Does anyone have any tips for writing an update letter or letter of interest? Is that appropriate?
Here is something I found last cycle, it is written for those waitlisted in med school and the advice translates very well for those waitlisted at D school.
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Waitlists
This section covers ways to get in off waitlists. Many applicants these days are waitlisted rather than outright accepted or denied. In an era where applicants apply to over twenty schools, neither the applicants nor the medical schools knows who wants to go where. The solution for the medical schools is the waitlist. Waitlisted applicants are expected to be extremely aggressive if they really want to go to that school. If an applicant does nothing, then it is assumed that he or she has been accepted at another school and doesn't care if he or she gets in or not. So, if you have been waitlisted, don't despair! Usually at least one-half of the class comes in from the waitlist! Just follow the recommendations below, and continue expressing your interest in the school.
Contact Your Interviewers
The first thing to do when you are told you have been waitlisted is to contact your interviewers, especially if your interview went well, and if he or she is a voting member of the admissions committee. At most schools, the interviewer acts as your advocate. This means that he or she is trying to sell you to the rest of the committee, telling them of your strong points and why you would make a good member of that particular school. It is in your best interests to write or e-mail your interviewer to tell him or her that you are genuinely interested in that school, and that you still consider it one of your top choices. Also, you might want to ask what other steps you can take. Some interviewers will ask you to write a letter to the admissions committee, others will ask that you write the dean, and some will tell you not to write at all. The interviewer will know the pulse of the committee best, so use him and ask! Continue contacting your interviewer every two or three weeks, increasing frequency as it gets later in the season.
Write the Dean
At some schools (Columbia), the Dean has total control over who gets in off the waiting list. At others (UCSF), it is completely done by formula, and the Dean doesn't really do much. But, you will really never know who has the real power, so just go straight to the top. This means, write the Dean! Often, the Dean will admit people whenever he or she feels like it. If you write, telling him or her that you are very interested in the school, then you will get more consideration. The Dean will see that his or her school was not simply another school, but one of your favorites. Once again, write and call more as the year progresses. Usually there is no movement off waiting lists until after May 15, the AAMC deadline for final class selection by medical schools. But after that date, get more aggressive and call every one or two weeks. By mid-june and july, some people call or write every day! This may be too much, but it shows that people are really showing their interest.
Get Extra Letters of Recommendation
Another avenue of attack you might try is getting extra letters of recommendation. You should always run things by your interviewer or call anonymously to the admissions office (stating that you are "A waitlisted student") before doing anything, but this has been recommended to me before. These extra rec letters should not be for things you did before applying. Those should have been sent with your secondaries. These rec letters should only be about things you have been doing in the time after turning in your AMCAS application in June. For instance, if you started volunteering in a hospice or working in a lab this year, you probably didn't get an opportunity to get a rec because you started after you handed in the AMCAS Primary. Well, now is your chance to get a rec in.
Ask for Another Interview
I have also heard of applicants requesting another interview. This is more irregular than the usual write/call method, but you might want to try it. I have heard it works especially well at Columbia. Schools will be impressed that you are ready to fly or drive back to the school to get reevaulated.
Use the Phone
May 15 is a universal deadline for the AAMC. By that date, each medical school should have accepted a number of students at least as large as the class. And, that is the day you must renounce all acceptances save one. After May 15, you may only hold one spot at a time, although you may remain waitlisted at as many as you wish. After this deadline, you should step up your attack and begin calling as well as writing. Call your interviewer, and start calling the Dean. Don't call the admissions office because they're just a bunch of administrators with no real power. As mid-June rolls around, start calling more often. Perhaps once every week or every three days, to see if there has been movement off the waiting list. And if you still haven't heard by mid-July, you can even start calling every day. There is the story of a student from San Diego who was on a three day drive to Chicago to start medical school, and every day of the trip, she called UCSD to see if there was a spot for her. On the second day of the trip, she was accepted! She turned around and drove home. One more day, and she would have been a student at the University of Chicago! So keep calling. People do get in!
Write a Letter of Intent
The ultimate expression of desire to attend a medical school is the "Letter of Intent." This letter essentially goes something like this.
Dear Dean Bigguy,
I would like to reaffirm that your medical school is my unequivocal number one choice. If accepted for entrance this fall, I guarantee that I will attend. I can think of no place I would rather spend the next four years of my life than at your medical school.
Sincerely,
Wana Gedin
There are many variations of this letter, but if you state you will go, and you get in, you must go! It is bad form not to mention immoral to lie about something like this. If a medical school finds out you wrote a letter such as the one above to more than one school, you may lose all of your acceptances! So DON'T LIE! You can change the letter to state "your medical school is one of my top choices" or something similar. This leaves you some recourse. But, if you say "I will attend if accepted," then you must go. If you don't, then don't ever think about going there for residency or a job in the future. Your credibility was shot when you lied to the Dean.
You can also get your premed advisor or another person to write a letter of intent for you. This is essentially the same, but it attaches a more important name (and larger credibility) to your desire. Same rules apply regarding lying. But, now the stakes are higher. If you destroy the credibility of your premed advisor, that is a serious problem. Be sure of your desires before you write a strong letter of intent.
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