Letter of Continued Interest for Medical School

Letter of Continued Interest for Medical School

A letter of continued interest (LOCI) tells a school that put you on its waitlist that you still want the seat and are still available. Several schools ask for exactly this: USC on April 30, Temple from April, Tufts "especially after July 1." When a school asks for a status reply, three sentences are the whole job.

This is the post-interview letter several schools invite on their own pages. Our view: when a school asks you to confirm interest, answer the question it asked, in the channel it named, and stop. A second personal statement sent to a school that asked for a yes is a longer answer to a question nobody asked. If you have a real update to report from the waitlist, our medical school waitlist update letter guide covers that letter.

Every school page quoted below was checked on November 7, 2026. Most of these FAQ answers carry no cycle year; where a page names one, the text says so. All our post-interview letter guides are collected in the medical school essays hub.

LOCI vs LOI vs update, in one table

If LOCI, LOI and LOInt blur together, our premed acronyms guide maps each to the term schools use.

A LOCI can carry one update and stay a LOCI. It becomes a letter of intent only if it promises to enroll, and that promise goes to one school. Our letter of intent samples show that letter; the intent vs interest vs update comparison covers the wording between them.

Schools that ask for continued interest, and when

Two rules sit beside these. Yale requires a reply, not a letter: "Waitlisted applicants who do not accept a position on the waitlist by end of day March 15 will be removed from the waitlist" and not considered further that cycle. UC San Diego says it will "request updates or letters of intent in the spring" from its waitlist, so you wait for the request (that page still refers to May 2025).

And some schools take nothing. Utah says "Application updates or additional information provided to the Office of Admissions after final notifications are made will not be considered." UCLA says "Any follow-up letters or messages to admissions will not be considered."

Read the dates as a sequence, not a menu. A USC applicant who writes in February has written before the school's one stated window. A Tufts applicant who writes once in April and goes silent has stopped writing just before the stretch the school calls "most helpful".

Three constructed examples

The schools and people below are invented. Each example follows a real rule from the table above.

Constructed example 1: the three-sentence remain-on-waitlist email

Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant's email. Context (invented): Nalani Kaur is on the waitlist at Bellmont School of Medicine, which, like USC, invites waitlisted applicants to email on April 30 to say they want to stay on the list.

Subject: Remain on waitlist - Nalani Kaur - AAMC ID 10000011

Dear Members of the Admissions Committee,

I am writing to confirm that I wish to remain on the Bellmont waitlist for the entering class. I am still available to enroll and can be reached at this email address and at (555) 010-0111. Thank you for your continued consideration.

Sincerely, Nalani Kaur

The body is three sentences; the email is 51 words, salutation to signature. It answers the school's question (stay on the list?), adds the one fact staff need to act on a yes (how to reach you), and stops. It says nothing about rank or odds, because the school did not ask.

Constructed example 2: a 200-word letter of continued interest with one update

Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant's letter. Context (invented): Mikhail Webb is on the continuing candidate list at Fairhaven College of Medicine, which, like Temple, encourages letters of interest from April.

Dear Members of the Admissions Committee,

I am writing in April, as your continuing candidate instructions suggest, to confirm that Fairhaven remains a school I very much want to attend and that I am available to enroll this summer.

My reason for Fairhaven is the same one I gave on interview day: the street medicine elective in the first year. I have worked overnight shifts at a men's shelter for three years, and I want to learn medicine in the setting where those patients already are, rather than wait for them to reach a clinic.

One thing has changed since my interview. In February the shelter's medical director asked me to run its intake for the new respite beds, which means I now take each referral call from the two partner hospitals, check it against the shelter's admission criteria and schedule the bed. I handle about ten referrals a week.

I am also still waitlisted at two other schools, and I am telling you that plainly so that this letter says only what is true: I want to come to Fairhaven, and I will answer any offer within your response window.

Thank you for your continued consideration.

Sincerely, Mikhail Webb

The letter is 200 words, salutation to signature. It is a LOCI, not a letter of intent: it says "very much want to attend," not "will enroll," and it says so on purpose. The update is one paragraph with what changed, when, and what the applicant now does. The line about other waitlists is optional; it keeps the letter from implying a commitment it does not make.

Constructed example 3: a DO alternate's continued-interest letter

Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant's letter. Context (invented): Grace Mbeki is an alternate at Northfork College of Osteopathic Medicine, which, like WesternU Oregon, reviews alternates monthly and takes updates through the applicant's admissions counselor.

Dear Mr. Matsuda,

Please add this note to my file before the committee's next monthly review. I remain an alternate for Northfork's entering class, Northfork is still one of the colleges I most want to attend, and I am available to start in July.

Since my interview I have completed the organic chemistry II course I listed as in progress, with a final grade of B+, and I have added a weekly shift with the hospice volunteer program I described in my application.

Thank you for keeping me informed and for passing this to the committee.

Sincerely, Grace Mbeki

The letter is 99 words, salutation to signature. "One of the colleges I most want to attend" is interest at its true strength; it would be the wrong sentence for a letter of intent and the right one here. The timing line ("before the committee's next monthly review") ties the letter to the school's own process.

How often to send a letter of continued interest

The schools above set the rhythm. GW tells alternates: "Quality is preferred over quantity, but you will be the sole arbiter of what you choose to submit." Tufts welcomes new material but says that "at this point in the process such material is unlikely to change the outcome of your application."

Our view: send one when the school asks or opens its window, and one more only when you have a new fact. A monthly letter with nothing new adds nothing to your file.

The countercase: two things justify a short extra message without a new fact. Tufts asks applicants to make sure "we know your current address, daytime and evening telephone numbers, and email address," and GW asks alternates who "will be unreachable for a specific period of time" to email ahead. If your contact details or summer availability change, say so.

GW also covers the applicant who wrote early: "If you've sent one that is significant before we had asked for additional confirmation of interest, simply go to your portal and write a quick note telling us to please reference that earlier update." You do not need to resend it.

Waitlist movement and ranking are separate questions, covered in our pages on medical school waitlist movement from April 30 to July and ranked vs unranked waitlists. If your status is a hold rather than a waitlist, start with what medical school hold status means.

Before you send a LOCI

1. Status. You are waitlisted, an alternate, on hold or on a continuing candidate list, and the school takes letters at that stage.
2. Window. You are inside the school's stated window (April 30 at USC, from April at Temple, before March 15 for Yale's waitlist reply).
3. Channel. Email, portal or counselor, as the page says.
4. Strength. "Want to attend" if that is true; "will enroll" only in a letter of intent, to one school.
5. One update at most, stated with what changed and what you now do.
6. Contact details and availability are current.
7. No questions about rank or odds.

Questions about letters of continued interest

What is a LOCI for medical school?

A letter of continued interest: a short message telling a school that waitlisted or held you that you still want to attend and are available. It promises nothing more than that.

When should I send a letter of continued interest?

When the school says to. USC names April 30, Temple names April, Tufts names "after July 1," and GW sends instructions by late March.

How long should a LOCI be?

Three sentences when the school asks for a status reply; up to about 200 words when you add one update. The examples on this page run 51 to 200 words.

Can I send a LOCI to several schools?

You can send one to every school that waitlisted you and takes these letters, because a letter of continued interest makes no promise to enroll. A letter of intent goes to one school. If someone new has supervised you since you applied, see when a physician's post-interview support letter is worth adding.

Get a free review of your letter of interest

Get a free Quick Review of your letter of interest against GradPilot's medical school letter of intent and interest rubric. It reads whether the letter gives a specific reason for this school and states your interest at its true strength. If the letter's main job is a new fact, use the update-letter rubric instead.

More medical school waitlist guides:

• Medical school waitlist update letter: reporting a new fact from the waitlist.
• Medical school letter of intent sample: four constructed letters for the one school you will attend.
• Medical school hold status meaning: what each school's hold, alternate and deferred labels mean.

Sources

Retrieved November 7, 2026, except where noted. Most pages state no cycle year for these answers.

• Keck School of Medicine of USC, MD admissions FAQ: April 30 remain-on-waitlist email.
• Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple, Admissions interview: continuing candidate list after April 30; letters of interest from April.
• Tufts University School of Medicine, Interviewed MD applicants: interest and availability "especially after July 1"; contact details; new material "unlikely to change the outcome."
• George Washington SMHS, Alternate status (spring 2027 webinar named): late-March instructions; quality over quantity; earlier updates; unreachable periods.
• Georgetown University School of Medicine, MD FAQ: waitlist letters of interest via portal; waitlist open until orientation.
• Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Applying FAQ: "letter of continued interest or intent" via Documents Upload.
• Western University of Health Sciences, COMP-Northwest alternate status: monthly review; keep the school informed of interest.
• Yale School of Medicine, How to apply: waitlist acceptance by end of day March 15.
• UC San Diego School of Medicine, Admissions FAQs (page refers to May 2025): spring requests for updates or letters of intent.
• University of Utah School of Medicine, MD admissions FAQs: no updates after final notifications.
• UCLA Geffen School of Medicine, After applying: follow-up letters not considered.
• Not used: the University of Michigan admissions timeline returned HTTP 403 on November 7, 2026; its waitlist-contact rule is not quoted.