I had no clue which forum to post this in so forgive me if this question doesn’t seem relevant. I was recently named as a finalist for scholarships at two prestigious schools. I feel like these are major awards that merit an update to the other schools that I applied to. However, I do not want to make it seem that I am leveraging these generous offers for the sake of increasing my own admission chances (even though I guess this is what I am doing). Should I update my other schools on these new developments?
I wouldn’t notify the other schools.
I can see no good which could come of this.
You would end up saying, “They love me over there!” To which the response elicited might very be, “Then go there.”
You are clearly a strong candidate for at least the schools which have responded positively to you. You must believe that each school will see you this way.
Thanks @KKmama and @Waiting2exhale! Those were definitely my concerns. Thanks for your help!
I don’t understand this advice, what’s the harm in mentioning your preference for their school but finances being a concern as somewhat comparable schools are making it more affordable. If there is something their school can do to help him balance this equation then he’ll not hesitate to make a decision.
This is not an advice to OP but more like a question to posters who adviced against mentioning other scholarships.
That might work when the schools are comparable (we don’t know that) and the student has been admitted and has scholarships/FA awards in hand. However, this student has not yet been admitted to the other schools and so I agree with the above posters: I don’t think that type of “update” would help with admission to the schools that have not yet released decisions.
I would only mention scholarships if they are non-institutional and if being a finalist or a semifinalist is a big deal. NMF and CocaCola yes, finalist for a Vandy, Emory, WASHU scholarship, absolutely not.
@“Yalie 2011” The problem is that schools are concerned about yield. If they think that you are likely to go to another school because of a scholarship, why should they admit you and have you not come? Leveraging one schools FA and/or merit offer against another (peer) school’s offers, yes. But not as an update to your admissions application.
Got it. Thank you.
I don’t think these are the types of awards that colleges are talking about when they request updates. Why would College A care if College B offers you a scholarship? They aren’t going to second guess their decision based on the opinion of adcoms at College B.
Families sometimes share awards from one school with their top choice to see if they can make the top choice a little more affordable, but only after the student has been admitted. I think sharing this information is more likely to get you rejected than admitted. Would you show a prospective employer offers from other companies before they decided to offer you a job? Save updates for things like major outside awards.