<p>Hi CC,
I was wondering when the best time is to send an update (new awards, etc) to your RD schools that release decisions in late march- April 1. Is early march too late if I fax it? </p>
<p>Because I could get a pretty major award that would build on one of my more significant EC's, but I already got a more minor award and wouldn't want the letter to not reach them by risking sending it in too late.</p>
<p>If you get this major award, send admissions an email with this update. It may not matter, as many colleges are pretty far into the selection process by March, but it’s worth a shot. Most likely, they already have a pretty good view of who you are and one award won’t make it or break it for you.</p>
<p>So I would send the first letter, then an additional email/fax that can’t hurt, only help?</p>
<p>No. I would not recommend sending more than one update, especially when one of them is minor. If you get the major award, send it once you get it. If not, either skip it entirely or send it towards the middle or end of February. Once you hit March, you can try, but it probably won’t help you out too much.</p>
<p>I was deferred from my ED school (Cornell) and I’d like to send them an update near the end of Feb. regardless. The “major” award is that I have a good shot of winning a state award that would qualify me for a multi-national competition, and I wouldn’t know how I did until ~March 9.</p>
<p>Honestly, I’d think that you even sending an update just for an award would do more harm than sending the award in the first place. You know how most colleges say “don’t send news articles, certificates, etc.?” That’s because they don’t really care to see all of those little things, and for you to go 1) out of your way, to send something in 2) after you already submitted your application and 3) well into application season, you could come off as desperate or even cocky. </p>
<p>Further, if the update of the award is welcomed, it probably wouldn’t help much anyways. If one such award makes your application so much better, then it seems like it wasn’t that good enough in the first place.</p>
<p>Who knows, just another perspective to consider.</p>
<p>I’d say late February (or very early March for a very significant accomplishment) is about the last time you want to update schools on new accomplishments. Send a concise and friendly email along the lines of:</p>
<p>*To whom it may concern,</p>
<p>Since applying in December, I have been lucky enough to receive some new awards, and I was hoping you could add them to my file. I have received/been a finalist for/whatever…</p>
<p>Thank you so much for your time,
[full name]*</p>
<p>Is this for HOSA, by any chance?</p>