<p>Could I e-mail Tufts an update letting them know?</p>
<p>Is this even a really big thing to schools - big enough to e-mail an update?</p>
<p>I’m an RD applicant, btw (though Tufts is my #1 choice).</p>
<p>i wouldnt email them about it. just try to mention it in one of your essays somehow… and put it under the AP exams that you plan to take in the commonapp. i think they should see that it’s not on your transcript, but you plan to take the exam. but the best is to mention it one of your essays or interview if you are having one.</p>
<p>I’ve already sent in my application, it was due on the 1st lol.</p>
<p>That’s why I posed this question. But yeah, I could mention it in my interview.</p>
<p>You could also have your counselor mention it or have it mentioned in your mid-year report</p>
<p>i thought RD is due the 15th? my bad. lol i applied EDII which was due the 1st…</p>
<p>Oh, that’s true Modadunn. Didn’t think about that, I’ll probably have him do that.</p>
<p>I would go over your entire application and make a note of anything/everything you didn’t mention or want to mention. Make an appointment with your counselor and go over it with her/him so that in the end there will be no regrets and no missed opportunities to put your best foot forward.</p>
<p>I would leave this alone.
Saying in January that you have decided to self-study for an AP test is fairly irrelevant. It is not the same as taking the course since the beginning of the year, in which case they would have your grades to judge your performance in the course. Merely saying you will be taking the test? I don’t think it’s terribly relevant, and frankly I might be concerned that it looks just a little desperate. I suspect your curriculum already speaks for itself; I would let it be.</p>
<p>
Hm, yeah that’s what I was worried about, WCAS.</p>
<p>@ Modadunn, I’m not sure if I have many other things for him to write. I actually asked him about this already, and he said the counselor rec was really good and covered everything I asked; I guess he anticipated my questions.</p>
<p>If I find anything else I want them to know, I’ll have him write a letter - but after thinking about it, self studying for 1 AP test may not make or break me.</p>
<p>Thanks all!</p>
<p>I agree that if you’re just talking about it because of the test, it’s not exactly relevant. And if your academic attitude has already been covered… well, yes, I’d agree it’s probably redundant. However, I do not agree that anything a kid decides to take on or accomplishes post application deadline (aka january and beyond) would be seen as desperate – if that is even what WCASParent is implying (and not saying that this is the case).</p>
<p>As example: My son’s schedule will be “lighter” with him not playing a winter sport for the first time since elementary school. He has been asked to volunteer at a place that takes in children short term. A parent on the board asked him because a lot of these kids don’t have fathers in their lives and they are often short on volunteers who really like to “play” let alone having good male role models. Anyway… I think it bears mentioning to schools on his list, but that he is doing it has absolutely nothing to do with college apps and he certainly isn’t desperate. But now I don’t know if he should because I don’t want it to appear that way.</p>
<p>^^^^^^^</p>
<p>I think the above perspective is basically correct. The question is, “How will this additional information tell us something about you we don’t already know?”</p>
<p>If you’ve got a light courseload senior year, then telling us about how you decided to take an Honors class instead of a AP class because you are in love with that subject and you knew you would supplement that class with self-study for the AP, then that tells us something we might not find anywhere else. Of course, that’s the sort of thing your guidance counselor should tell us in their rec, but you may be at a school where you can’t count on the counselor rec for that. </p>
<p>There are many more ways that self-study might show us something important that isn’t already highlighted, or that would hammer home a point you want to make about yourself (like, you have a more independent style of learning) , but you should always think critically about how supplemental information will fit into the broader picture of your application.</p>
<p>I agree with WCASParent on the AP test issue. If you think about it, only AP tests taken thru junior year are significant for “admission purposes” anyway. You won’t even have AP scores from senior year until July, so those really only count for placement at college. Lots of kids self-study for AP’s and many kids don’t end up taking the exams they say they will by the time May comes around!! (senioritis???) lol.</p>
<p>But don’t let that be a deterrant to self-studying anyway. My D ended up getting enough AP credits (8) at Tufts to start, technically, as a sophomore and was able to
by-pass the 101-type courses and go directly to more upper-level ones. </p>
<p>In the end, I would only contact admssions if there were truly some significant addition to your application. And, of course, your GC can update via the Mid-Year report. </p>
<p>Good Luck!!</p>
<p>Thank you all :)</p>
<p>I still have to decide which one’s I am self studying for… looking at Tufts’ AP credits sheet, I will only get 4 (because AP USGAP and AP CGAP can only be for 1 credit, and the same goes for the AP Englishes, and the others I got 4’s on while Tufts requires 5’s.) So instead of taking AP Eng (again and receiving no credit because I already got credit for AP Eng Lang) and taking both AP US Governments, I would rather self study and take a different exam in hopes of earning more credit!</p>
<p>If you know that your counselor will not provide an explanation for changes in second semester courses taken, should the student send a letter to the admissions office or would an email be sufficient? My S is actually taking AP Macro-Economics but his transcript will show Honors Government because Govt. is required by the state. He’s also dropping 2 elective classes and picking up a Psychology course. Should he provide an explanation for all of these changes?</p>