A letter of continued interest is a short update you send a college after it defers your early application or offers you a place on its waitlist. It tells the school that it is still on your list, adds what has changed since you applied, and explains why the fit still holds. Whether to send one is a school-by-school question. Some colleges ask for it, some replace it with a form, and at least one says it will not consider it.
Key Takeaways
- Read the school’s own deferral or waitlist page first. Of the seven colleges we read on October 13, 2026, Cornell and Notre Dame invite a letter from waitlisted students, and Georgia Tech’s waitlist page says letters of continued interest “are not considered.”
- Michigan, MIT, Tufts and Georgia Tech route updates through a form of their own. At those four, the form is the channel.
- Send new grades. All seven colleges ask for them or welcome them, Tufts by asking you to confirm that your mid-year senior grades were received.
- Skip extra recommendation letters. Cornell, Georgia Tech, Notre Dame and Tufts discourage them or will not consider them, and MIT says you cannot replace yours.
What a Letter of Continued Interest Is, and When You Send One
Two decisions lead to this letter. A deferral follows an early application under Early Action or Early Decision: the school holds your file for a later round instead of deciding now. A waitlist offer, in Cornell’s words, lets you “keep your application active until we determine whether there will be additional space” in the class.
Applying early can therefore end in a deferral as well as a yes or a no. Notre Dame explains that “A deferred decision means that the admissions committee is not yet ready to make a final decision on a student’s application.” Emory says a deferred application “will be reviewed again as part of the Regular Decision process.”
Schools also name it differently: Michigan’s deferral is a postponement with an Expression of Continued Interest form, and Notre Dame invites deferred applicants to write “a letter of desire.” Law schools have their own version: UVA Law, for one, lets waitlisted applicants submit a letter of continued interest through its status checker, alongside the outreach form it emails. Medical schools have a cousin of this document, the update letter, and medical schools differ on whether they accept it.
Does the School Want a Letter of Continued Interest? Seven Colleges Compared
We read the deferral and waitlist pages of seven colleges on October 13, 2026. When we read them, Cornell, Georgia Tech and Tufts printed 2026 dates or the Class of 2030, the class that entered in fall 2026; the others printed no year. Confirm each date in your own decision letter or applicant portal.
| School | Decision | Letter of continued interest? | Where updates go | Deadline as posted (read October 13, 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cornell | Waitlist | Invited | Upload tool in the Applicant Portal, plus the Waitlist Reply Form | Reply form by April 10 (Class of 2030) |
| Notre Dame | Waitlist | Invited | Applicant status portal, as one package | April 15 |
| Notre Dame | Deferral (Restrictive Early Action) | Optional "letter of desire" | Applicant status portal | February 1 |
| Emory | Deferral (Early Decision) | Optional; "not something all deferred applicants need to do or even should do" | Applicant portal, as "Supplemental Material" | February 1 |
| Michigan | Postponement (Early Action or Early Decision) | Its own Expression of Continued Interest (ECI) form, optional, one submission | Enrollment Connect | March 1 |
| MIT | Deferral (Early Action) | Not needed; the FUN Form is the only update | February Updates & Notes (FUN) Form, 250-word limit | Not given on the FAQ |
| Tufts | Waitlist | The reply form "serves as your statement of continued interest"; formal letters not encouraged | Waitlist Reply Form | April 15, 2026 |
| Georgia Tech | Deferral (Early Action) | Not mentioned | Deferred Supplemental Form and mid-year transcript | January 14 or February 16, 2026 (EA1 or EA2) |
| Georgia Tech | Waitlist | Not considered | Waitlist Offer Reply Form | April 8, 2026 |
Schools That Invite a Letter
Two colleges invite the letter outright for waitlisted students. Cornell’s waitlist page says “Updated materials can include a letter of continued interest.” Notre Dame’s page for deferred and waitlisted students lists this step: “Upload a letter of continued interest to your Notre Dame applicant status portal by April 15”.
For deferrals, the invitation is softer. Notre Dame tells deferred applicants “you may also write a letter of desire explaining why you believe Notre Dame is the best school for you.” Emory’s applicant FAQ lists “Write a letter to the Admission Committee” among a deferred applicant’s options and qualifies it in the same breath: “This is not something all deferred applicants need to do or even should do.”
Schools That Use a Form Instead
Four colleges send updates through a form. Michigan’s postponed-applicant FAQ offers the ECI form, accepts it once, and says it “is not required for consideration in our process.” MIT’s deferral FAQ says “The only update you will need to send is the February Updates & Notes (FUN) Form”. Georgia Tech’s page for deferred students asks for a Deferred Supplemental Form and a mid-year transcript, and does not mention letters either way.
On the Tufts admissions blog, Sean Ashburn, Director of Communications & Outreach, writes that the Waitlist Reply Form “serves as your statement of continued interest”. His post adds that formal letters of continued interest “are not encouraged”.
Two schools say what happens to anything sent outside their channels. Georgia Tech’s waitlist page is direct: “Letters of Continued Interest (LOCI) are not considered.” Michigan prefers only the ECI form, grade updates or requested items, and says anything else “will not impact your final decision.”
What to Include in a Letter of Continued Interest
Four schools describe what belongs in the letter or form:
- Cornell: the letter “should focus on the specific college or school you’ve applied to and why it continues to be a compelling program through which to pursue your academic interests.” It can add “relevant summer plans, Cornell programs of interest, and any substantial updates since you submitted your application.”
- Tufts: the reply form should show “why you’re still excited about Tufts, about your recent academic successes, and about anything else of note since you submitted your initial application.”
- Emory: a letter “stressing your continued interest in Emory University” and “why you feel you are a compelling candidate for admission”.
- Michigan: the ECI form takes “any updates or additional information that you wish to add to your application in a free-form format”.
Read together (our synthesis, not any one school’s rule), that makes three parts:
- Your interest, stated once and plainly.
- What is new since you applied.
- Why this school still fits, in terms of its programs rather than praise.
Grades lead the updates. Notre Dame tells deferred applicants “The most important part of this is sending us your first semester senior year grades.” Cornell and Michigan want new grades sent by your high school, while Georgia Tech lets you “self-report your mid-year grades in your admission portal”. MIT’s FAQ notes that sending only midyear grades in the FUN Form is fine.
Leave out what these schools discourage. Cornell writes “Additional letters of recommendation are discouraged,” and Georgia Tech considers only the letters sent with your application. MIT is blunter: “You CANNOT rewrite your essays, redo your interview, replace your letters of recommendation”. Its deferral tips add: “Simply sending in additional materials does not by itself increase your chances of admission.”
Write the letter yourself; the details only work if they are yours. A second reader can still check a draft against the school’s page and say whether it adds anything new. That is editing, and if you want it, you can request a free consultation from ExceptionalGrad.
How Long Should a Letter of Continued Interest Be?
None of the college pages we read sets a length for a stand-alone letter. The forms have their own limits. MIT’s FAQ mentions “the FUN Form’s 250 word limit”, and Tufts says its reply form “requires several short responses”. Our suggestion, not a school’s: one page, about 250 to 400 words, enough for three short paragraphs.
When to Send a Letter of Continued Interest
Send it once, after the decision and before the school’s deadline. Notre Dame tells waitlisted applicants, “It is our preference that updates are sent as a package rather than in multiple uploads.” Michigan accepts a single ECI submission and says “no preference is given for the order or date in which the form is received”. At Michigan, there is no prize for speed.
Timing has a practical side (our note): a letter sent the day a deferral arrives will often predate the first-semester grades that all seven of these colleges ask for or welcome. On the pages we read, deferral deadlines run from January 14 (Georgia Tech, 2026) to March 1 (Michigan). Waitlist deadlines run from April 8 (Georgia Tech, 2026) to April 15 (Notre Dame, and Tufts in 2026).
While You Wait
At Tufts, the reply form is what keeps you in the running: “Only students who submit the Reply Form by the deadline will be considered for admission from the Waitlist.” At Cornell, the numbers swing widely. Its page (read October 13, 2026) says about 5,900 applicants a year confirmed a waitlist place over the past four years, and it admitted “as many as 362 students (and as few as 24)” from the list.
Keep your other applications moving while you wait. Emory puts it plainly: “The most important next step for all deferred applicants is to apply to other schools.”
A Sample Letter of Continued Interest (Our Illustration)
The letter below is ours, written for this article. It is not a real applicant’s letter. It imagines a deferred Early Action applicant writing to a college that invites letters, with placeholders for the school.
Dear [Regional Admissions Counselor],
Thank you for your message about my Early Action deferral. [College] is still my first choice, and I am writing with three updates since I applied in November.
My first-semester grades are in. I earned A’s in AP Calculus BC and AP Chemistry, and my counselor is sending the midyear report. In December, the robotics team I lead placed second at our state qualifier, after I rebuilt our drive system over the fall. I also started a weekend tutoring program at our public library, which now serves 14 middle school students.
These months confirmed why I applied. I want to study mechanical engineering where first-year students build from the start, and [specific program or course at College] is where I can see myself doing that.
Sincerely, [Your name], [Application ID]
What makes it work, in our reading: interest stated in one sentence, grades first, one concrete detail per update, and one named program. Change every detail to your own, and check the school’s length and channel before you send it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should a letter of continued interest include?
Three things: a statement that the school is still your choice, what has changed since you applied, and why its programs still fit you. Lead with new grades, which all seven colleges we read ask for or welcome. Skip new recommendation letters: four of the seven discourage them or will not consider them.
How long should a letter of continued interest be for college?
None of the college pages we read in October 2026 sets a length for the letter, so we suggest one page, about 250 to 400 words. Forms can run shorter: MIT’s February Updates & Notes Form has a 250-word limit. If a school gives a limit or uses a form, its rule replaces our suggestion.
Does a letter of continued interest help?
It depends on the school, and none of the pages we read in October 2026 promises that it will. Michigan says its continued-interest form is not required for consideration, and MIT says extra material does not by itself raise your chances. Georgia Tech’s waitlist does not consider letters. Cornell and Notre Dame invite them.
When should you send a letter of continued interest after a deferral?
Our advice: once, after your first-semester grades are in and before the school’s deadline. On the pages we read on October 13, 2026, Emory and Notre Dame set February 1 for deferred applicants and Michigan March 1. Michigan accepts its form only once, and Notre Dame asks waitlisted students to send updates as one package.