Letter of Forced Interest: Revealing the Secret to Getting into Your Dream School

Seniors, the long-awaited, monumental time is upon us. While many of us have already committed to school or know what we will be doing next year, others (including myself) are struggling with hearing rejections and deferrals from our dream schools. As we grapple through this round of regular decision announcements, I want to share my secret weapon for ending up at your dream school, despite that school not accepting you the first time. You may be familiar with the infamous “Letter of Continued Interest” that many schools recommend when they defer your early application to the regular decision round. However, I am introducing a new letter. This is called the Letter of Forced Interest. If a university rejects your application, simply give them a taste of their own medicine by rejecting their rejection! The basis is that after a school denies you, you will write a letter to the admissions office explaining that you are grateful for their denial but you are unable to accept it. Thus, you will be forced to join that college in their Class of 2029 (hence the name “Letter of Forced Interest”). This is perfect because it proves to the admission committee that you have confidence and initiative and will tackle your triumphs head-on. I have included a template that you can use to draft your letter.  

To the Admission Committee at _____ University,

I am writing to you today in regard to my admission update for ___ University Class of 2029. I want to first thank you for taking the time to inform me of this rejection from the university. After careful consideration, I have unfortunately decided that I am unable to accept this rejection. With the large number of denials, deferrals, and waitlists I have received, I have narrowed my decision down to this university. While this is unpleasant news for the Admission Committee here at ____ University, I can assure you that I am extremely grateful and eager to begin my educational journey here. Although it is unfortunate to hear that I will be joining the Class of 2029 at _____ University, I wish the university the best of luck in its future endeavors and the next years of admission rounds. Hopefully, in the future, the university can give out more acceptances instead of denials so that the burden can be taken off of students to inform universities of their inability to accept rejections, such as in this case. Thank you so much for your understanding, and I unfortunately look forward to seeing you next fall. 

Sincerely,

[Name] 

Simply replace the blank spaces with the name of the college you were denied from (that you now will be attending!), add your name, and anything else to spice up your letter! I am confident that any college that receives a Letter of Forced Interest will have no choice but to process your enrollment and give a warm welcome to their campus: “Congratulations! You’ve done it. You’ve cracked the code.” Good luck to everyone taking this advice and standing up for yourself. You deserve it after all the hard work put in this year!