). When I look at an application, an additional letter of interest, pre-interview, never sways my decision. YMMV but there are better things you could be doing with your time and your postage stamps.

 

[Catalystik]

Would it be appropriate to send a letter of interest, via mail, to a medical school before being invited for an interview? For a particular school, I feel that I did not amply express why I think the school is a great match for me (and why I would be a good match for the school).

You could include it as a part your fall update letter, where you'll also list new grades, augmentations of current activities, recognitions, any new relevant activities, etc. But it would be better to save it for after the interview when it will be much more believable that you and the school have the potential to mesh with each other's goals.

 

[DoctorPlzzz]

It seems rather pathetic. The school assumes you are interested if you took the time to complete the application and if you paid a fee (if you were asked to do so). When I look at an application, an additional letter of interest, pre-interview, never sways my decision. YMMV but there are better things you could be doing with your time and your postage stamps.

I agree. Unless it is a major update to your application, do not send the mail. It is a waste of paper.

It is impossible for admissions to determine if interest letters are genuine or not and there is virtually an endless pool of applicants to choose from that it becomes irrelevant how interested you are.

 

[Goro]

Would it be appropriate to send a letter of interest, via mail, to a medical school before being invited for an interview? For a particular school, I feel that I did not amply express why I think the school is a great match for me (and why I would be a good match for the school).

Please don't waste your time, or the schools.

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

You sent them an app; they know you're interested.

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

I told a school I'd go if accepted, now not so sure

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

HomeSkool's Guide to Letters of Intent

Second letter of intent? Help!

 

[theBriefing]

Glad to hear a unified answer to a question that I comprehended as a first-time applicant to have subjective elements. Makes my next step easy, namely, not to send a letter of interest pre-interview.

 

[Sharknad0]

Please don't waste your time, or the schools.

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

You sent them an app; they know you're interested.

Hey I wanted to bump this post in relation to another post of yours I saw. You said that LOI's will mostly be ignored unless it's a needy school such as GTown or Jefferson, not sure if there are others too. Would those needy schools be receptive to a pre-II LOI? I'm not planning on it but my parents are pushing me to send one to schools like GTown but I'm trying to explain to them that it won't carry any weight.

 

[Goro]

Hey I wanted to bump this post in relation to another post of yours I saw. You said that LOI's will mostly be ignored unless it's a needy school such as GTown or Jefferson, not sure if there are others too. Would those needy schools be receptive to a pre-II LOI? I'm not planning on it but my parents are pushing me to send one to schools like GTown but I'm trying to explain to them that it won't carry any weight.

read this:
HomeSkool's Guide to Letters of Intent

Second letter of intent? Help!

Tell your parents that you're going med school, not them, and you'll handle the application process your way.

 

[Med Ed]

Do you ever think LOI combined with updates can be beneficial? If those updates are tied into the mission of the school to show that you might be a good fit? For example, updating a school that you’ve taken a medical Spanish class this term, and the school is located in a large Hispanic minority area

That's not going to move the needle on your app.

 

[jarednogeek]

Nonononononono

 

[Med Ed]

Good response. I’m not planning on doing this myself!! Pretty sure I'm set on going to a school I was accepted to a few days ago. I was just wondering in general if these types of LOI-update hybrids were more beneficial to your application than LOIs on their own since I'm looking over a friend's.

The are both equally worthless.