Why LOCI Matters

Admissions decisions are in full-swing. Plenty of decisions are out, Ivy Day is less than a week away. Most of you seniors already have some combination of denies, admits, and waitlists.

Here we go.

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After working in admissions at a couple schools, most recently Vanderbilt, and now coaching students through the admissions process, I wanted to share my take on letters of continued interest (LOCIs) in admissions. Let’s get into:

• What they are & when to write one

• How did they play into admissions for me?

• What makes a good LOCI

• The reality of the situation

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What is a LOCI & when should I write one?

A letter of continued interest is a brief letter from a waitlisted or deferred applicant to the college that waitlisted or deferred them. 

LOCIs are a chance to:

• Let the college know you’re still interested

• Update them on any new information that wasn’t available in your application

• Help them picture you as a community member on their campus

I’ll get into these points in the “how to write” them section. I emphasize community member, not just student, because most of the schools you’re applying to are social and academic residential communities. You need to be able to articulate your interest beyond the ranking of their computer science program. Shots fired, but some of y’all need to hear it <3

You should write a LOCI unless they explicitly tell you not to. Some of you are thinking “They told me not to, but shouldn’t I do it anyway?” The worst case is you annoy your AO, the best case is they don’t read it. Do you, but that’s not how I’d choose to spend my time 🤷🏻‍♂️

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How did LOCIs play into admissions for me?

In a word: minimally.

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If you’ve read my posts you know I’ll keep it real. I didn’t read every word of most LOCIs that came my way. Why? Because they generally didn’t make a difference in our process.

That’s just one school. I’m not telling you they don’t matter. At some schools they’re hugely important. And even at Vandy, there were times when they could make a difference.

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What I am telling you is that you need to keep them short and sweet. More on that in a sec.

If a school specifically asks you to write something to indicate your interest, that’s your time to shine. They’re asking for a love letter, so give them one.

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Follow the prompt. If they tell you to keep it to a certain length, do that. If they tell you to address certain components of your interest, do not skimp on that! Don’t assume that you know better than the admissions office what they want to hear. You don’t, so give them what they’re looking for.

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How to write a good LOCI

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Let’s address this by revisiting the purpose of the LOCI:

• Let the college know that you’re still interested

• Update them on any new information that wasn’t available in your application

• Help them picture you as a community member on their campus

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You let a college know you are still interested so you remain on their waitlist. Note that some schools have a form in their portal or an email you’ll need to respond to in order to remain on the waitlist. MAKE SURE their emails are getting to your inbox. I have seen students not get in because they missed an email. You hate to see it.

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Be concise and be clear. If the school you’re writing to is your number one choice, tell them that in the first paragraph. If you know with 100% certainty that you will attend if you’re admitted, tell them that in the first paragraph.

Next, let them know about your EC updates, new projects, grades… whatever cool stuff you have going on now. You probably wrote your application last fall, so you likely have something new to say.

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Which brings me to my next point, again, keep them short and sweet!

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Assume your AO will skim the letter. Make it easy for them to do that and still be impressed.

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I’m a big fan of bullet points. You might also bold or italicize the points you want to stand out.

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I’m a betting man. If you write them a five paragraph essay, my money is on it not getting fully read. As with many things in admissions, their time is limited, so your job is to make their job easier.

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Lastly, connect the dots between you and their campus. Yes, you probably did that in your supplemental essays a few months ago. Time to do it again. You might even be able to identify something related to your update section that relates to an offering on their campus. That might be a research project, organization, service opportunity, distinctive major track… or some other cool thing they have that not everyone offers.

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Takeaways / reality check

Look, no one loves getting waitlisted.

With my students, I’m a big fan of pulling out all the stops for the schools they’re most interested in. Leaving no stone unturned.

Still, do not count on waitlist schools. You need to have some surefire safeties as well.

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And don’t spend hours and hours of your life writing LOCIs. Remember, be concise and to the point. They matter, but you should be able to send them off without spending days trying to craft the perfect letter.

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By the way, plenty of schools are still accepting apps and would love to have you. So, if you’re in a bind, search for those and fire off some more applications.