What a letter of continued interest actually is
A letter of continued interest, sometimes shortened to LOCI, is a short, additional piece of communication you send to an admissions office after being placed on a waitlist. It is not a new application and it is not a second personal statement. It exists to do one narrow job: tell the committee, in your own words, that the program is still your genuine choice, and give them any meaningful reason to believe that since a decision goes their way, they will not have wasted the offer on someone who has moved on.
Waitlists exist because admissions offices cannot know in advance exactly how many admitted students will actually enroll. A waitlist is a buffer: a pool of applicants the committee is willing to admit if the incoming class comes in under target after the first round of decisions. Being on it means the committee already believes you are qualified. What it has not yet decided is whether you are still interested, and whether admitting you would actually convert into an enrolled student. A well written letter of continued interest answers exactly that question and nothing else.
It is worth being honest about what this letter cannot do. It cannot turn a borderline application into a strong one, and it will not compensate for a weak file. What it can do is remove doubt about your interest level for an applicant the committee already considers admissible, which is precisely the population waitlisted applicants belong to.
When it is actually worth sending one
This is the single most important thing to get right, and it is also the step most applicants skip. Programs differ enormously in how they treat additional waitlist communication. Some explicitly invite it, often in the waitlist notification itself, sometimes with a specific form or portal to use. Others explicitly discourage it, stating that additional letters, calls or materials will not be reviewed and may even be viewed unfavorably as failing to follow instructions. A meaningful share of programs say nothing either way.
Before you write a single word, find and read the program's actual waitlist instructions. Check the decision letter or portal update itself, the admissions office's waitlist FAQ page if one exists, and any communication that came with the waitlist notification. If the program says not to send additional materials, do not send a letter of continued interest, no matter how good it is. Sending one after being told not to signals the opposite of what you want it to: that you either did not read the instructions or chose to ignore them. If the program explicitly invites updates, follow its stated process precisely, including any length limit, format, or submission method it specifies. If the program says nothing at all, a brief, well judged letter is generally reasonable, but keep it short and treat silence as neutral permission, not enthusiasm.
Do not assume that every waitlisted applicant is expected to send a letter. Some students are waitlisted and admitted without ever sending one. The letter is a tool for applicants who have something genuine to say and whose program allows it, not a mandatory extra step.
It also helps to check more than one source before assuming a program's policy. Some schools state their waitlist rules clearly on the admissions website but do not repeat them in the notification email, while others bury the instruction in a portal message that is easy to skim past. If you genuinely cannot find any stated policy after a reasonable search, a short, polite email to the admissions office asking whether additional materials are welcome is a reasonable and professional way to resolve the uncertainty, and it costs you nothing to ask.
What should actually go in the letter
A letter of continued interest earns its place with a small number of specific ingredients, not length. The strongest letters generally include:
- A clear, direct statement of continued interest. Say plainly that the program remains a genuine top choice. This sounds obvious, but a surprising number of drafts talk around it instead of stating it.
- A specific reason tied to that program. Generic enthusiasm, "I love your campus" or "your school has always been my dream," reads as interchangeable. A reason tied to a specific course, research group, clinical rotation, faculty member, or program feature signals that your interest is informed and real, not a form letter sent to every waitlist on your list.
- Meaningful updates since you applied. A new grade, an award, a completed project, a new role, or a relevant experience gained since submission gives the committee an actual reason to revisit your file rather than simply re-reading what they already saw.
- An enrollment commitment, if it is genuinely true. A statement that you would enroll immediately if admitted, sometimes called an enrollment commitment or a statement of intent to enroll, carries real weight with committees. It matters precisely because it is a costly signal: you are giving up the ability to negotiate with other offers, so a committee can trust that you mean it. Only include this if it is actually true. A committee that admits you off a waitlist on the strength of a stated commitment and then watches you enroll elsewhere anyway has learned something about your word for the future, and small application communities do sometimes talk.
These four elements can usually fit comfortably into a page or less. That length constraint is not arbitrary. A letter of continued interest is read quickly, often by an admissions officer moving through a stack of similar letters during a compressed decision window. Density and clarity matter more than thoroughness.
A structure that keeps the letter tight
A workable shape for a letter of continued interest, in the order it usually reads best:
| Part | What it does | Typical length |
|---|---|---|
| Opening statement | States plainly and immediately that the program remains a genuine top choice. No warm-up needed. | 1 to 2 sentences |
| Specific reason | Names a concrete reason tied to that program specifically, not generic enthusiasm. | 1 to 2 sentences |
| Meaningful update | Shares a genuine, new development since applying, stated factually rather than dramatized. | 1 to 3 sentences |
| Enrollment commitment | If genuinely true, states you would enroll immediately if admitted. | 1 sentence |
| Close | Thanks the committee briefly and confirms your continued availability, without repeating what was already said. | 1 to 2 sentences |
Following this shape naturally keeps the letter to a page or less, because each part earns a small, specific amount of space and none of them invites elaboration. A letter that starts wandering usually does so because one of these parts, most often the update, has been stretched to cover information that is not actually new.
What to leave out
Just as important as what to include is knowing what to cut. A few things weaken a letter of continued interest reliably:
- Padding the letter with information that is not a genuine update. Restating an activity or accomplishment the committee already saw in your original application adds length without adding information.
- Repeating the content of your original personal statement or supplemental essays. The committee has already read those. A letter that retells the same story again wastes the one advantage this letter has: it is new.
- An overly long letter. A page or less is the norm at most programs that accept these letters at all. A multi-page letter reads as not understanding the genre, and it is less likely to be read in full.
- Apologizing for the waitlist, or writing as if being waitlisted was a mistake the committee should correct. The tone should be forward looking, not aggrieved.
- Vague enthusiasm with no specific content behind it. "I can't stop thinking about your program" says nothing a committee can act on.
The tone that actually works
Admissions officers read a large number of these letters during waitlist season, and they can tell the difference between a letter that is confident and specific and one that is desperate or generic. The tone that lands best is warm, direct, and grounded in specifics: it reads like someone who has thought carefully about this particular program and is telling the committee something true, not like someone pleading for a reversal.
Avoid language that suggests panic or excessive pressure, such as repeated statements about how devastated you would be, or how this is your only option. That kind of pressure does not move a committee, and it can read as immature. The letter that works best sounds like a confident, specific reaffirmation from someone the committee would be glad to have, not a request for pity.
An example: from generic to specific
I am writing to ask you to please reconsider my application. Your school has always been my dream, and I would be so grateful for the chance to attend. I know I would fit in perfectly and I hope you will give me another look. Thank you so much for your time and consideration.
I am writing to reaffirm that your program remains my first choice, and to share one update since I applied. Last month I completed an independent research project on urban water access that I designed after taking an online seminar taught by Professor Alvarez, whose water policy course I hope to take in my first year. If admitted, I would enroll without hesitation.
The first version could be sent to any school on the applicant's list without changing a word. The second names a specific faculty member, a specific course, and a concrete update, and states a real enrollment commitment. A committee reading the second version has something new and specific to weigh.
Common mistakes
- Sending a letter to a program that explicitly asks applicants not to submit additional materials after being waitlisted. This is the single most damaging mistake on this list, because it undoes any goodwill the letter's content might otherwise have earned.
- Including an "update" that is not actually new or meaningful, just restated from the original application in slightly different words. A reader who already reviewed your file will notice immediately.
- Never actually stating, in plain language, that the program is still a genuine top choice. This is the one thing the letter most needs to establish, and it is easy to imply without ever saying directly, leaving the reader to guess at your intent.
- Claiming an enrollment commitment that is not true. If you are still weighing other offers, say so honestly rather than overstating your certainty, since an admissions office that admits you on the strength of a commitment and later sees you enroll elsewhere has reason to remember it.
- Writing at essay length when a page or less is the norm, or repeating content from the original personal statement. Length signals uncertainty about what the letter is for, not enthusiasm.
- Sending the letter to the wrong recipient or through the wrong channel, such as a general inbox when the program specified a named regional officer or a dedicated portal upload.
Timing and format
Send the letter reasonably promptly after receiving waitlist notification, rather than waiting weeks. Waitlist decisions can move quickly once a program has a clearer sense of its incoming class, and a letter that arrives after spots have already been filled cannot help you. That said, if you are including a genuine update, such as a final grade or a recently completed project, it is reasonable to wait the short amount of time needed to make that update real rather than sending an empty placeholder early.
Always follow whatever submission method the program specifies. Some programs want the letter through an applicant portal, others want it emailed to a specific admissions address, and some want it addressed to a named regional admissions officer rather than a general inbox. Sending it through the wrong channel, or to the wrong recipient, can mean it is never actually reviewed by the person making the decision. If no method is specified, a professional email to the general admissions office, with a clear subject line identifying your name and application, is a reasonable default.
After you send it
Once the letter is sent, resist the urge to follow up repeatedly or to send additional emails checking on its status. Admissions offices generally review waitlist files on their own timeline, which can range from a few days to several weeks depending on how quickly the incoming class fills. A single, well written letter has done its job. Repeated contact after that point tends to read as pressure rather than continued interest, and it can work against you rather than for you.
It is reasonable to continue treating the program as a live option in the meantime: keep any required deposits at other schools current so you are not forced into a decision you regret, and continue confirming your place on the waitlist through whatever simple mechanism the program uses, if one is required. Beyond that, the most productive thing you can do while waiting is nothing further, unless the program itself reaches out asking for more.
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