update letters
Updated December 28, 2020
.png)
It’s that time of the year! Over the past few weeks, many friends going through the current application cycle have reached out to me about whether they should write an update letter, letter of interest, or letter of intent. There’s a lot of information out there about these three different types of correspondence, so do some quick Googling if you’ve never heard these words and then come back to read this one-pager! Just a reminder that the advice below is simply my personal opinions based on my own 2019-2020 cycle, so take what I say with a grain of salt!
​
Here’s my hot take: If you’re not going to send a letter of intent, just send an update letter.
​
The sole purpose of a letter of interest is continued communication, so you might as well take the opportunity to pitch yourself to the school too by writing an update letter! A good update letter will show clear interest, and it doesn’t leave the admission committee wondering why you didn’t send a letter of intent.
Tips
Many people, including myself, always drag their feet on sending update letters. Just send it !!! At my very first interview, we were informed that the committee meetings to discuss our applications would occur at the end of that very week, so we needed to send any updates that same day. It was super stressful trying to crank out a polished update letter after a long day of interviewing. Luckily, I was staying in the city for an extra day, but I can’t imagine trying to do that if I were traveling as well.
Moral of the story: Don’t wait to send update letters until after your interview. If you have already interviewed or can’t send the update letter in advance, send your updates as soon as you have them. Who knows how many times they’ll think about you after that first committee meeting, so try to make sure they already have all the important information by then. Bring your A-game to that first decision!
The reason why people drag their feet is because they’re worried that they don’t have enough to include to make it a substantial letter. Again, just send it !!! If you talk about how your updates connect to the school, I promise you will fill up that one-page letter super quickly. Honestly, anything can be a good update, especially if it helps explain why you would be a good fit for that institution.
​
Sometimes the explanation or connection is more important than the actual update, but below are some classic update examples:
Research
Publications, abstracts, presentations (even if it’s at your departmental resident research day), posters, leading a new project/study
Jobs + internships
New positions, promotions, completion of major projects (especially if you were leading them)
Leadership
Positions
Make sure to briefly explain the responsibilities of your role! They might not know what those are just from the title!
format
(This is just how I did it! Never go past one-page!)
[Date]
Dear Members of the [insert school here] Admissions Committee,
I am writing to update my application to the [insert school here], as well as highlight a few projects that I hope will enhance my candidacy for [insert school here]. These projects include [list what updates you’re including real quick].
[Always put the more impressive/important/relevant-to-that-institution update first!]
[I had only two major updates in my letter, so I used the second body paragraph for the second update. I think two is a good number of updates because you can explain each thoroughly and still have room for your connection/interest paragraph.]
[I used the next paragraph to tie my updates to the school and talk about how I can continue doing similar work at their institution. This section can function like a letter of interest.]
Thank you again for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing back from [insert school here].
Respectfully,
[insert name]
AAMC ID: [insert number]
sai pinni
Hometown: St. Louis, MO
Medical School: Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
Year: M1