Columbus is pretty boring, not gonna lie lol, but our rotations are overall significantly more chill than on other campuses! Whereas students had to come in around 4 a.m. on their surgery rotation in Savannah, for example, I never had to come in earlier than 6:45, and I had numerous days where I was done for the day by noon. I really like the smaller campus feel and how we get more one-on-one time with attendings because there aren't as many residents here as well. I'm really glad I'm doing my rotations here even though Columbus isn't the most fun town.
I honestly don't know the answers to these questions, sorry! I've definitely heard of people matching into big name programs, but I'm not sure how common this is since I'm not really someone who cares about matching into a prestigious program and thus don't really pay much attention to the matter. I'm sorry, I know that's not at all helpful lol.
I sent a letter of intent the first cycle I applied and never came off the waitlist. I didn't send one the second time and did. lol. N=1, but I didn't get the impression that a letter of intent has much, if any, impact on an applicant's chances of coming off the waitlist.