What to Do After Deferral: How to Write a Letter of Continued Interest

Did you apply Early Decision or Early Action, only to have your application deferred to Regular Decision? Here's what to know, what to do next, and how to write a letter of continued interest to boost your chances of admission after deferral. 

What it Means When You're Deferred

When your ED or EA application is deferred, it means that admission officers aren’t ready to make a final decision on whether to admit or deny (or waitlist) you. They may want to see your first semester grades. They may want to review leadership updates or new achievements from your extracurricular activities. They may want to consider your application within a larger applicant pool. Or, they may have another reason altogether that we’ll never know! 

Regardless of the reason, deferral means that your application is still under consideration. If you applied Early Decision and were deferred to RD, then you are released from the binding ED agreement. That is, if you are admitted in the RD round, you can decide whether to enroll at your initial ED choice or somewhere else. This means that you can apply Early Decision II to another college or university, if you would like. 

Deferral is surely not what you were hoping for, but it does mean that you have an opportunity to update admission officers on what you have been doing since you applied in the fall or early winter. In addition to providing new information to supplement your original application, your update also expresses your continued interest in the college or university. Since admission officers sometimes make decisions about whom to admit or deny based on whether they think the applicant will yield (or, decide to enroll at their college), expressing continued interest indicates that you are a serious applicant.

So, assuming that you are, indeed, still serious about this college, how should you go about expressing continued interest?

What to Do Next: How to Write a Letter of Continued Interest After Deferral

1. Follow the college's instructions.

If your application has been deferred, check your deferral letter and/or applicant portal for specific next steps. These may vary from college to college. How is this college asking you to confirm that you are still interested in being considered for admission?

Look out, in particular, for: 

• Logistical instructions – Do you need to check a box in your applicant portal? Is there a text box or form in which you're asked to provide updates or new information? Do you need to upload any new documents, such as a letter of continued interest? Is the college asking you NOT to send updates or new information? Make sure you understand what they are (or are not) asking for, and follow those instructions as closely as possible.

• Deadlines – If the college is open to receiving new information or updates, are they asking you to submit them by a specific deadline? If so, make sure you meet that deadline! 

• Length and content guidelines – Some colleges may specify what kind of additional materials they will accept and/or how long those new materials can be. If they say “no additional letters of recommendation, please” you should not send any! If they ask you to keep updates to two pages, you should wrap it up before you get to page three!

2. Provide thoughtful updates.

Unless the college that has deferred you is asking you to fill out a form or text box (or asking you not to submit anything!), you will likely provide updates in a letter of continued interest, or LOCI for short. Regardless of which format you're using -- form, text box, or LOCI -- think carefully about what you’ve done or accomplished since you applied.

Providing updates shows admission officers that you are still interested in being considered for admission to their college. It also gives you the opportunity to share more information about why you want to attend and what you can contribute to the college community. 

In your LOCI, include the following:

• A greeting, such as “Dear Admission Office,” or “Dear Ms. Smith” (if you are writing to a specific admission officer). Then, briefly introduce yourself and the purpose of your letter: for example, “I applied EA for the Class of 2030 and was deferred. I am writing to express my ongoing enthusiasm for ABC University.” (Of course, use your own words and writing voice!)

• A short paragraph explaining why you are (and remain) interested in this college. Use different language, reasons, and examples than the ones you used in your application essay(s): for example, "I remain drawn to ABC University because..." or "My interview with current senior Sarah B. affirmed my alignment with ABC University's mission of..."

• A list of updates, including NEW, meaningful information about your grades or courses; completed or in-process projects that you are especially proud of; extracurricular or personal accomplishments or awards you have received since you applied; and/or anything else that is NEW and useful information for demonstrating your continued interest in and fit for this college. 

Updates can be in bullet-list or paragraph form, but they should be related to and coherent with your original application. For example, if your application focused on your goal of becoming an international business person and supported that interest with your experience in cross-cultural communication and your FBLA achievements, then your updates should not showcase your brand-new fascination with nursing and astronomy (at least, not to the exclusion of those other, long-standing interests and goals!). 

• For your top-choice college (and only if this is true): a statement indicating that you will definitely enroll if you are admitted.

• Finally, your Common App ID, college-specific application ID, or other identifying information (besides your first and last name). You can include this at the top of your letter, in the body of the letter, or after your signature at the end.

Aim for about one page, single-spaced (no longer than two pages), and follow directions about how or to whom to submit your LOCI. If you don’t see any instructions, then email your letter to your regional admission officer. If you don’t have contact information for your regional AO, then you can send your LOCI to the general admission office email address.

If you are submitting updates in a form or text box, you can adapt the suggestions above to fit that format. For example, you might include the paragraph about why you remain interested and a list of updates but choose to exclude the greeting and signature.

3. Express continued interest by mid-February.

Unless the college has given you an earlier deadline, resist the urge to dash off a hurried letter. Instead, give yourself time to respond thoughtfully and with as much additional information as possible. Waiting until mid-February has a couple of advantages:

• The longer you wait, the more updates you’ll have because more time has passed since you applied. 

• Your second semester grades will be available (especially important if mid-terms or finals don’t happen at your high school until mid or late January).

• You’ll be writing from a place of calm instead of reacting to the (disappointing) deferral news in its immediate aftermath. 

• As the experts Mark Stucker and Julia Esquivel discuss in a recent Your College Bound Kid podcast episode, your letter will “feel fresh” to admission officers, who are most likely reading it in their re-review of your file closer to March, when committee discussions typically occur.

• And, finally, if you applied ED II to a different institution, you’ll know whether you’re committed already to another college and avoid the awkwardness of expressing continued interest and then having to withdraw your application if you’re admitted elsewhere.

Take some time to gather your thoughts, and convey your ongoing interest in and fit for the college as clearly and concisely as possible. While you might be tempted to fire off a quick "yes, I'm still interested!" -- or to not write anything at all! -- thoughtfully expressing continued interest after deferral is worth it. There are no guarantees that writing a LOCI will lead to admission. But you'll have zero regrets knowing that you did everything in your power to convey how awesome you'd be as a student at this college.

I know you've got this! And, if you still have questions, I can help. Leave a comment below or email me at hilltopcollegeconsulting@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you!