eSignature Medical School Letter Made Easy

E signature medical school letter

[Music] if you're applying to medical school you may have heard of something called a letter of intent so today I'd like to demystify this document a little bit for you tell you what its purpose is and how you can use it strategically to help maximize your chances of admission first hi my name is dr. Sarah Cleve and I'm an admissions expert at so what is a letter of intent this is a letter that specifically states that you will accept an offer of admission from a particular school if one is extended to you over and above any other schools to which you've applied or at which you have interviewed this is one single letter sent to one single school only one school your top choice you can't send letters of intent to multiple schools this is one particular document for one particular purpose so after you've applied and hopefully going through the interview cycle usually around a month after interviews and especially if you've been wait-listed at your top choice school you can write that school a letter of intent this letter is meant to declare that this school is your number one choice so this has to be sincere and the reasoning behind it has to be clear this is a concise document written a little bit later into the admissions season after you've interviewed at multiple schools if you've had the opportunity to interview at multiple schools so that you can demonstrate that you've legitimately considered all of the options available to you and that you are certain that this school is the one for you so this should be a well-thought-out and formal letter it's not an email that you can just type up really quickly and send off you need to ensure that it is formal grammatically impeccable that you've spelled everyone's names correctly and that it's a really polished final product before sending it off it should be one Paige no longer than that and generally addressed to either the Dean of Admissions or Director of Admissions at the school that you're applying to and that is your top choice so you'll need to look up this information to ensure that your letter is addressed appropriately you don't want to send this letter to the entire admissions committee you don't want to send it to the people who interviewed you you want to write this letter to the person who's making the decisions about acceptance offers you might have to do some research online or even make a few phone calls to the school to figure out who it is that you need to write to in this case but once you confirm that information you'll have the info that you need to write this letter and direct it effectively you can if you want CC and interviewer if there was an interviewer that you met with that you felt you had a particularly good vibe with but that is is optional and there are sort of conflicting opinions as to whether you should do this or not if you really felt like you clicked with an interviewer though and you have their contact information you can see see them in terms of the general structure of this letter the opening should be a formal greeting using the address ease full name and title so for example dear dr. so-and-so comma Director of Admissions comma XYZ University your first paragraph should begin by introducing yourself by name as a current applicant of your specific program as well as the date of your interview so that they know just who you are and why you're writing them explain your reason for writing which is to establish that this school this program is your top choice to remind them of why you feel you are a good fit for the program and to offer any updates on accomplishments since the time of submitting your application if that has if that's something that's applicable to you if you've recently got a paper accepted at a journal or something like that and you want to give them an update you can do that in this first paragraph you need to clearly and sincerely state that if you are given an offer of acceptance that you will attend this school if you've received another offer or even multiple offers you can also clearly state that even though you've been accepted elsewhere their school remains your top choice and that you will attend their school if that offer of admission is extended to you your second paragraph should be a discussion of your reasoning why you're choosing this school as your top preferred school and I don't just mean that in the generic sense not just because it's prestigious or something like that but what aspects of the program of the curriculum of the research opportunities or other initiatives particularly stand out for you and why are these central to your decision to send this letter of intent is there something about the school's mission vision and values that you find particularly meaningful for example do they prioritize global health and that's something that really appeals to you do they emphasize clinical training in a way that appeals to you in ways that other programs don't if any of that is the case say so and say so really clearly and specifically they want to see that you've done your homework as it were that you have really seriously considered again not just the prestige of the university or something like that but the specifics of the program and why that is a good fit for you your learning needs your core values and that sort of thing you should also demonstrate why in light of all of this you are a standout candidate for this school and discuss what you would uniquely contribute to their campus community if you have a third paragraph that's where you can provide any updates on your application or since your interview or give information on upcoming plans that you didn't have in place at the time that you applied so again if you have a new publication or one that's about to be released if you've had any acknowledgments or accomplishments in school work volunteering etc if there's anything at all that's happened since they last reviewed your candidacy that you're just dying for them to know tell them here and then in closing reiterate your interests offer sincere thanks for their taking the time to review this letter you are sort of asking a favor of them and sending the letter which is asking them to spend their time which they don't have a lot of to review what you've written and then close professionally with something like sincerely all the best or or some other professional closing in terms of practicals when sending this you can type your message into an email or attach it as a PDF so that all the formatting starett stays where you want it ensure that you don't use a specialized format like pages make sure that it's an attachment type than any one that anyone can open people who use pcs can't open pages documents I know this from many struggles with students over the years and make sure that in the subject line you include your full name followed by letter of intent make sure that you again I mentioned this earlier but to emphasize include the date of your interview at some point in your letter again usually in that first paragraph and if possible the names of those with whom you interviewed if you did MMI or certain kinds of panel interview that won't be possible but if it is possible that could be useful and lastly if you're a United States applicant under your name and the closing after you've signed off include your AAMC ID number this will make sure that they won't confuse you with anyone else there's no chance of that happening now just a few final things you should not send letters of intent to multiple schools I cannot say that clearly enough medical schools want students who are eager to attend and expressing your particular enthusiasm and the priority that you assign to a specific program will go a long way they will absolutely take this into consideration as they're making their final admissions decisions but this expression must be genuine on your part you cannot tell all the schools to which you have applied that they are your top choice clearly that isn't the case it's dishonest it's unethical and it'll make for a good deal of awkwardness if you are given multiple offers a letter of intent isn't a legally binding agreement but it is a promise so you need to make sure that you stand behind your word another thing don't send a letter if you haven't been invited to an interview and don't send a letter until you have interviewed if you've been given that invitation if you haven't actually had the opportunity to sit down with an interviewer to visit campus then a letter of intent can come off as disingenuous if there's anything from the school indicating that they don't want ongoing communications or updates from their applicants then you should also not send a letter this is quite rare but just make sure that you go through any communications or emails that you've received from them over time just to ensure that there's nothing that specifically six states don't communicate with us we don't want updates we don't want letters again quite rare but you don't want to send something like this if they've specifically told you not to again though an honest letter of intent absolutely can influence your chances of getting in they want students who are enthusiastic about being there and so your letter should be persuasive it should be heartfelt it should be completely genuine if you have an advisor a professor or research supervisor or someone like that who's also willing to either call or write on your behalf to emphasize that you are a good fit for their program their school that would also be helpful again this is optional but it would just add another lair to their consideration of your application so I hope you enjoyed this video and that it was helpful if so please do go ahead like it share it with a friend who might benefit from it be sure to subscribe to our channel on youtube so you don't miss any great videos like this one follow us on Facebook look for us on a variety of other social media platforms including Instagram if you'd like us to help you click the link that should appear either above or below this video to see our programs and schedule your free initial consultation we'll set you up with one of our admissions experts to answer any questions you might have and get you started on your preparations we have programs to suit any of your needs and we're always happy to work with you to determine which plan is going to support you and your goals most effectively as ever thank you so very much for your time take good care and I'll see you next time