When to send letter of interest?

[working_hard1]

I am an ORM, 511 MCAT, 3.3 BCPM, 3.7 AO applicant from a T-20 private school who submitted all their secondaries between 7/2/21 and 7/31/21. I applied for both MD and MD/PhD programs. I have not yet received any interview invites, not even from my state school. I was considering sending a letter of interest to my state school since that's where I'd love to end up. At what point in the cycle should I send a letter of interest, and any thoughts on a subject line for the email? Any advice on sending letters of interest would be greatly appreciated!

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[gyngyn]

It's way too early. You haven't even been interviewed yet.

 

[LizzyM]

It's way too early. You haven't even been interviewed yet.

On the other hand, sometimes a up-date indicating continued interest is the nudge the dean of admissions needs to make an interview invite. I'd say do it on October 1.

 

[mangowolf]

would it be appropriate to send updates to all schools we have not received IIs from on October 1? for schools we have interviewed at, when is a good time post-II to send updates/letters of intent?

 

[KnightDoc]

On the other hand, sometimes a up-date indicating continued interest is the nudge the dean of admissions needs to make an interview invite. I'd say do it on October 1.

Is it? I understand updates are appropriate whenever you have something significant to add, although a few schools explicitly tell us they will not accept updates prior to an interview.

OTOH, I was always under the impression, given the significant culling of the herd pre-II, that letters of interest or intent were 1,000% meaningless prior to an expression of interest from the school as indicated by an II. A school even considering such a letter implies it believes everyone else going to the trouble of writing essays and paying fees is just doing so for laughs, and that the only serious people among those who have not received an II are those who follow up with letters of interest. Otherwise, why give the nudge to the most nervous or desperate rather than the most qualified or best fit?

Is this not true, and are you suggesting adcoms would actually be receptive to such letters pre-II?

 

[LizzyM]

Is it? I understand updates are appropriate whenever you have something significant to add, although a few schools explicitly tell us they will not accept updates prior to an interview.

OTOH, I was always under the impression, given the significant culling of the herd pre-II, that letters of interest or intent were 1,000% meaningless prior to an expression of interest from the school as indicated by an II. A school even considering such a letter implies it believes everyone else going to the trouble of writing essays and paying fees is just doing so for laughs, and that the only serious people among those who have not received an II are those who follow up with letters of interest. Otherwise, why give the nudge to the most nervous or desperate rather than the most qualified or best fit?

Is this not true, and are you suggesting adcoms would actually be receptive to such letters pre-II?

I thought as you do until I saw evidence to the contrary in the 2020-2021 cycle. Times change, staff and deans change.

If we have 1000 applicants who are "strong" and "should be interviewed" how do we whittle it down to 750? Some get invited early in the cycle and then we are sitting on 800 terrific candidates and only 550 slots left. Then we are down to 600 very strong candidates and 350 slots left. At some point, getting a letter might put someone in the "we just don't have room for everyone" pile to the "let's invite during the last 3 weeks of the cycle" pile.

 

[gyngyn]

On the other hand, sometimes a up-date indicating continued interest is the nudge the dean of admissions needs to make an interview invite.

If OP is over-qualified for schools from which they have not heard back, October is a reasonable date.
It's hard to picture that they are over-qualified with those stats for MD/PhD, but if they are, October (or November) isn't an unreasonable date.

 

[KnightDoc]

If OP is over-qualified for schools from which they have not heard back, October is a reasonable date.
It's hard to picture that they are over-qualified with those stats for MD/PhD, but if they are, October (or November) isn't an unreasonable date.

I guess the question then becomes how are we supposed to be able to make an objective determination as to whether or not we are over qualified? Is it above the median in stats, even though half the class is below and reviews are holistic, everywhere?

TBH, I fell in love with the WARS system the moment I stumbled upon it, and have spent the past three years struggling with how to accurately rate my EC experiences, which really is the key to the value and accuracy of the tool. And then, of course, if we are truly over qualified at some of these schools, why wouldn't we have heard from any of them by October?

We all know that tons of applicants with above average stats and below average ECs are rejected every year. Stat medians are published, but ECs are subjective. So, again, how do we know whether or not we are over qualified? 🙂

 

[Goro]

I am an ORM, 511 MCAT, 3.3 BCPM, 3.7 AO applicant from a T-20 private school who submitted all their secondaries between 7/2/21 and 7/31/21. I applied for both MD and MD/PhD programs. I have not yet received any interview invites, not even from my state school. I was considering sending a letter of interest to my state school since that's where I'd love to end up. At what point in the cycle should I send a letter of interest, and any thoughts on a subject line for the email? Any advice on sending letters of interest would be greatly appreciated!

Most Admissions Deans treat them as lies.

 

[ob_dc22]

I would wait until at least October. I was finalized late July, early august last year and sent updates/LOIs the first week of December. I received two ii from two of those schools the following week and ended up matriculating to one of those two. It’s a very long year and it’s hardly been much time, try to find things to distract your mind while you wait

 

[LizzyM]

I guess the question then becomes how are we supposed to be able to make an objective determination as to whether or not we are over qualified? Is it above the median in stats, even though half the class is below and reviews are holistic, everywhere?

TBH, I fell in love with the WARS system the moment I stumbled upon it, and have spent the past three years struggling with how to accurately rate my EC experiences, which really is the key to the value and accuracy of the tool. And then, of course, if we are truly over qualified at some of these schools, why wouldn't we have heard from any of them by October?

We all know that tons of applicants with above average stats and below average ECs are rejected every year. Stat medians are published, but ECs are subjective. So, again, how do we know whether or not we are over qualified? 🙂

Overqualified is more of an issue for the private mid-tiers and lower tier publics who are OOS friendly (and this goes double if they are OOS friendly and dreadfully expensive for OOS students). In my opinon, "overqualified" mostly pertains to stats. The expectation is that someone with a 3.96/520 will have plenty of interviews and offers such that they aren't going to be accepting an offer from Vermont, Albany Medical College, or NYMedical College when Columbia, Cornell and Mt. Sinai come calling. So, some schools will make interview invitations to applicants who they see as being "in their league" rather than expecting they can attract some superstars. Then someone comes along who really wants to attend one of those schools to be closer to family and to make more of a focus on family medicine or rural health care or whatever.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

does sending a letter of interest really make a difference given the fact that there are far many more interested applicants than available seats. Is yield a component of USNWP rankings. I understand the concept at the the undergraduate level (ED/SCEA), but in medical school admissions there are really so few seats. If I recall correctly, Harvard’s freshman class each year is larger than all the T20 M1s combined.

 

[LizzyM]

does sending a letter of interest really make a difference given the fact that there are far many more interested applicants than available seats. Is yield a component of USNWP rankings. I understand the concept at the the undergraduate level (ED/SCEA), but in medical school admissions there are really so few seats. If I recall correctly, Harvard’s freshman class each year is larger than all the T20 M1s combined.

At this point, we're not talking about offers of admission but interviews. Most schools interview far more candidates than they expect to make offers to and many make far more offers than they have seats (the multiplier is 2, 3 or even 3.5). The exceptions may be the tip top (and even they are competing among themselves -- someone may turn down Stanford and Hopkins for Harvard while someone else turns down Columbia and Harvard for Stanford and so on) and in the public schools that are not OOS friendly and that may be limited in the number of offers they can make so as not to over enroll.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

At this point, we're not talking about offers of admission but interviews. Most schools interview far more candidates than they expect to make offers to and many make far more offers than they have seats (the multiplier is 2, 3 or even 3.5). The exceptions may be the tip top (and even they are competing among themselves -- someone may turn down Stanford and Hopkins for Harvard wall someone else turns down Columbia and Harvard for Stanford and so on) and in the public schools that are not OOS friendly and that may be limited in the number of offers they can make so as not to over enroll.

How do schools like say Pitt, Cwru, Mt. Sinai that are undoubtedly elite but less likely to win HYPSN (penn and NYU instead of Princeton and MIT) manage volume to avoid over-allocating interview resources to very top applicants.

I know that HYP admissions offices used to talk extensively and it was therefore common for applicants to be accepted to one and waitlisted at the other two. To what extent does this still happen? I remember reading about an applicant on here from a few cycles ago who had like 30+ IIs. Out of the ~20 or so he/she attended, only 4 led to acceptances and the rest were rejections or waitlists. This rate deviates far enough from the average II to A conversion that one can only think external forces had some sort of impact.

 

[KnightDoc]

How do schools like say Pitt, Cwru, Mt. Sinai that are undoubtedly elite but less likely to win HYPSN (penn and NYU instead of Princeton and MIT) manage volume to avoid over-allocating interview resources to very top applicants.

I know that HYP admissions offices used to talk extensively and it was therefore common for applicants to be accepted to one and waitlisted at the other two. To what extent does this still happen? I remember reading about an applicant on here from a few cycles ago who had like 30+ IIs. Out of the ~20 or so he/she attended, only 4 led to acceptances and the rest were rejections or waitlists. This rate deviates far enough from the average II to A conversion that one can only think external forces had some sort of impact.

Whatever might have happened in the past, collusion is illegal, and schools talking among themselves, leading to fewer offers to certain candidates and less likelihood of price competition, is against the law, even if some folks think these schools can do anything they want with impunity.

Fear of litigation over this very thing is the big reason schools no longer have access to a Multiple Acceptance Report or National Acceptance Report. Nowadays, if anyone ever discovered schools discussing specific candidates at all with each other, let alone extensively, you can be certain litigation would follow, and you can be sure all the PR flacks and high priced legal talent in the world would not shield the schools from the real world consequences of limiting choice for applicants, and price competition among themselves, by deciding who gets to accept which highly attractive candidate and who has to wait list them.

 

[LizzyM]

The schools, I think, talk to themselves rather than to one another. You look at a candidate to was born in Boston, prepped in Connecticut, did undergrad in Maine, are they really considering UChicago, as good a school as it is when in all likelihood they'll have offers from Harvard (one parent went there), Yale (other parent went there) or perhaps their state school because it is less expensive? School looks at the application and says, "let's not waste an interview invitation (or an offer) on this one; they aren't coming here."

Now, if the applicant sends a letter saying, "my significant other has been admitted to law school in Chicago and I am very much hoping to have the opportunity to be in Chicago for medical school and UChicago is my first choice for that reason as well as for its....." then the applicant might get an interview offer.

 

[gyngyn]

I guess the question then becomes how are we supposed to be able to make an objective determination as to whether or not we are over qualified?

I'm talking about stats.

 

[Goro]

How do schools like say Pitt, Cwru, Mt. Sinai that are undoubtedly elite but less likely to win HYPSN (penn and NYU instead of Princeton and MIT) manage volume to avoid over-allocating interview resources to very top applicants.

It's a Black Art known only to all Admissions Deans. They all have similar problems.