<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I had a question or not whether it made sense to give some sort of update to the colleges I applied to about an award I recently got within my current university. For background, I'm currently a freshman studying electrical engineering and computer science at a large state school (24,000+) that's decent, but definitely not regarded as a top state school. Though while the majority of the students are academically mediocre, there are a handful of students in most of the departments(especially engineering), that would be successful at elite schools.</p>
<p>So I got an "Academic Achievement" award within the EE department for my university's engineering awards ceremony. They didn't really say what I got it for but I think it was mostly because I got a near perfect score (and highest overall) in a class that a good fraction of people fail, as well as getting very high grades in the rest of my classes. Which is impressive, I suppose, but nothing earth-shattering. At the awards ceremony though, the awards were pretty much all geared towards mostly seniors and partially juniors too. I was the only freshman in any of the engineering departments to get an award so I guess I stood out a fair bit.</p>
<p>So my question is this, should I somehow tell the colleges I'm applying to about this award? And if so, how should I explain it? I'm applying to Stanford, Cornell, Yale, Harvey Mudd, Carnegie Mellon, USC, and Dartmouth. Most of these decisions are coming up pretty soon so I'm hesitant putting this in at the last moment. To be honest, I'm not even sure if schools take updates for transfers. But then again, my odds are very slim at all these places so while it probably wouldn't change anything, it probably wouldn't hurt. Any input is appreciated! Thanks!</p>