<p>Today, the club that I am a president of raised 1500 dollars for Hurricane Sandy relief. I put on the common app that we raised 3000 dollars to date, but now we are at 4500 just from this one event. Is this worth mentioning to schools, or will it be seen as petty/annoying?</p>
<p>you already sent in your app, if you called to correct your amount by $1500, it would indeed be seen as petty AND annoying.</p>
<p>Okay, thanks, I appreciate it. Any other thoughts? By the way my club is called the octagon club–what a coincidence.</p>
<p>Definitely agree with Ractogon, I don’t think they’d care much about how much you raised - all about your commitment to the club.</p>
<p>I don’t mean to hijack this thread, but I have a very similar question: how about qualifying for robotics nationals? Is that worth sending an update for?</p>
<p>Doesn’t the amount raised correlate with how committed I am though?</p>
<p>It might – but that extra level of commitment or sheer luck or just plain good organization skills on a fundraiser has zero correlation with your eventual admittance/rejection.</p>
<p>Okay, 3/3 have given the same answer–not gonna call them. When is it okay to update a college on a new accomplishment? Would it be acceptable to notify them of the extra money raised if I were deferred?</p>
<p>Is it acceptable? It’s acceptable now. But if I were a reader – I’d just say “meh”.</p>
<p>Really, it’s not about your bottom line. Like I said, it could very well indicate hard work, luck or just that you ask wealthy people to donate. You can earn another $10K and I wouldn’t bat an eye.</p>
<p>i don’t mean to be cold about it but earn the money b/c it’s good to do so. It’s sorely needed without a doubt. Don’t do it with the eye to prop up your application.</p>
<p>When to do an update?</p>
<p>When there is a ‘material change’ to your application. </p>
<p>1) When you discover an error of significance such as a misreported test score or significant error in your transcript which would impact your likelihood of acceptance. Spelling errors and typos in your application are not worth mentioning.</p>
<p>2) When something in your application might be perceived is untrue and would therefore cast doubt on the credibility of the rest of your application. (Your application said ‘club president’ when you meant ‘acting president for one month but really a club member’ and you want to set the record straight.) </p>
<p>3) When you get your semester grades in senior year</p>
<p>4) When you achieve a noteworthy distinction - ‘best in your school’ at a minimum. Preferably a ‘best in’ your county, state or country. Comparable honors or awards. Student-of-the-month and home-coming prince does not qualify.</p>
<p>5) A significant material change in financial position which requires updating your FAFSA.</p>
<p>6) A significant change in your personal status that would impact your acceptance (no longer in-state, major drop in grades arising from serious personal issues, changing from ED to RD, etc…) Changing your future potential major is not a significant change unless it means you are no longer applying to a particular sub-school or program.</p>
<p>As a rule of thumb, one update before you are accepted and one more if you are wait-listed is generally enough.</p>
<p>@T26E4–I’m not looking for a way to prop up my application, the sole goal was to raise money for the East Coast; this would just be an added bonus.
@M’s Mom–Thanks! I’ll keep that in mind; very informative.</p>