Questions about writing the LOCI as a waitlisted student

Applying to College
1

I’m an international student currently on a gap year.

From my understanding, on the LOCI, I should basically restate what I said on the “Why X college” essay? I should also be asking more questions about the college, correct?

Since I am not in HS anymore, I don’t have any grades to report in order to update the Admissions Office. I only have some small programming projects I have been working on. Should I mention them? I’ve also been reading a lot on my subject of interest, so maybe I should mention some research projects I’ve read recently?

I have been talking to current students of that college (that I know in real life). Would it be okay for me to mention their names on the LOCI (X told me about your Y tradition)?

I was thinking about contacting a professor of my major’s department to ask them some questions about our common subject of interest (I mentioned this professor on the CommonApp “Why Us” essay) and to ask some questions about the department itself. I am a bit reluctant to do this because I do not want to seem like I am contacting this professor just to showcase interest on the college to the Admissions Office. Do you guys think I should contact them regardless?

2

idk if you sent this yet but in my opinion:

yes, say why you love this college and bring up new points (if you can) that weren’t in your “why college x” essay. you can ask questions in a separate email to your admissions counselor, i think that would be more appropriate while still showing interest. make sure to keep them specific. 100% mention your small programming projects and research projects, anything related to your field that wasn’t on your app. i am not sure how appropriate it is to name drop, someone else would have to chime in on that, but even if you dont directly state their names still mentioning “current students told me about Y tradition that i didn’t know of but i love as part of the culture of X school” is fine.

if they do them, interviews with either your department head or an adcom to get questions answered can’t hurt. an interview (if officially made note of in your record by your interviewer) shows interest and dedication. i wouldnt recommend contacting the professor directly but perhaps contacting the head of the department or your admissions counselor and seeing if they can get you an interview or session with this particular professor.