Okay so you’ve submitted your primary and secondary applications, but you haven’t heard back from a school. Or maybe you have heard back and you’ve been waitlisted. What do you do now and how do you let schools know that you’re still interested in them?
While there are several ways to approach this, let’s talk about the various types of letters you can send the admissions committees.
The first kind of letter is a letter of interest (or an update letter). This letter affirms to schools that you are interested in them (and it’s important to be specific as to why), provides them with any updates that you have since submitting your primary and secondary, and is just a way of telling them you’re interested without committing to anything.
This letter should be a page and should have your signature at the bottom. You should look at each school’s specific policy of whether or not they accept this letter and if they want you to email them or upload it to your portal. I ended up sending letters to the schools that accepted them right before Thanksgiving.
While the Letter of Interest is a non-committed way to express interest in a school, the Letter of Intent is sent to one school. It essentially states that if accepted to that school, you will attend. While it isn’t binding, it is in extremely bad faith if you send that letter, get accepted, and then don’t attend that school.
You should send it to a school you have interviewed with that is your first choice. I sent mine in December (before the holidays) after I was waitlisted by this school I wanted to attend. Another friend of mine sent hers before she heard back from her interview (she ended up getting accepted). When you send it is ultimately up to you, but remember that you can only choose one school to send it to.
When I got waitlisted, I took it to mean a rejection because I had several friends who had been waitlisted in previous cycles that never cleared it. Other people and advisors told me that a waitlist was “good news” because it meant the school liked my application and were still considering me. Regardless of how you feel about a waitlist, there are ways that you continue showing interest to the school.
The biggest way to do so is by sending a Letter of Intent if that school is your top choice. You can also look on their website to see if they have specific action items for students who have been waitlisted. If they don’t, you can reach out to the admissions committee to see if there are steps you can take (do this sparingly so as not to overwhelm them).