You got deferred. Or waitlisted. And now someone’s telling you to write a “Letter of Continued Interest.” Great. One more thing to stress about. Here’s what you actually need to know.
What is a LOCI
It’s a concise updates that tie your recent experience into a more compelling ‘why us’ for admissions. If you’re writing more than 350-500 words, you’re doing it wrong.
Should You Even Write One?
It depends.
A LOCI can help at the margins if you were genuinely close in the first review. A LOCI will not save you if your grades were weak, your essays were generic, or your application was missing something fundamental. This isn’t a Hail Mary. It’s a small nudge for people who were already competitive.
Here’s the rule: If admissions reopens your file for 60 seconds, what’s the single best reason they should do that? If you don’t have a good answer, don’t send the LOCI.
With that in mind, you should only be writing a LOCI if you actually have meaningful updates from the last few months. A new small award and a few extra hours of volunteering? Won’t cut it.
What Should Actually Go in a LOCI
I’ve seen three students write really effective LOCIs this year. Here’s what they did differently.
Student One had been deferred from a school known for its leadership development. So, she focused her LOCI on how she’d spent the last few months stepping into leadership initiatives that actually required managing people and making decisions. Then she connected that growth directly to the school’s leadership programming. Not vague stuff like “I’m excited about the leadership opportunities.” Specific clubs, specific mentorship programs, specific ways the school’s structure would build on what she’d started.
Student Two was deferred at a research-heavy financial institution. He’d been doing finance internships, but the key was how he framed it. He didn’t just say “I did three finance internships and now I like finance more.” He talked about how those experiences deepened his interest in research-driven finance. Then he connected that to the school’s research centers and specific opportunities to do this financial research.
Student Three got deferred from a school that prides itself on institutional strength and civic infrastructure. His LOCI showed how the last few months had clarified his interest in institutional design, then connected that directly to the school’s programs around infrastructure-building. Again, not abstract. Specific teams, specific courses, specific research groups.
They all followed the same structure: “Here’s what I’ve been doing. Here’s how it’s clarified my interests. Here’s exactly how your school fits that.”
How to Actually Write Your Own
Here’s the structure. Keep it short.
Part 1 — Thank them and reaffirm interest.
Be direct. “Thank you for your continued consideration. [School] remains my top choice, and I wanted to update you on my work since applying.”
Part 2 — New updates.
Two to four concrete things. Not “I’ve been reflecting on my goals.” Instead, new awards, research milestones, leadership promotions, major projects. But this isn’t a list – make sure every update is coupled with a takeaway. Not just what you did, but how you did it, and most importantly, if it clarified why you’re doing it.
Part 3 — Connect to the school (specifically).
This is where students mess up. They say “I’m really excited about your strong economics program” or “I love how collaborative your campus is.” That’s useless. Be specific. Instead of “I like collaborative finance,” say “I’m particularly drawn to the Fintech Lab where I’ll work in small teams to build our own startups .” Instead of “I like applied math,” say “I’m excited about how the Applied Math track bridges pure theory and computational modeling, especially through the Data Science First-Year Initiative.”
Closing — Be polite and restrained.
“Thank you again for your time and consideration. I look forward to the possibility of contributing to [School’s] community.” Done. No pressure. No desperation. No “I’ll do anything to attend.”
In Summary?
A strong LOCI does one thing well: it gives admissions a clear reason to reconsider your file. When you can answer that question concretely, with real updates and specific fit, you have something worth sending.