Letters of Intent/Letter to Commit

Pre-Med & Medical School
1

I wondered what the current advice was on when to send letters of intent or even the letter to commit. I assume these are sent after interviews, but do students wait until they hear back or send in advance of a decision. I know that only one Letter to Commit to Enroll can be sent and that it is effectively binding. Just trying to discuss with my student when to send them. Thanks!

2

Are you talking undergrad or med school ?

Short of ED it’s hard to commit without an initial decision. If you are WL this might come into play. I’m talking undergrad.

3

I think this is for medical school.

@WayOutWestMom

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4

Ok I’ll just watch then. Wasn’t sure given the thread it’s in.

5

I assume it’s for medical school but not entirely sure. Hopefully we will know soon.

6

This is for Med School. Thanks. The question is if it is too early to send the letters before the decision or too late after a WL. :slight_smile:

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7

  1. Not all medical school are receptive to LOIs. Please have your child check the school’s policy. Not following directions about sending any communications to the school will have a negative impact on an application.
    That said some med schools are "needier "than others and like the ego boost of having students sending promises of undying love & fealty to the school. (Mayo and Georgetown come to mind…)

  2. Most adcomms on that other site say that LOIs have minimal effect on admission decision. Med schools already know you’re want to go there because you applied.

  3. A LOI may have some effect if a student has interviewed at school and has stats that are higher than what the school typically accepts, but the student genuinely prefers to attend the LOI school. (Example, if a student has Yale/Harvard/UWash/JHU level stats but prefers to attend a local in-state school.) Then a LOI send after an interview but before a decision has been announced may help prevent a student from getting yield protected at the lower ranked school.

  4. The only other time when a LOI may be effective is in May/June after all acceptance decisions have been rendered and the school is dipping into its wait list. Schools with unranked wait lists may be more inclined to call a student off the wait list if the student guarantees they will attend. However, this only works if the student has other acceptances and can honestly tell the LOI school, they will drop their other acceptance(s) and go there. (If the student only has waitlists or no acceptances, then the med school already knows the student will come if called off the wait list.)

In general, since LOIs are NOT binding, med school admission offices place little value on them.

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8

This is very helpful and makes sense. Thanks.

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As a FYI, I think you’re conflating LOIs and the Choose Your Medical School (CYMS) tool on AMCAS. CYMS is an enrollment management tool used by both applicants and medical schools.

Here’s an explanation on how the tool works–

EDIT: the AMCAS site requires an AMCAS registration number to access (which med applicants have)

For the rest of us, here’s a video that explains how it works –

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10

Very helpful. Thanks!