Insider Medical Admissions: Letters of Intent: What They Should Include

Friday, February 6, 2009

Letters of Intent: What They Should Include

A few applicants have emailed me asking me how to write a letter of intent (LOI), whose goal is to get the attention of a medical school and get off the wait list. Here are my recommendations:

1. Keep it short. More than one page will very likely be left unread.
2. Keep it formal.
3. Clarify your enthusiasm. If the school is your number choice say so.
4. Summarize your accomplishments (briefly) and what makes you a distinctive candidate.
5. Update your application.

I have helped numerous clients with LOIs and am, of course, always available for editing assistance: InsiderMedicalAdmissions.com .

About Me

Years of candidate selection at Harvard taught me what characteristics comprise a desirable applicant and how even bright candidates make mistakes that undermine their admissions success. I am a practicing Emergency Physician with nine years of experience training medical students, residents and fellows. I won three teaching and mentorship awards while at Harvard. Please see Insider Medical Admissions for the full array of personalized services I offer to clients applying to medical school, residency, fellowship and post baccalaureate programs.

Dr. Finkel thanks David Presser, MD, MPH for his contributions to the content of her blog entries. Dr. Presser is a practicing Emergency Physician who has written several primers for applicants to medical school and Emergency Medicine residency. Dr. Presser is a graduate of Stanford University, UCSF Medical School, the UCLA/Olive View-UCLA Emergency Medicine Residency Program and the Harvard School of Public Health.

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