A waitlist decision isn’t a rejection. It’s a not yet, and at many law schools what you do in the following weeks affects whether a seat ever opens for you. A letter of continued interest, or LOCI, is the standard tool: a short letter telling a law school you still want a spot and giving the committee something new to consider.
The complication is that school instructions conflict. One asks you to wait until late April. Another set a May 1 deadline. A third doesn’t want it by email at all.
This guide covers how law school waitlists move, what four schools ask for, when to send a LOCI, what belongs in it, and what to avoid.
A LOCI is a brief letter to a school that waitlisted or deferred you. It confirms you still want a seat, names something specific that fits your goals, and reports meaningful updates since you applied. Most are one page.
A letter of intent is stronger: it says you will enroll if admitted. Send one to one school at most, and only if it’s true. Law asks about character at bar admission, and how you behave after a decision is part of what law schools evaluate.
A waitlist, called a “reserve list” at Cornell and elsewhere, usually means the class is largely set and you’ll be considered if seats open. A deferral or hold usually means the school will review your file again later in the cycle; treat updates the same way, in the school’s own language. Either way, materials go through the status checker, the online portal for your application.
Many waitlists aren’t ranked. Harvard Law is explicit in its waitlist instructions: “We do not rank the waitlist. We review all applicants remaining on the waitlist if a seat opens up.” There’s no ladder to climb, and a strong update can matter at any point. Other schools may work differently.
Movement comes late. Seats open when admitted students commit elsewhere, which happens around and after deposit deadlines. That’s how rolling admissions fills a class: the pool shifts until the seats are gone. Three examples from the 2025–26 cycle:
So keep your email and phone monitored through August.
You can deposit somewhere and still say yes later. LSAC’s statement of good admission and financial aid practices, last updated in April 2024, asks member schools to “allow applicants to freely accept a new offer from a law school even though a scholarship has been accepted, a deposit has been paid, or a commitment has been made to another school.” So a deposit at your best current admit doesn’t lock you out of a later offer. The money may not come back, and binding early decision is the exception: an ED admit must withdraw other applications.
Some schools make you opt in. In 2026, Chicago emailed waitlisted applicants after May 1 asking them to confirm their spot, and withdrew the applications of those who didn’t. An email you don’t open can end your candidacy.
Policies vary more than any general guide can capture. Schools usually spell theirs out in the waitlist notice or on their site, so read those first.
Examples from the 2025–26 cycle. Check each school’s current instructions for 2026–27.
| School | Waitlist ranked? | LOCI guidance | Timing and format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harvard Law | No | Upload via status checker; “unlikely to move forward with your waitlist candidacy” without one; later updates welcome; resumes and spring grades too | Wait until late April, once fall plans are set; one page, dated, to the Admissions Committee, 11-point font minimum |
| University of Chicago Law | Not stated | Submit via Applicant Status Portal; an updated letter can accompany the post–May 1 confirmation; no extra recommendation letters | Deadline was May 1, 2026; applicants had to confirm their spot after May 1 |
| Cornell Law | Not stated | Accepted but “not required”; “do not email LOCI’s”; upload via your applicant online status page | Link arrives in the reserve-list notification email |
| Boston College Law | Not stated | LOCI, extra recommendation letter, or updated resume, via the form in the decision letter; “quality over the quantity of updates” | No more than once a month over the summer |
Two of these schools give nearly opposite instructions. Harvard tells you to wait until late April and accepts extra recommendation letters; Chicago set a May 1 deadline and asked applicants not to send them. Any universal rule about LOCIs is wrong somewhere.
One page, usually 250 to 450 words, in this order.
Format it as a dated letter to the Admissions Committee, not a named dean unless the school directs otherwise, then proofread twice. Every document you send is a writing sample, and the wrong school’s name is fatal.
Illustrative example written for this guide, not from a real applicant’s letter. Your letter should reflect your own facts and your own reasons.
“I’m writing to confirm that [School] remains my first choice. If admitted, I will enroll. Since I applied in November, I finished the fall semester with a 3.9 term GPA, including an A in my constitutional law seminar, and I was promoted to lead coordinator at the county housing mediation program, where I now train six new volunteers. In March I sat in on a session of [School]’s housing clinic. Watching students prepare a client for a hearing confirmed that the clinic is where I want to build the skills I’ve been watching attorneys use for three years.”
The commitment is unambiguous and made to one school. The updates carry numbers a reader can weigh, and the fit comes from something the applicant did. And it runs about 110 words.
Waitlists reward patience and readiness more than persistence. Build the wait into the full law school application cycle so a March reserve decision feels like a stage rather than a verdict.
