Can anyone please explain to me what incentive a program would have to change their rank list based off of an applicant's LOI? I guess I just don't totally understand, in my mind it feels like if they've already decided the order that they are going to be ranking applicants then it wouldn't matter that much if a specific applicant told them that they'd be ranking them first. I might just be dumb but it isn't making sense in my brain haha < my PD said it probably doesn't change anything at top programs. However, if you're a particularly strong candidate and would like to go to a smaller, lesser known program, then it might make a difference. Telling Penn they are your number 1 probably changes absolutely nothing