waitlisted at BU..

[ledmirage]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Just got a letter saying that I am on the alternate list for BU a few days ago. I thought the interview went so well since the interviewer (the law/business prof) was impressed with my experiences. The only other offer right now is from Howard and I already sent in the deposit. Anyone knows the chance of getting in BU after being waitlisted this year? I really want to go to BU since my brother also goes there, and I already knew a few people who are in the dental school. Howard, on the other hand, has relatively inexpensive tuition and the facility is not bad either. The other SDN member told me about writing a letter of intent to boost my chances but I am not sure how to go about that yet... I personally had emailed my interviewer before regarding some community service programs at BU before the waitlist news but I don't know if I should contact her again regarding this matter. I haven't heard from NYU, Tufts, UCLA, and UCSF yet but I don't think the last three are options at all at this point. Do I have any hope at this point? or should I just stick with howard? I am 27 now and probably can't wait for another more competitve year...

My stats:
AA 21 TS 19, PAT 20 QR 22 RC 25
Under GPA 2.9
Grad (2 yr) 3.71
Dental Assistant >1 year, over 400 hr
Hospital volunteer 80 hr

 

[Rezdawg]

One of my friends here was taken off the waitlist. Im sure there were at least a handful of others. Plan on attending Howard, and if you get off the waitlist at BU, then you can make a decision at that point. Dont take another year off, go to Howard if that remains your only option.

 

[Tigerlili]

It seems to me that BU waitlists anyone they haven't accepted yet, I think there have been about 20 people on SDN alone to be waitlisted at BU. I have been waitlisted since March 3rd. Still keeping my fingers crossed, good luck to all you other waitlisters~

Also does anyone know if you were waitlisted at BU this, year does it improve your chances if you apply again for next years cycle??

 

[Rezdawg]

Also does anyone know if you were waitlisted at BU this, year does it improve your chances if you apply again for next years cycle??

I think it could, specially if you do something to improve your resume within that time period. We have a few kids here who were waitlisted, applied the following year, and were accepted without another interview.

 

[martinelli]

My stats:
AA 21 TS 19, PAT 20 QR 22 RC 25
Under GPA 2.9
Grad (2 yr) 3.71
Dental Assistant >1 year, over 400 hr
Hospital volunteer 80 hr

Your stats are pretty great, LEDMIRAGE, especially those shadowing and volunteering hours, Wow!; I'm sorry that you have been waitlisted. It sucks that this cycle is so competitive. In any case, if you REALLY want to go to BU, you should do all that is in your power to get yourself in their class thus the letter of intent should be a first good step in getting them to re-examine your application. The LOI should be emailed/mailed to Lianne Weber, whom I believe is the admission coordinator there; that way, not just your interviewer but the whole adcom will get to see the LOI. On a side note, interviewers at BU are ALL extremely nice and sometimes that gives the interviewees the false hope that since they were so nice, you are sure they are rallying for you behind closed door. I was had a similar situation last year whereby I thought my interview went so WELL that I went home thinking that I was shoed in to be in their class; it didn't happen, I was waitlisted.

But anyway, the LOI of intent should address why you want to go to BU. Their APEX and EXCEL programs? clinical and didactic excellence? laid-back atmosphere? Good word-of-mouth from current and former students? living in Boston? Butter them up, especially about the APEX program; they're really proud of that one over there. Your letter should be at least 1 page. Have it proofreaded if you must--I could do it for you if you like, just PM it to me.

Before emailing/sending in the letter, be sure to call Lianne Weber (if you don't have it, PM me and I'll give it to you) to let her know that you are sending her a LOI. After sending it in, wait for 1 or 2 weeks and call her back to ask her the status of your application. If no status change, call every so often; I know it might sound a little bit desperate but remember you are desperate! I know that schools won't take it against you if you do it nicely! Good luck!

 

[wpeck]

Your stats are pretty great, LEDMIRAGE, especially those shadowing and volunteering hours, Wow!; I'm sorry that you have been waitlisted. It sucks that this cycle is so competitive. In any case, if you REALLY want to go to BU, you should do all that is in your power to get yourself in their class thus the letter of intent should be a first good step in getting them to re-examine your application. The LOI should be emailed/mailed to Lianne Weber, whom I believe is the admission coordinator there; that way, not just your interviewer but the whole adcom will get to see the LOI. On a side note, interviewers at BU are ALL extremely nice and sometimes that gives the interviewees the false hope that since they were so nice, you are sure they are rallying for you behind closed door. I was had a similar situation last year whereby I thought my interview went so WELL that I went home thinking that I was shoed in to be in their class; it didn't happen, I was waitlisted.

But anyway, the LOI of intent should address why you want to go to BU. Their APEX and EXCEL programs? clinical and didactic excellence? laid-back atmosphere? Good word-of-mouth from current and former students? living in Boston? Butter them up, especially about the APEX program; they're really proud of that one over there. Your letter should be at least 1 page. Have it proofreaded if you must--I could do it for you if you like, just PM it to me.

Before emailing/sending in the letter, be sure to call Lianne Weber (if you don't have it, PM me and I'll give it to you) to let her know that you are sending her a LOI. After sending it in, wait for 1 or 2 weeks and call her back to ask her the status of your application. If no status change, call every so often; I know it might sound a little bit desperate but remember you are desperate! I know that schools won't take it against you if you do it nicely! Good luck!

What is the difference between a letter of intent and a thank you letter if youre just "buttering up" their program. Also, how can one send a LOI if they have not been accepted?

 

[Comet208]

What is the difference between a letter of intent and a thank you letter if youre just "buttering up" their program. Also, how can one send a LOI if they have not been accepted?

A thank you letter is the one you write after your interview to thank the interviewers for their time. This is a good opportunity to re-state the unique things about you and emphasise what you mentioned during the interview. Sending this letter to your interviewer is almost required. A LOI however is normally sent to the Dir or Asst-Dir of admissions for the purpose of buttering up and telling them that if accepted, you will most likely attend.

 

[martinelli]

What is the difference between a letter of intent and a thank you letter if youre just "buttering up" their program. Also, how can one send a LOI if they have not been accepted?

Actually, the sole purpose of a LOI is to get yourself accepted by the school. If you have already been accepted...uh....you wouldn't need to send them anything, except for your bank account 😀

 

[wpeck]

Actually, the sole purpose of a LOI is to get yourself accepted by the school. If you have already been accepted...uh....you wouldn't need to send them anything, except for your bank account 😀

Do schools know if you send multiple LOIs? And also, what would be the format of such a letter.

"If I was granted admission, I would most definitely attend this fine institution?"

haha

 

[martinelli]

"If I was granted admission, I would most definitely attend this fine institution?"

haha

Sorry if my last post conveyed an attitude. I hope no offense were taken.
In any case, that sentence should be a good starting or closing remark🙂 However, I would say "esteemed institution" 🙂 I know it sounds a little bit cheesy but I think the point is to keep "in touch" with the school. Schools have many, many applicants that would like to go to their school and you can easily get lost in their pile of applications. I would look at it as a guy trying to woo a pretty girl and what do girls like? Attention.....and lots of it. So if you can somehow reiterate your intentions without being pushy, then it should definitely be in your favor.

And no, I don't think schools will find out that you sent the same letter to another school. I am not sure if adcoms are buddies.

As for the format:
opening: who you are and what you have accomplished
body: you would like to go this d-school because of xyz. Also say why b/c of these xyz reasons, the school is a perfect fit for you.
conclusion: because of these xyz reasons, the school is your TOP choice and that if "granted permission, you would definitely attend this esteemed institution".

Finally, the LOI is absolutely optional but I would definitely write one if I am on a waitlist for a school that I want to attend.

 

[ledmirage]

Thanks martinelli, I think i am gonna draft a LOI right now. Are they usually in the more formal plain mail or email? I guess I should be sending this out to Ms. Sarkis, Dr. Shaw and Liane Weber.. I sent a thank you email to Ms. Sarkis after the interview to express my interest (including all the pluses like Apex, research.. etc) and she replied as well. Is it going to be repetitve for her? by the way, one of the fourth year at BU, who is my brother's best friend, told me that they usually settle the waitlist matter in little more than a week... anyone knows if that's true?

 

[wpeck]

Sorry if my last post conveyed an attitude. I hope no offense were taken.
In any case, that sentence should be a good starting or closing remark🙂 However, I would say "esteemed institution" 🙂 I know it sounds a little bit cheesy but I think the point is to keep "in touch" with the school. Schools have many, many applicants that would like to go to their school and you can easily get lost in their pile of applications. I would look at it as a guy trying to woo a pretty girl and what do girls like? Attention.....and lots of it. So if you can somehow reiterate your intentions without being pushy, then it should definitely be in your favor.

And no, I don't think schools will find out that you sent the same letter to another school. I am not sure if adcoms are buddies.

As for the format:
opening: who you are and what you have accomplished
body: you would like to go this d-school because of xyz. Also say why b/c of these xyz reasons, the school is a perfect fit for you.
conclusion: because of these xyz reasons, the school is your TOP choice and that if "granted permission, you would definitely attend this esteemed institution".

Finally, the LOI is absolutely optional but I would definitely write one if I am on a waitlist for a school that I want to attend.

Who do you address an LOI to. The adcom? The coordinator of admissions or the person that interviewed you.

 

[martinelli]

Who do you address an LOI to. The adcom? The coordinator of admissions or the person that interviewed you.

The admission committee. However, you would email this to the admission coordinator and she would forward it to the adcom. This is what I was told when I called the coordinator.

 

[martinelli]

Thanks martinelli, I think i am gonna draft a LOI right now. Are they usually in the more formal plain mail or email? I guess I should be sending this out to Ms. Sarkis, Dr. Shaw and Liane Weber.. I sent a thank you email to Ms. Sarkis after the interview to express my interest (including all the pluses like Apex, research.. etc) and she replied as well. Is it going to be repetitve for her? by the way, one of the fourth year at BU, who is my brother's best friend, told me that they usually settle the waitlist matter in little more than a week... anyone knows if that's true?

I think you can send it as an email attachment to Liane Weber; as for the others, it is up to you. When did you interview? If it has been more than 4 weeks, I don't see why you can't send another letter. Best of luck! 🙂

 

[ledmirage]

I think you can send it as an email attachment to Liane Weber; as for the others, it is up to you. When did you interview? If it has been more than 4 weeks, I don't see why you can't send another letter. Best of luck! 🙂

I interviewed on 3/10/06, so it's 4 weeks already, i sent the thank you letter a week after that. Martinelli, did the coordinator (Liane Weber) tell you all these when you called? again, thanks for all your help!!

 

[m2thep23]

I interviewed on 3/10/06, so it's 4 weeks already, i sent the thank you letter a week after that. Martinelli, did the coordinator (Liane Weber) tell you all these when you called? again, thanks for all your help!!

I interviewed February 28th and just got accepted today. Got to have patiences. I won't be putting down a deposit so that should be in your favor.

 

[martinelli]

I interviewed on 3/10/06, so it's 4 weeks already, i sent the thank you letter a week after that. Martinelli, did the coordinator (Liane Weber) tell you all these when you called? again, thanks for all your help!!

Hi ledmirage,

Well, all she told me was to send in a LOI to her and she will forward it to the adcom. As for Dr. Shaw and the interviewer, I didn't plan on sending them the LOI individually since they are on the adcom. However, I don't see how it would hurt your chances if you did send them both the LOI.

In any case, I hope I am not giving you too much hope in this whole LOI business. I don't think it is a deal breaker but Ms. Weber suggested it to me and I only wanted to relay it to my fellow SDNers who are interested in attending BU.

Have a good weekend everyone! Cheers! 🙂

 

[ledmirage]

LOI sent... no news yet
power outage took out my landline phone for a week, now I am scared that I might have missed their call...

Anyone heard anything form BU yet?

 

[RupeshV]

nope, still have not heard any info, does anyone know when people get off the waitlist at BU.

LOI sent... no news yet
power outage took out my landline phone for a week, now I am scared that I might have missed their call...

Anyone heard anything form BU yet?