Hello, I recently won and was heavily awarded in an academic competition, and I think that it is a very major development and could have added significantly to my application, but I’ve already sent in all my applications in December. When you are deferred from colleges I’ve heard that you should send an email notifying the college of any new developments, but does this hold true in any cases, deferred or not?
For reference, I placed as the top scorer for my Academic Decathlon Regionals competition, and with that score I’m also the top scorer in the state as well as the highest scorer in my region’s history (Last year I was probably around 40th in the state at this time, and >155th in the nation, right now I’m 10th in the nation but this might go down). I won 9 out of a possible 10 medals (7 gold) plus two more for my score.
I applied to mostly top-10 schools.
Probably couldn’t hurt - it’s worth checking with each school though to see if it is encouraged. I know schools like MIT really encourage it, but other schools might not care as much. Though since it is a national competition and you are ranked that highly, I would encourage it.
No reason not to do a brief update. It demonstrates interest and shows a high level of accomplishment. Doesn’t hurt to mention to your first choice school that they are your first choice as well, if that is in fact true. For schools that care about their acceptance rates (not HYPMS) both pieces of information are important.
Yes, that sounds significant and significant accomplishments that happen after your application are okay to send. If you were deferred anywhere this is the perfect opportunity to express your continued interest and update all in one.
@BrownParent I was deferred by Columbia and sent a letter with fairly similar accomplishments (I also won the first competition of the year in November and was still first in state, but with almost three extra months my score greatly increased at this recent one). Should I still send in this development or is two too many?
Absolutely send a brief (NOT fluffy!) update email. Send it to Columbia, too (but be EXTRA careful to be brief and not waste their time).