What to do about this situation - LOIs

[entdreams47]

I sent a letter of intent to a school pre-decision and got waitlisted. I then interviewed at another school I also really like and is close to home and they told us to send LOIs right away (pre-decision) if we are going to send them. Since school A did not accept me, does my LOI still hold the same weight?

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[viralhiker]

This is an example of why LOIs are mostly considered to be worthless. You should not have submitted a LOI if there was a possibility of you interviewing or being accepted at a school you would have wanted to attend more than School A.

 

[entdreams47]

This is an example of why LOIs are mostly considered to be worthless. You should not have submitted a LOI if there was a possibility of you interviewing or being accepted at a school you would have wanted to attend more than School A.

I don’t want to attend more than school A, but school A didn’t accept me. Should I just give it more time to see if I get off that WL?

 

[viralhiker]

I don’t want to attend more than school A, but school A didn’t accept me. Should I just give it more time to see if I get off that WL?

My (unprofessional) advice would be to not submit a second letter of intent. You can send school B a "letter of interest." But again, this is all kind of splitting hairs and will likely not majorly impact your chances, given what the consensus from adcoms on here says.

 

[RJ McReady]

I respectfully disagree with the above poster. Send the LOI especially since they asked you to. You don’t owe the other school anything.

 

[Talldoctor96]

I sent a letter of intent to a school pre-decision and got waitlisted. I then interviewed at another school I also really like and is close to home and they told us to send LOIs right away (pre-decision) if we are going to send them. Since school A did not accept me, does my LOI still hold the same weight?

are you still on the waitlist at the school you sent the letter of intent to... or are you rejected.

 

[entdreams47]

are you still on the waitlist at the school you sent the letter of intent to... or are you rejected.

WL

 

[viralhiker]

I respectfully disagree with the above poster. Send the LOI especially since they asked you to. You don’t owe the other school anything.

Thats fair and I understand why you would, but this sort of logic shows how worthless LOIs are, right? What if OP comes off the WL at school A, and then is also accepted at B?

 

[Mr.Blackdoc.5]

Disagree.
He loses nothing by submitting loi to school b.
His intent was to go to school A, realistically that is likely not to happen since you can’t count on waitlist movement.
OP is hurting himself if he doesn’t submit a loi to schools requesting one. These aren’t binding in any way, shape, or form. And if he were to get off waitlist A then matriculate there, I doubt anyone at school b will be losing sleep over that, especially (not that they would care) if he were to explain the situation.
Schools just care about filling seats, not who goes.

 

[viralhiker]

Disagree.
He loses nothing by submitting loi to school b.
His intent was to go to school A, realistically that is likely not to happen since you can’t count on waitlist movement.
OP is hurting himself if he doesn’t submit a loi to schools requesting one. These aren’t binding in any way, shape, or form.

This isn't my point. I understand that LOIs are not binding. Why not submit one to every school you would want to attend and haven't heard back from?

I am speaking as someone who is in the exact same position as OP. I already submitted a LOI, I'm not going to submit another one. Mostly bc I don't want to potentially be in a position where I have to send an email saying "oh ya lol jk about that LOI thing."

 

[Mr.Blackdoc.5]

This isn't my point. I understand that LOIs are not binding. Why not submit one to every school you would want to attend and haven't heard back from?

I am speaking as someone who is in the exact same position as OP. I already submitted a LOI, I'm not going to submit another one. Mostly bc I don't want to potentially be in a position where I have to send an email saying "oh ya lol jk about that LOI thing."

I think there is a big difference between 1) submitting one to every school up front and 2) submitting one to a school that waitlists you, then submitting one to a second school that is now your top choice because you will likely not get into the first one.

You only hurt Yourself by not doing the latter. And regarding the having to inform school 2 of your decision if your accepted at 1 , they won’t care , and I don’t think it’s a lack of integrity on your end.
If OP is not accepted this cycle, and has to wonder whether that was because he did not send a loi in a situation where it is not 100% wrong to do so, they will be very upset with themselves. The schools won’t care one way or another

 

[Goro]

I sent a letter of intent to a school pre-decision and got waitlisted. I then interviewed at another school I also really like and is close to home and they told us to send LOIs right away (pre-decision) if we are going to send them. Since school A did not accept me, does my LOI still hold the same weight?

LOs are nonbinding contract. Admissions Deans treat them as lies.

There are schools that are either needy, or like seeing people grovel though.

 

[RJ McReady]

Thats fair and I understand why you would, but this sort of logic shows how worthless LOIs are, right? What if OP comes off the WL at school A, and then is also accepted at B?

If that happens well then good for him, more power to him. Then he has a nice choice of which school he picks. Having been through this process I can tell you for a fact that a letter of intent will very rarely hurt your app, but it can help depending on the school and the circumstances. Med schools have no problem charging ridiculous fees, imposing ridiculous requirements, ghosting or otherwise jerking applicants around. The applicants responsibility is to himself, not to the med school admissions committee.

 

[drstranger]

I think the LOI game this school is doing is dumb. I always thought my LOI was me applying to the school which meant I would intend to go there if accepted. But if the school told you to send it then go ahead.

 

[Banco]

Send it to the second, as school A didn't accept you.

Although that's kind of a weird thing, send an LOI immediately being requested by the school? Okay...

 

[entdreams47]

Send it to the second, as school A didn't accept you.

Although that's kind of a weird thing, send an LOI immediately being requested by the school? Okay...

Lol right? I was wondering if it was like an unspoken rule and would hurt my chances if I didn’t send anything

 

[KnightDoc]

Lol right? I was wondering if it was like an unspoken rule and would hurt my chances if I didn’t send anything

It totally depends on the school. They shouldn't be solicited or given any weight, because they are lies, except when they aren't, and there is no way for the school to know, and no real consequence when they turn out to be BS. That said, you want the A, so play the game, give them what they want, and don't think twice about it.