If you applied Early Decision or Early Action to your top choice and got deferred, you are now in a specific in-between state: not rejected, not admitted, in a queue of thousands of other deferred applicants who will be read again in March. The Letter of Continued Interest (LOCI) is a one-page communication you send to admissions in January that gives them new reasons to admit you — and gives you a measurable boost from the deferred pool to the admit pool.
It is not magical. Admit rates from the deferred pool are typically 5–15% at selective schools — better than rejection, worse than the EA/ED round. But a strong LOCI can absolutely move you across the line. Here is how to write one.
When and where to send it
Send the LOCI 1–3 weeks after your deferral (mid-January at the latest). Send it through the school's admissions portal if there is a designated section for deferred applicant communications; otherwise, email it to admissions@theschool.edu and include your applicant ID and full name in the subject line.
Do not send a LOCI to schools that explicitly tell deferred applicants not to send additional materials. Some schools (Stanford, MIT in some years) have stated this; check the deferral letter you received.
The structure
One page. Single-spaced. Three paragraphs:
- Paragraph 1 (3-4 sentences): Reiterate that this school remains your first choice and you would attend if admitted. Be unambiguous. If you applied ED, say you would still attend ED if given the chance.
- Paragraph 2 (5-7 sentences): What is new since you applied. New grades from senior fall (if A's), new awards, new accomplishments in your major activity, new responsibilities. This is the main payload.
- Paragraph 3 (3-4 sentences): Why this specific school. Three or four highly specific things — a class you've added to your wishlist, a research group you've followed, a campus tradition you'd be part of. This is your supplementary 'Why Us' essay.
What to include in the 'what's new' paragraph
- Senior fall grades, if they're A's. Especially if they're in your hardest classes (5 APs all A's reads loud).
- New awards, recognitions, or competition placements since November.
- New responsibilities in major activities (elected officer, captain, founder of a sub-initiative).
- Significant new project completion (research published, app shipped, exhibition mounted).
- Significant new score (improved SAT/ACT if it's now stronger than what you submitted).
What NOT to do
- Do not pad. If nothing meaningful has happened since November, write a shorter LOCI. A weak LOCI is worse than a strong short one.
- Do not blame anyone. Not your school for being too easy/hard, not other applicants, not the admissions committee. Tone matters.
- Do not include parents, counselors, or alumni in the conversation. The LOCI is from you. Outside influence is read negatively at almost every selective school.
- Do not lie or stretch. Admissions readers are excellent at sniffing out exaggerated commitment.
- Do not send a LOCI to a school that explicitly told you not to.
- Do not send multiple LOCIs throughout the spring. One is enough.
What strong LOCIs sound like
The strongest LOCIs are short, specific, and grounded. They sound like a thoughtful update from someone the reader already knows, not a sales pitch from someone trying to start over.
An example opening line that works: "I'm writing to confirm that [School] remains my first-choice college and to share two updates since I applied in November."
An example opening line that doesn't: "I am writing this letter to express my deepest interest in [School] and to discuss why I would be a strong addition to the [School] community." Generic. Could be sent to any school. Wastes the first 30 seconds of the reader's time.
Do recommendations or supplementary materials help?
Generally no. Most selective schools cap supplementary materials and explicitly do not want additional recommendations after the application is submitted. The exception: if a recent achievement involved a coach, mentor, or supervisor who can independently corroborate it, a single brief note from them attached to your LOCI can help. Do not add multiple letters.