Exclusive: 4 Surprising “LOCI” Waitlist Letter Tips From Current and Former Admissions Officers

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Exclusive: 4 Surprising “LOCI” Waitlist Letter Tips From Current and Former Admissions Officers

An admissions officer from a top-20 national research university shared this insight with a former waitlist letter student:

“Once we have heard from all of [the admitted students], we will see where the holes are in the first-year class and make offers. The first round of offers will be at the beginning of May, and we hope to have it all wrapped up by July 4th. Our waitlist is not ranked, because we don’t know who will say yes of the admitted students, and if we need more engineers or teachers, for example, we’ll focus on that during the waitlist process.” 

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6 Easy Steps to Writing A Successful Waitlist Letter (aka the LOCI)

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6 Easy Steps to Writing A Successful Waitlist Letter (aka the LOCI)

The waitlist letter is your last chance to show “demonstrated interest” and maybe get on the admit list if enough students don’t accept. In fact, some colleges are notorious for accepting fewer students than they need and then filling up their freshman class with the waitlist (this way, they get higher on the US News & World rankings…sneaky, I know). So you may have a better shot than you think. Especially this year when your chances of getting in are better than ever. At the very least, you’ll know you’ve done everything you could.

1) Find Your Specific Admissions Representative

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You Just Got Deferred By Your Dream College. Now What?

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You Just Got Deferred By Your Dream College. Now What?

1) Make a list of all your updates since you submitted the original application

Start by thinking through every category of your life: academics, extracurriculars, personal, family, etc. Then write a bullet point list of every update you can think of for each category. Once you’re done, pick the most exciting and impressive updates to share for one powerhouse paragraph of examples. Think: winning an award, receiving a grant, making it to the championship, etc. The goal of the update paragraph is to show why you’re a great pick for the college.

Another great way of using the update paragraph is to hone in on your brand and remind the admissions officers that you’re passionate about climate change, for example. Remember to tie in academics too: how you were able to maintain or improve your grades despite harder classes and more extracurricular involvement.

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