My son applied to several schools by the Nov 1 deadline, but two are his clear favorites. One he applied ED (reach for everyone) and one he applied EA (no ED - low reach/reach). His school is on trimesters and his Tri1 grades are stellar in the most rigorous classes (96-99/100 in all his classes). He has also begun work at a lab at a local university that is pretty interesting. In addition he has received some fairly meaningful state level awards in his fall sport. Wondering if sending an email update to his regional AO reps at his top two schools makes sense, or if it is better to wait for a decision and send an update if he is deferred?
It been a heck of a busy couple of months for him between his sport, crazy course load, research coming to fruition and all the apps! Looking forward to a brief break in the action - at least as far as the apps are concerned. Basketballs starts tomorrow…
Thanks in advance.
It has only been a week since the deadline… might there be more updates? In general, I’d send them sooner. He may have another batch to send around Feb for RD schools.
My kids sent them to the main admissions email and asked them to be considered as part of their app, and asked for an email back to confirm it had been received. AOs aren’t always great at email this time of year, and sometimes the websites aren’t even accurate for who the AOs are.
I concur with @intparent on the timing - it’s only been 6 days.
In terms of sending the updates (when warranted), follow the school’s instructions. If they ask for updates via the portal, don’t send emails. And they don’t need a weekly update.
In terms of what to update, I am of the belief, particularly for EA/ED applications, that the college has everything it needs to make its decisions. Every applicant to a selective college will have accomplishments which occur after submission. AOs know that, but they don’t want to be inundated with minor updates from thousands of applicants.
So does that mean that one should not submit updates? No. That’s not what I’m saying. But one needs to be judicious. If it’s something that made the nationally-read papers (and not the local free weekly) like an Academy Award nomination (or similar prestigious achievement), include on the update. If it’s to tell them that you were elected softball captain, had another 4.0 quarter (or anything at the school level), don’t.
@intparent, @skieurope, thanks. He applied to both schools referenced in early-mid October, so its been a little longer but the point you make is well taken. The research was not started at that point so he didn’t include it, and grades were obviously not out. I don’t see anything else significant that could merit an update prior to the second trimester grades coming out in February timeframe. I guess my question was, would you try to send an update before a ED /EA decision is made or do you think its best to just wait on the ED/EA decision and update if its a deferral? Sounds like maybe @skieurope would skip the update and @intparent would consider sending.
@skieurope Oddly, I didn’t see the last paragraph of your response prior to writing mine, but that gets to the nitty gritty of the question. No national news being made here. Perhaps we hold off…
Not having read his application, I can’t say for sure. I will say that I would not update on grades unless it’s a huge improvement. Additionally, for schools on trimesters, the T1 grades serve as the midyear update, so it’s a bit duplicative, although it also depends if the school sends those before or after decisions.
If the research position was known at the time of application, even if not started, it should/would have been included on the application. If it wasn’t, then it probably warrants an update. The sports awards are a judgement call; named to all-state would warrant an update, while most improved would not, IMO.
My daughter sent updates recently. She was chosen for a wonderful internship where she is responsible for something major. I thought it was a nice addition to her app and it’s in the field she wants to major in. Some reps wrote back congratulating her and others she didn’t hear from. Do what you think is best.
As an aside, if the school your child is applying offers alumni interviews/meetings, your child can ask the interviewer to include updates in their report. It’s one of the questions that I always ask.
Just saying, having the interviewer do it might lead to some confusion. Why didn’t Johnny mention this in his app? (Kids do forget some major things, then te GC or an LoR mentions it. Can be an SMH moment.) Maybe the interviewer does note it’s a recent win. Or maybe just that they discussed it. You don’t want to cost an adcom time, wondering.
If a school wants to see fall senior year grades they will ask, so be on the lookout for any communication asking for those. I wouldn’t send otherwise, unless the grades signal a significant upward trajectory.
My question to students is “is there anything that you would like Cornell to know that happened after your application was submitted?” I am always careful with wording on reports. I expect most alumni interviewers are as well.