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What you need to know
1. An update letter's only purpose is to provide admissions committees with new evidence that you're a stronger candidate since you submitted your application. Don't submit one if you don't have anything genuinely meaningful to share.
2. Timing matters. Most update letters are sent October-November, before interview decisions, but you can also send them out January-March to give admissions committees additional information to consider after your interview.
3. Your update letters need to be school-specific: explain what changed, why it makes you a stronger candidate at that school, and connect to their mission.
I've seen update letters help waitlisted applicants get acceptance letters more often than you’d think. Yet, they’re often treated as an afterthought or skipped entirely. After speaking with several former med school admissions officers on my team, they made it clear that that’s a mistake.
A well-crafted update letter can change how an admissions committee evaluates your candidacy and can have an impact on your admissions odds.
I break down exactly what these letters should include, when to write one, and some expert-approved examples of strong letters.
An update letter is a short email/document you send to medical schools to share any new meaningful achievements, experiences, or milestones that weren’t in your original application. The hope is that this letter helps you become a more competitive applicant in the admissions committee’s eyes.
Your medical school application tells the admissions committee who you were when and before you submitted. But the admissions cycle lasts for months. An update letter tells admissions committees what you’ve done and how you’ve grown and changed for the better since you submitted your application.
The experts I consulted for this guide stressed that the strongest updates provide new evidence that makes your candidacy stronger. These updates give the committee something meaningful to reconsider rather than simply reminding them that you’re still interested.
New research or previous research that recently resulted in a published paper is a meaningful update you should include in your update letter. List the publication in APA format and briefly explain your specific contribution to the work.
Briefly explain your role in one sentence so the admissions reviewer understands the depth of your involvement.
In our webinar on the medical school application timeline, Dr. Aryaman Gupta, a graduate of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and expert advisor at Inspira Advantage, provides his insight on what to include in update letters.
"There's a structure to these that can be really useful. You want to talk a little bit about yourself,” he says. “What are the changes you want to highlight? Is it a new publication or a new award you received? Explain why it matters. Then end the letter by expressing why you're still a great fit for the school and why you're so passionate about going there."
You should also include conference presentations and poster sessions in your letter if they weren’t already included on your application, especially if they took place at national or international meetings.
Include clinical exposure or volunteer work in your update letter only if it adds to your profile. If you started a new, sustained role, include it if you’ve been involved long enough to explain what you’ve actually done and learned. As a general guideline, wait at least six to eight weeks before updating schools about a completely new activity.
It also doesn’t necessarily have to be a completely new experience; it could just be an updated role. For instance, if you take on a leadership role within an activity you already listed on your application, you should include it to demonstrate your increase in responsibility and initiative.
On the other hand, shadowing a physician for an afternoon or going to one new volunteer shift isn’t substantial enough to update the admissions committee on.
A dramatically improved MCAT score or a strong upward trend in your GPA deserves a mention in your update letter. Any new MCAT scores will automatically be sent to your schools, so you shouldn’t just focus on the number.
Instead, use the update letter to contextualize the improvement. How did you identify your weaknesses? How did you address them? What changed in your prep and mindset? Share these reflections and what the whole process taught you.
Admissions committees don’t need updates on routine semester grades or minor GPA fluctuations.
New awards or honors earned after you submit your application are worth mentioning in an update letter.
Name the award, explain the selection criteria in one sentence, and move on. Admissions readers will recognize prestigious honors without a paragraph of explanation.
For lesser-known awards, a brief note on the recognition's competitiveness or scope provides the reviewer with enough context to understand its significance.
Every update letter should tie at least one of your new developments back to the specific school. Reference a faculty member's research that aligns with your recent publication. Mention a community health initiative at the school that mirrors your new volunteer work. Draw a direct line between your growth and their program.
Generic praise about a school's "excellent reputation" or "diverse curriculum" adds nothing. Specificity proves you researched the program and understand where you fit within it.
Get professional help from an expert with years of experience perfecting medical school update letters. Work with a counselor at Inspira Advantage to increase your odds of getting accepted this admissions cycle.
To assess whether the experience or achievement you’re planning to include in your letter is meaningful enough to share, ask yourself this question: Does this update give the admissions committee a reason to view my application differently than they did before?
If the answer is no, it isn’t meaningful enough to send an update about.
The key is having something substantive to say. That could include:
An update letter is meant to show clear progress; it’s not a way to just stay in contact with admissions committees.
I worked with my team’s former admissions officers, who’ve reviewed thousands of update letters, to come up with a few strong examples to use as inspiration.
Dear Stanford University School of Medicine Admissions Committee,
My name is Emily Nakamura (AMCAS ID: 1847293056), and I am a medical school applicant who interviewed at Stanford University School of Medicine on November 15, 2025. I would like to provide you with an update on my ongoing research, recent publications, and latest activities.
My goal is to become a skilled physician-investigator in biomedical research and patient care. Since my interview, I have continued in my position as a research assistant and have had several articles accepted in peer-reviewed publications:
Nakamura, E., Patel, R., & Zhou, L. (2026). Disparities in cardiovascular screening among uninsured populations in urban primary care settings. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 41(3), 214–222.
Nakamura, E., & Okafor, D. (2025). Community health worker interventions and hypertension management in low-income neighborhoods: A systematic review. American Journal of Public Health, 115(12), 1782–1789.
Zhou, L., Nakamura, E., & Gupta, S. (2025). Social determinants of health and emergency department utilization: A cross-sectional analysis. Health Services Research, 60(4), 891–903.
I have also begun volunteering at my local homeless shelter, where I have developed a newfound passion for health equity for underprivileged and impoverished patient populations. Working at the homeless shelter has taught me that the disparity in public health and treatment based on socioeconomic status must be addressed, and I am driven to pursue biomedical research to help reduce global human suffering.
Additionally, I trained for a semi-professional bodybuilding competition and ranked third in my region. This activity has cultivated my self-sufficiency and discipline, traits that are important to establish early on and continue for medical students and physicians.
Thank you for your time and consideration in reading this letter. I appreciate your continued interest in my candidacy at Stanford University School of Medicine.
Sincerely,
Emily Nakamura
AMCAS ID: 1847293056
Dear Perelman School of Medicine Admissions Committee,
My name is Marcus Delgado (AMCAS ID: 2039481765). I interviewed with the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania on October 3, 2025. I am writing to share recent updates regarding my clinical experience, leadership roles, and community involvement since my interview.
Since my long-term goal is to practice emergency medicine in underserved communities, I have taken on new responsibilities that deepened my clinical exposure and leadership skills.
I accepted a position as an Emergency Department Clinical Research Coordinator at Mount Sinai Hospital in January 2026. In this role, I manage a study examining triage protocols for non-English-speaking patients with acute chest pain. I oversee participant enrollment, coordinate with attending physicians on data collection, and have contributed to a manuscript that is currently in preparation for submission to Annals of Emergency Medicine.
I was also elected as the President of my university's chapter of the Student National Medical Association (SNMA). As President, I organized a health literacy workshop series in North Philadelphia that served more than 200 community members over four sessions. The workshops focused on recognizing stroke and heart attack symptoms, topics I selected based on the disproportionate rates of cardiovascular mortality in the neighborhood.
I am also proud to share that I earned my Emergency Medical Technician (EMT-B) certification in December 2025. I now volunteer 12 hours per week with a local ambulance corps. Responding to calls in real time has sharpened my ability to stay composed under pressure and make quick clinical decisions in unpredictable environments.
Thank you for your continued consideration of my application to the Perelman School of Medicine. I welcome the opportunity to contribute to Penn's mission of advancing health equity through research and community-centered care.
Sincerely,
Marcus Delgado
AMCAS ID: 2039481765
Dear David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA Admissions Committee,
My name is Priya Chandrasekaran (AMCAS ID: 3150276489), and I am a medical school applicant who submitted a secondary application to the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA in August 2025. I would like to update your committee on recent academic achievements, new clinical experiences, and research progress since my submission.
I am committed to pursuing a career in pediatric neurology with a focus on improving access to diagnostics for children in rural and low-resource settings. Several developments since my application reflect continued progress toward that goal.
I retook the MCAT in January 2026 and raised my score from a 511 to a 519 (99th percentile). My targeted preparation in the Biological and Biochemical Foundations section improved that subsection score from 126 to 131. I pursued this retake because I wanted my score to reflect my true capability in the sciences, and the improvement validates the additional six months I invested in dedicated study.
I also joined the Pediatric Neurodevelopmental Research Lab at UC San Diego as a research volunteer in November 2025. Our team investigates early biomarkers of autism spectrum disorder in infants aged 6 to 12 months using eye-tracking technology. I assist with participant screening, data coding, and literature reviews.
In my community, I began volunteering as a Spanish-language medical interpreter at a free clinic serving migrant farmworker families in the Inland Empire. Many of these families have never accessed pediatric specialty care for their children. Interpreting during visits gave me firsthand insight into how language barriers delay diagnosis and treatment for vulnerable pediatric populations.
Thank you for considering my updated qualifications. UCLA's commitment to serving the diverse communities of Los Angeles and beyond resonates deeply with my personal and professional goals. I would be honored to contribute to your medical community.
Sincerely,
Priya Chandrasekaran
AMCAS ID: 3150276489
The experts I spoke with recommended sending an update letter between January and March, especially after you’ve interviewed and are still waiting on a decision. You don’t need to be waitlisted to send one.
You can also send one before interviews, in October through November. You can send a letter if you’ve had any meaningful development since submitting your secondary application, such as a publication, award, leadership role, strong grades, or a substantially improved MCAT score.
Pre-professional advisors at Stanford Med reinforce this timing. They note that the fall window is the sweet spot between something new to share and catching admissions committees while they’re still making decisions.
Waitlisted applicants should send an update letter as soon as possible after receiving the notification. Schools re-evaluate waitlisted candidates as seats open up, and a letter with new accomplishments can push your file back to the top of the review pile.
Take a look at the video below to find out what to do if you’re waitlisted:
You submit your update letters directly to individual medical schools via their applicant portals or to the admissions office by email. You can’t submit update letters through AMCAS. However, the exact submission method varies by school, so verify the correct process before you send anything.
Many schools require you to upload your update letter directly to their secondary application portal. Log in to each school's portal and look for a section labeled:
Upload your letter as a PDF with a clear file name like "Nakamura_UpdateLetter_2026.pdf."
Depending on the portal, you may need to upload a specific file size or format.
Certain medical schools require portal submission and will ignore emailed updates entirely.
Georgetown University School of Medicine, for example, accepts only text-based updates through its online secondary portal and disregards emails or attachments sent to the admissions office.
Yale School of Medicine requires updated documents uploaded as PDFs through its secondary portal.
Sending your letter through the wrong channel at schools like these means it never reaches your file.
Schools that don't offer a portal upload option typically accept update letters by email. Send your letter to the admissions office email address listed on the school's website. Your subject line should include your full name, AMCAS ID, and the words "Application Update."
Write a brief, professional opening (two to three sentences) that introduces the attached letter. Attach the letter as a PDF.
Here's an email template for your update letter:
Subject: Application Update | [First Name] [Last Name] | AMCAS ID: [AMCAS ID]
Dear [School Name] Office of Admissions,
Please find attached an update letter with new information regarding my application. My AMCAS ID is [AMCAS ID], and I interviewed on [Date] / submitted my secondary application on [Date]. Thank you for your time and continued consideration.
Sincerely,
[First Name] [Last Name]
Not all schools allow you to submit update letters. Check the admissions FAQ page on each school's website first to find their policy. Search for terms like "update letter," "application updates," or "additional materials."
Programs usually publish specific guidelines that show you how to submit the letter, like Georgetown University School of Medicine.
You might also find their policy by reviewing any emails the school sent you after your secondary submission or interview. Admissions offices often include instructions about update letters in post-interview correspondence.
If neither source answers your question, call or email the admissions office directly. You can send a short inquiry ("Does your office prefer update letters submitted through the portal or by email?") and admissions staff should be able to provide you with a clear answer.
These letters serve a different purpose and are sent at different stages of the admissions process. Here’s a breakdown of each one:
You should only send one update letter, including any relevant new experience/achievements, to each school. You can send a second letter, a letter of intent, if you get waitlisted later in the cycle, but it will explain your continued interest in attending the school rather than actual updates.
Your update letter should be less than one page, single-spaced. Keep it factual and to the point. Share exactly what you’ve done or achieved and how it makes you a stronger candidate. Every paragraph should earn its space with concrete new information.
Yes, you can send an update letter after being waitlisted. This letter can give the committee a concrete reason to reconsider you and potentially accept you.
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