Waitlist LOI

[TIMTIM]

Hey all,

I am sure that some of you are holding mutliple waitlist spots: if you write a letter of intent to a particular school, besides praising them and telling them how much you want to go, do you tell them what other waitlist spots you are holding? How strongly do you tell them that you want to go to that school?

"I would go immediately and give up all my other spots (waitlist and acceptance)" versus "I would highly consider this...(i.e. non-binding)"

Are there any sample that we could take a look?

Thank you.

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[Nexus777]

Hey all,

I am sure that some of you are holding mutliple waitlist spots: if you write a letter of intent to a particular school, besides praising them and telling them how much you want to go, do you tell them what other waitlist spots you are holding? How strongly do you tell them that you want to go to that school?

"I would go immediately and give up all my other spots (waitlist and acceptance)" versus "I would highly consider this...(i.e. non-binding)"

Are there any sample that we could take a look?

Thank you.

Depends on what school you are writing the letter to. What school are you considering?

 

[TIMTIM]

Hi, Nexus,

I am waitlisted at: UCSD, UCLA and Stanford

I wonder if that would be to my advantage to say:
"I am currently being waitlisted by by UCSD, UCLA and Stanford, but if X (X=[all 3 schools]) takes me, I will immediately enroll and surrender all other waitlists..." (Does that even matter in committee's eyes?) Or do I have the luxury to wait until I hear back from all waitlists?

Thanks!

 

[Nexus777]

Hi, Nexus,

I am waitlisted at: UCSD, UCLA and Stanford

I wonder if that would be to my advantage to say:
"I am currently being waitlisted by by UCSD, UCLA and Stanford, but if X (X=[all 3 schools]) takes me, I will immediately enroll and surrender all other waitlists..." (Does that even matter in committee's eyes?) Or do I have the luxury to wait until I hear back from all waitlists?

Thanks!

hmm, since they are all Cali schools, yeah, you should send them all a letter like that. What could it hurt?

 

[Tonic1025]

I would really only send one letter of intent. It just doesn't seem ethical IMO to send more than one letter of intent. For the other two schools, you can still send a strong letter of interest, but you'd have to be very careful with the wording you use (i.e. don't say you'd withdraw from all other schools).

 

[Depakote]

Think of it like this.

When you're hitting on a girl, do you say. "Hi, Anne and Becky like me, but if you say yes, I'll date you instead of one of them."

No, you just say "You're the best above all others and if we go out I won't go out with anybody else."

Don't say where you're waitlisted, where you could go. Just tell them that they are the only school for you and that you will withdraw all other applications if accepted.

 

[Nexus777]

Think of it like this.

When you're hitting on a girl, do you say. "Hi, Anne and Becky like me, but if you say yes, I'll date you instead of one of them."

No, you just say "You're the best above all others and if we go out I won't go out with anybody else."

Don't say where you're waitlisted, where you could go. Just tell them that they are the only school for you and that you will withdraw all other applications if accepted.

Yeah, he brings up a good point. I would pick the school you have the best chance at. I hear Stanford doesn't respond to LOIs, since they have tons of students on the waitlist. You should pick between UCSD or UCLA, whichever you like better.

 

[LT2]

Yeah, he brings up a good point. I would pick the school you have the best chance at. I hear Stanford doesn't respond to LOIs, since they have tons of students on the waitlist. You should pick between UCSD or UCLA, whichever you like better.

on that note, i heard UCSD does NOT take into account a letter of intent when making decisions on your application (the old interim dean used to take them into account, the new dean does not.). good luck whatever you decide!

 

[pnasty]

when i wrote my LOI i didnt mention what other schools i had gotten into, i just said if accepted off teh waitlist i would withdraw all other applications. no need to say where you got in, because if they care they can tell anyways

 

[TIMTIM]

Thank you so much for all your comments...I just called these schools, and UCSD and UCLA says a good number of students can get off waitlist...well...::fingers crossed::

Any more thoughts?