When is the time to send a LOI?

[Newsom]

When would be the most opportune time to send a letter of interest to a school that has not given you an interview invitation? Say school X interviews from the end of August to early december and they have already given out interview invites for themonth of August and September?

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[IHeartNerds]

I've never heard of such a thing; most LOIs are letters of intent to schools were you've applied and are waitlisted after interview ... to be honest, if you're barely making the interview cut off, I don't know how good your chances are of acceptance. The interview really isn't as big of a part as it seems -- almost everyone gets a 'good' interview score.

I didn't hear about interviews from some schools that accepted me until October, if it makes you feel any better.

edit to say i've never heard of a med school that only interviews until december. that's crazy talk.

 

[146233]

The above post has some good advice. That said, I fired off a LOI to my top choice school yesterday because the lady on the phone suggested I do it. I wasn't in the first wave of interviews and she said that, "Letters of interest show motivation and dedication to the school. All other things being equal, interview invites are most often sent to the applicant who has demonstrated strongest interest in our school."

Take that for what it's worth.

 

[dcp7]

I've never heard of such a thing; most LOIs are letters of intent to schools were you've applied and are waitlisted after interview ... to be honest, if you're barely making the interview cut off, I don't know how good your chances are of acceptance. The interview really isn't as big of a part as it seems -- almost everyone gets a 'good' interview score.

I didn't hear about interviews from some schools that accepted me until October, if it makes you feel any better.

edit to say i've never heard of a med school that only interviews until december. that's crazy talk.

All Texas schools with maybe the exception of Baylor finish interviewing by mid-December

 

[drizzt3117]

I heard that high-stat applicants are often rejected from BU pre-interview unless they send a LOI.

 

[nick_carraway]

The above post has some good advice. That said, I fired off a LOI to my top choice school yesterday because the lady on the phone suggested I do it. I wasn't in the first wave of interviews and she said that, "Letters of interest show motivation and dedication to the school. All other things being equal, interview invites are most often sent to the applicant who has demonstrated strongest interest in our school."

Take that for what it's worth.

Agreed. I've been sending out update letters to schools every 3-4 weeks. Now that I've ran out of things to say about myself until November, I'm going to send LOIs for the next batch.

I figure Zip's probably right from what I've been hearing from some young doctors who still remember the admissions process and the worst that can happen is that they don't read your letter.

 

[caprisun]

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[IHeartNerds]

1. How do you start it off? (Header at top labeled "Letter of Interest"?? Intro??)
2. How long should it be?
3. What is the message youre trying to get across?
4. Do you make any promises? (eg. I will attend if accepted)
5. Any other tips?
6. How common are LOI's?

Sending several letters of anything to multiple schools is not unethical. If accepted, you would attend there, wouldn't you? As long as you're not saying "If you accept me I will turn down Harvard to have the HONOR to study in Dayton, Wright State!" I think you're in the clear at this point in the game.

Head any letter to schools like a professional letter, with the committee name, address, school, etc, at the top (look this up as a Word template if you don't know what I mean). Don't make it more than a page 1.5 space or so; I doubt anyone will read past that. if you haven't had an interview yet, it will seem like hyperbole to say you'll attend if they accept you even at some of the best schools ... what if you visit and hate it there? fit is a very important part of med school matriculation decisions and you don't want to come across desperate, (even if you are ). According to SDN, everyone writes LOIs regardless of what the I stands for. But then again, everyone here is a bit neurotic.

I think it's funny that I didn't realize TX schools stopped interviewing in December considering I'm still officially a TX resident. oops.

 

[ilovelucy]

Can you explain a little bit about the format of a letter of interest?

I feel like I would be rewriting some of my secondaries, but if the schools think highly of it, then I guess it is worth it.

The above post has some good advice. That said, I fired off a LOI to my top choice school yesterday because the lady on the phone suggested I do it. I wasn't in the first wave of interviews and she said that, "Letters of interest show motivation and dedication to the school. All other things being equal, interview invites are most often sent to the applicant who has demonstrated strongest interest in our school."

Take that for what it's worth.

 

[Julietcf14]

I sent one to my top choice about a week ago. The essays for the school didn't ask why I was particularly interested in them, so I decided to write them a letter telling them why their program in particular was of interest to me. What all do people put in LOI's? I just wrote about their program and why I would be a good fit and told them they were my top choice.

 

[nick_carraway]

I think we are talking about two different things. Correct me if I'm wrong, but a Letter of INTENT (like college sports) is basically a non-formal committment saying that you will be at that school if they accept you. A Letter of INTEREST is just telling several schools that you are very very interested in them, making it seem as if you will go there if accepted.

With that in mind, will med schools know the difference between the two? Is sending a letter of INTEREST to several schools unethical? I'm sure that each of these letters will seem as if you are sending it to only that school and will make it seem as if you will attend there if accepted.

Either way, can an experienced veteran talk about how to write a letter of interest? I have below avg stats but am still a decent candidate and would like to help my chances any way possible.

1. How do you start it off? (Header at top labeled "Letter of Interest"?? Intro??)
2. How long should it be?
3. What is the message youre trying to get across?
4. Do you make any promises? (eg. I will attend if accepted)
5. Any other tips?
6. How common are LOI's?

I don't think that you risk confusing adcoms. Letters of interest talk about the school's programs, your compatibility with their philosophy, what makes you awesome. You can send them to as many schools as you want. Letters of intent, on the other hand, specifically contain a line somewhere in there that goes something like "I love you guys so much that if you accept me, I promise that I will withdraw from all other schools and attend yours." Without a line like that, adcoms will see your letter as simply an update to your application. And yes, you are only allowed to send letters of intent to one school.

Neither type should be more than 1 page and should be in the standard business letter format. Address, date, greeting, body, thanks, signature, enclosures (if any).

I don't know how common letters are but I would wager that most people don't write them or don't write more than one. Perseverence is key but my evidence is anecdotal. Like I said earlier, however, the worst case scenario is that your letters won't be read or they won't help. The best case scenario is that it'll help to secure your admission.

 

[154465]

Start sending them NOW! I have already sent out several letters to every school that I applied to and I'm not even verified yet. I mean God knows if I will ever want to go to Northwestern, but it makes them feel good about themselves. I heard somewhere that a lot of letters can make up for a low MCAT or GPA. Also, they count as an EC but only if they are spectacular. Good luck!

 

[bullishMD]

ahh how do i start the letter of interest!