Writing a personal email or snail mail to the Adcom member?

[valleeny]

Hi,

I applied for admission to business school in February and are waiting for their call for interview after shortlisting.

In my opinion, I have done my best with the personal statements and essays. But I have average undergraduate grades and a pretty decent GMAT score just enough for the school I applied to. Nothing fantastic. The recommendation letters are okay but they aren't anything spectacular either.

Right now, I'm thinking of ways to be different and stand out a little from the crowd by doing something extra, to really give me a better chance in light of my just decent application documents. I have discovered the Director of the programme that I am applying to and I have his contacts and email. He is also one of the admission committee member. I intend to send a personal email to him, explaining to him I'm an applicant and basically just writing to him to show him that I am fully committed to joining the programme, inform of my interest in joining the school and how I can be a good fit for the programme and in the industry after graduating.

Should I send an email, or a more personalised snail mail? Do you think I should do this at all? Will this put me in good light about my being persistent and a go-getter?

I want to do everything I can to get to the interview stage at least, and I'm not confident based on my undergraduate grades alone. What do you think?

Thanks.

[money9111]

Put yourself in the adcom members position. Would you remember a candidate if you received snail mail or a personalized email? I think the latter is the best option.

Does anyone recommend sending a personalized hand written card? Thoughts?

[valleeny]

Hi

Thanks for your reply. I would remember someone who sends me a physical snail mail better than email.

[valleeny]

Most importantly is it ok to do this? Will I be deemed inappropriate, not following the rules etc. to try to gain an advantage

[money9111]

Let me apologize and rephrase my original comment because I think its confusing...

I think snail mail is better than email, but I think they get both types. I haven't gotten that far in the process yet, so I can't confirm which is better.

[hk]

Hi valleeny,

This is a very sensitive thing to do and it can go either ways. It can also backfire into you. I believe the essays and the interview are the best place to present your candidacy. Sending a personal mail can sometimes hamper your chances and might do more harm than good. Make sure you research well before you make the decision to see if the school is open to such means of communication.

ATB.

[Brett N]

First of all, I really like this idea. IMO, you should contact Adcom as soon as you are thinking about applying to business school. But since you're already past that point, I would go with both methods.

First, I would send them an email. I would make it short, conversational and with an open-ended question. The goal of this email is to get a response and shorter emails are much more likely to accomplish this goal. Then I would try to get a conversation going and ultimately try to get the Adcom on the phone to discuss your interest in the school, development in work, etc.

Next, if you do not receive a reply via email, I would send a snail mail. I would include your interests in the school and other improvements. If you did receive a response via email, I would also send a snail mail thanking him/her if she chats with you on the phone.

[money9111]

Yeah I just wouldn't go overboard with this... they're going to look at the snail mail as for as long as they look at the email... but it's more about the thought

[valleeny]

Hi All

Thanks for the inputs. It was good. Yeah it's a sticky situation. To send or not to send. Like hk said, I'm worried it might backfire with this unsolicited emails/letters. The thing here is its unsolicited and normally these things don't go very well. It can show that you are very keen or it can show that you have exceeded the norms and that you are trying to do things backdoor. I'm not sure how to go about it. Brett's idea is good but it'll take some thinking on what 'short' conversation to speak about. He's a adcom director after all and I don't want him to think I'm trying to suck up to him, while that is true, but not to put it across so obviously.

Admissions consultant or admissions committee what do you think? Will you welcome such letters.

[Brett N]

Hi Valleen,

I'd like to add more to why I think you should go for. My advice is in reference to a line I read in your first post:

"But I have average undergraduate grades and a pretty decent GMAT score just enough for the school I applied to."

This means that if you go head-to-head with most other applicants your chances of getting accepted are not great (they're not great to start out with but with weaknesses they're obviously worse). This doesn't mean you won't get accepted it just means that you can't rely just on your application (I know this mentality, because when I applied I was in a similar situation). The point is that if you don't do something extra and you have weak credentials, you're very unlikely of getting accepted.

Let's see you options:

1. You don't write the letter - You will have a pretty low chance of getting accepted because overall you're very similar to a ton of other applicants but you play it safe and did your best.

2. You write the letter and he doesn't appreciate it - If you do this, you lower your chances slightly but realistically you might not have been accepted anyways (sorry for the brutal honesty). On a side note, I don't know any schools that are going to give you a negative point for trying hard.

3. You write the letter and he likes it - you were head-to-head with a ton of other applicants, a name in a big group, but your email, conversation and personal note put you over the top since you've shown that you really want admissions. Plus, the Adcom guy grows to like you.

If you had perfect grades and a great GMAT score, I would be recommending a different course of action. This process isn't about "doing well", it's about getting accepted, which mean it's better to go for it than to play it safe. Ultimately, it would work best if you had 3 schools so that you could bank on a 1/3 success rate.

[valleeny]

Hi Brett

Good weighing of pros and cons. I am convinced I should write it and you're spot on and got the gist of it all. I'm doing all these to stand out because the grades aren't stellar. You said you were in a similar situation. How did your application go?

Now What should I write in the email. I was thinking I will recap my committment but to do that will make me repeat some points in my application essays.

[valleeny]

Anyone's got any other advise on how I should approach this letter, now that I have decided I should send it?

[jon82]

Valleeny,

If I were in your position, I would approach the question of sending an additional letter by asking myself the obvious question 'What do I want to accomplish?' The answer is you want to get admitted to the school. But more specifically, you want to demonstrate skills/interest that might not show up on paper: Drive, tact, genuine interest, language skills, communication, intelligence. So, you probably want to know how best to show this interest/these skills. A letter will show that you are interested in the school, that you can write a tactful note, but probably little else. And what would you write about? You would probably want to restate your interest in the program and you could ask some good questions, but if you send this via snail mail it would be obvious that you don't need a quick answer and might tell the adcom that you are just trying to influence the decision. It could seem desperate. Of course, if you sent an email with good questions it could look like you're serious but it might beg the question 'Why didn't he call?' And an email doesn't accurately reflect your language skills if you are a foreign applicant. If I were them, I would especially wonder why a foreign applicant sent an email in this situation instead of calling? Did they have someone else proof it b/c their language skills are mediocre? Do they really care if they get an answer?

It seems to me that a more persuasive way to accomplish your admission goal is to call the admissions office and ask to speak with whoever is in charge of your admissions packet. You could then ask a few short, good questions that reflect your interest in specifics about the program rather than make you seem eager to gain an advantage (so nothing that is a backwards way of showing off). After the conversation, THEN you could send a hand written letter thanking the adcom for their time and reinforcing your interest. You might even insert an open ended question to get a conversation going?? To me, this would demonstrate seriousness, genuine interest, good communication and tact. I think that by just sending a letter without first contacting the office, it seems a little amateurish and doesn't truly reflect your interest. Anyone can send an email and the adcom knows that it takes guts to call them. I get sweaty when I call. You want to show the adcom that they would be accepting a pro, not a bush-leaguer, and I think that the best way to do that is by calling and then writing the letter.

[chirayuvyas97]

Hello,

I met Adcom from HEC and she gave me her number mail id and asked to drop a mail to her.
In this mail I am supposed to send my CV and my post MIM goals.

I have no idea about how to start with this and how to construct this email.
You already have researched a lot on this topic your insights will be very helpful.

Thanks again.