Table of Contents:

1. What is a LOCI?
2. Why write a LOCI?
3. Why do law schools waitlist people?
4. What makes an effective law school LOCI?
5. What schools should I write a LOCI for?
6. How to write a law school letter of continued interest.
7. When is it appropriate to send a letter of continued interest? 
8. How should I format my letter of continued interest?
9. How long should my letter of continued interest be?
10. Related Articles

What is a LOCI?

A Letter of Continued Interest, or LOCI for short, is a letter that you send to schools that have waitlisted you. A LOCI makes it clear to the admissions committee that you are still interested in attending their school, and ensures that they don’t remove you from the waitlist. A LOCI can also serve as a natural way to update the admissions committee on any relevant update in your application file. 

Why write a LOCI?

Getting waitlisted is rough. You probably interviewed at a law school (or a bunch) and waited and waited for good news. Instead you got put on the waitlist. 

If you've been waitlisted by your top choice law school, you are probably feeling disappointed. The process of applying to law school can be daunting, and waiting to hear back from schools can be exhausting. However, being waitlisted is far from the end of the story. It certainly doesn't mean you're less qualified to attend than other candidates. 

The intent of writing a LOCI is to tell the admission committee that you are still interested in their program, and if they are going to someone off the waitlist, that it should be you. 

Why do law schools waitlist people?

No one knows exactly how admissions committees make the decision of who to waitlist except for the admission committee that made the decision. 

Some top programs will waitlist competitive candidates because they assume those candidates will get into other law schools, and want to maximize yield. Yield is the percent of students that are offered admission that end up accepting.

If you're wondering how to maximize your chances of being accepted off the waitlist, sending a strong letter of continued interest can go a long way. So, if you are waitlisted and committed to attending the school, craft a letter of continued interest to the admissions committee. 

What makes an effective law school LOCI?

Your letter should be earnest and highlight any new accomplishments since you applied. Submitting a letter of continued interest is like putting all your cards on the table--while there is no guarantee of admission, it is a powerful way to signal to the admissions committee that you would be an excellent student given the chance. However, if nothing significant has changed since you applied, don’t make things up or exaggerate. Clearly express your continued interest in attending the school, tell the school you will absolutely attend if given the chance, and leave it at that.

What schools should I write a LOCI for?

While you could certainly write letters of continued interest to every school you’ve been waitlisted at, we don’t recommend it. A letter of continued interest does the most good for you if you honestly feel that the program is one of your top choices, if not your ultimate top choice. 

Don’t waste your time, or the admissions committee’s, by sending a disingenuous letter. 

To determine where to send a letter of continued interest, start by evaluating your options. Before deciding to write a letter of continued interest, you should consider any acceptances, rejections, or other waitlist notifications. That way, you can assess whether or not it’s advantageous to send a letter of continued interest to a given law school.

Let’s take a look at a theoretical applicant. Your situation might be different, and it is important to make the decision that is right for you. The important thing is to make the letter genuine and ensure that it is properly formatted e.g. don’t send a letter that says ‘Dear Notre Dame Admissions Committee’ to Boston College Law School. 

Our example student, Jane, has a 167 LSAT score and a 3.99 GPA.

Jane applied to: 

Jane got a full ride to Northeastern so that is where she plans to go. In this scenario, all the schools that Jane got waitlisted at are higher ranked by USNews than Northeastern. In theory, Jane could send LOCIs to all the schools that waitlisted her. However, Jane needs to consider if she actually wants to go to BC or UNC over a full ride at Northeastern. 

After thinking about it, Jane decides that a full ride at Northeastern is just too good of an option to pass up for anything but a T3, cause that median salary is so high. 

So instead of wasting her time writing LOCI for three schools, she decides that she is just going to write one for Harvard. Despite her LSAT being under the 25th percentile for HLS, the fact that Jane got waitlisted means that Harvard might accept her. Schools don’t waste waitlist spots any more than they waste acceptances. 

Only writing one LOCI allows Jane to put complete effort into it and ensures that there is no possibility of messing up the to: line of the email!

This might seem obvious: If you aren’t going to go to a school if they offer you a spot, then don’t write a LOCI. However, from our experience, it is too easy to fall into a trap of sending a LOCI for the sake of sending a LOCI simply because your pride gets a little in the way, and you want that offer. 

Now to the part you probably care about the most. 

How to write a law school letter of continued interest.

There is no perfect answer for what needs to go into a law school letter of continued interest. However, at a minimum, your law school LOCI should contain the following 4 components:  

1. A thank you
2. A willingness to attend
3. Any Relevant updates
4. Why you fit

A thank you

Your LOCI should open with a thank you to the admissions committee for the opportunity to be on the waitlist. This might be a little painful because you really wanted to get accepted, not waitlisted, but it is important. 

You should also close your letter of continued interest out with another thank you reiterating the point. 

A willingness to attend

Your LOCI should include a clear (and true) statement that if you get off of the waitlist that you will attend. If it isn’t true, then you shouldn’t waste your time writing the letter. This alleviates any concerns the admissions committee might have about wasting time extending you an offer just for you to pull out to go somewhere else. 

Any Relevant updates

The letter of continued interest is an opportunity for you to update the admissions committee with any new information regarding your application. For example, if you have continued studying for the LSAT, retaken the exam, and increased your score by more than 3 points, you may want to include that information. Any promotions and impressive awards or accolades you have received since applying are also worth mentioning.

Why you fit

To increase the likelihood of being accepted from the waitlist, it is essential to maintain a strong writing style while also expressing interest and dedication to the school in order. If there are no new updates to share, then focus on why this specific law school is the top choice and how attendance and passion for the program can be shown. 

This is similar to a “Why us?” essay, so be sure to include unique details about this school that set it apart from others. Mentioning reasons such as small class sizes or highly respected alumni is not as impactful as SCHOOL-specific information.

Further, don’t make the mistake of telling the school about itself by just listing these attributes back to the school. They want you to articulate why those aspects are meaningful or important to you. 

When is it appropriate to send a letter of continued interest? 

Once you hear back from all schools and have decided that you want to write a LOCI it is pretty much the right time to write a letter of continued interest to the law school admissions committee.

If you get waitlisted, law schools will usually send you instructions on what to do next. Sometimes this means submitting additional essays or filling out forms. Whatever it is, it is important to carefully READ these instructions and follow them. If a school asks you to do something, then you should do it. If they ask you not to do something, then you shouldn’t.

In rare cases, a school may specifically ask you to not send a LOCI. If so, it isn’t a test. Do not send a letter of continued interest!

If you haven’t received any admissions decision, then the only time we recommend sending a LOCI is if you have a significant update to your application, such as an increased LSAT score. 

To review, you should thoroughly and promptly follow all instructions given to you by the law school when you receive notice that you were waitlisted. Additionally, you should ask yourself if you would attend the school if admitted. If the answer is yes, start your law school letter of continued interest.

How should I format my letter of continued interest?

If you got specific directions in your waitlist packet with format instructions or contact information then always use that.

If you haven’t received any guidance, then you should format your LOCI as a formal letter in a standard font, such as Times New Roman, in 11- or 12-point font, with one-inch margins. 

If you are sending your LOCI to an email (vs uploading to an admission portal), then we recommend attaching your letter via pdf to a brief polite email. 

How long should my letter of continued interest be?

The best LOCI are under one page. More does not automatically mean better. 

It is easy to think that you can show off your writing skills with a long letter. Or, that a short letter means that you don’t actually care about the school. 

But it’s important to keep your reader in mind. Admissions teams are busy and read A LOT. So focus on strong, clear writing, and edit your letter wisely. A thoughtful and brief letter can go a long way.

I’ve been waitlisted at my top-choice law school, but haven’t heard back from them since I sent them my continued letter of interest. Should I send another?

Typically, we think that once you have sent one LOCI that you should just wait. But we know it is hard. Honestly, that is why LSD (the site) exists. To commiserate with fellow applicants. 

The one exception is if you’ve had a major update, such as an increased LSAT score, since sending the last one. In the case of a significant update then you should send another law school LOCI.

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