Research Fellowship worth an update?

[arcoruff]

Hey y'all!

Just wanted to get a few opinions on a potential update letter I'm sending to my schools. My cycle is looking like this so far:

29 Primaries (MD only) -> 29 Secondaries -> 4 II's, 2 Pre-II R's.

I've completed two of my II's already and was pretty happy with my performance, and have the other two coming soon. However, I was recently notified that I was awarded a research fellowship award from my university for my research work (tldr: had to create a project proposal and the award selection was based on the proposal and the significance of previous work you've done with your lab) -- I am not sure how selective it is, but I do know that they give out a limited number (I know a few people personally who were not given the award, so it's at least somewhat selective). At the end of the semester, I will have to present the work I did over this semester as a part of the fellowship.

Given that one of the II's I finished was at Creighton (and they emphasized that they are extremely update-friendly post-II), I figured I'd take the time to write an update letter. I personally think that research is one of the weaker aspects of my app (which is why I applied for this research fellowship award). I'm definitely going to update the 4 II schools (the two that I've completed now, and then the other two once I finish their interviews), but am not sure if it's worth updating my other 23 schools that have been quiet. I'm also going to include some extracurricular updates (e.g. I was promoted in my teaching position, picked up a new research project in my lab, started learning a new language, etc.) in addition to the research award update. The rest of the updates, collectively, are somewhat notable, but I think the research award is going to be the most impactful thing in my update letter (i.e. without this research award, I probably wouldn't just update schools on my ECs and stuff). Thoughts?

TLDR:
- Got research fellowship award that is at least somewhat selective at my school, will lead to a presentation at the end of the semester
- Definitely going to update the schools I got IIs at with this award and a few other EC updates
- My question: Is it worth updating my other schools (that have been silent) pre-II, given that many of them are research-heavy (think t20's) and that research isn't a strength of my app (no pubs or anything)?

Thank you so much for your time everyone! I really appreciate y'all.

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[Mr.Smile12]

Read While You Are Waiting: Processing Health Professions Applications - SDN

Focus on the schools where you have II's after your interviews and you know they accept updates. Good job so far. Don't waste your time on the others that remain silent or have sent you denials.

 

[arcoruff]

Read While You Are Waiting: Processing Health Professions Applications - SDN

Focus on the schools where you have II's after your interviews and you know they accept updates. Good job so far. Don't waste your time on the others that remain silent or have sent you denials.

Thank you so much for the resource and for your thoughts; I really appreciate it! I guess to be more specific, my question was the following (and here's my reasoning but please correct me if I'm thinking wrong about anything):

- There are three categories of schools in my head: schools that were interested in me already (II's), schools that are on the fence about me, and schools that wouldn't ever give me a II anyway and are just eating up my application fees (but still haven't given me an R).
- If I send an update...
- For the first category, it would be a good move because they already showed they liked my application in some way and I'd just be giving them more to like
- For the third category, it won't hurt me in any way (I'm really just copy-pasting the same letter 27 times so I won't be burning too much time on this) because they were never really considering me to begin with, so even if I annoy them with my letter, I'm getting an R either way
- My main concerns lie within the second category (schools that are on the edge about me); if they're on the fence, is there ever a scenario where I send them my update letter and that makes them like me less, or where it would hurt my application in any way? The only way I see an update letter hurting me is if an on-the-fence school considers me in a more negative light following the update and don't end up offering me an interview. On the flip side, if my letter has the ability to tilt a school in my favor, I would absolutely want to seize that opportunity.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Thank you so much for the resource and for your thoughts; I really appreciate it! I guess to be more specific, my question was the following (and here's my reasoning but please correct me if I'm thinking wrong about anything):

- There are three categories of schools in my head: schools that were interested in me already (II's), schools that are on the fence about me, and schools that wouldn't ever give me a II anyway and are just eating up my application fees (but still haven't given me an R).
...
- My main concerns lie within the second category (schools that are on the edge about me); if they're on the fence, is there ever a scenario where I send them my update letter and that makes them like me less, or where it would hurt my application in any way? The only way I see an update letter hurting me is if an on-the-fence school considers me in a more negative light following the update and don't end up offering me an interview.

With adequate warning about generalizations, you don't know if schools are "are the edge" with your application. From my experience and alluded to in the article (where there is a paragraph on how committees could decide who gets invited), decisions are generally made as if you are a judge on The Voice or a similar performance show. If enough people like your application, you advance. You could get relegated if you got a minority of judges' support. You could ultimately receive an interview denial if no one wants you.

Hopefully, you know before applying how each of the other schools you are waiting to hear from welcome or handle updates. If you don't know, you risk having that update be sent for nothing (because they won't accept or read your update). If you think addressing your lack of research "success" (you claim) puts you closer to meeting a school's vision for its incoming class or its educational mission and expectations to train research-knowledgeable and -competent graduates, then it would be a strategic shot to take. To do this, I presume you know which schools in your second category have such an emphasis and expectation where such an update could help you.

There will be a point when a program is going to tell you where you stand, albeit in rather vague terms. You might get a letter saying you are on an invitation waitlist (which still means they'll let you know if you get an invitation, but they haven't ruled you out yet). You might get no response and be left hanging on for hope. The point here and in the article is that you just move forward and nurture the programs that have reciprocated your interest. Just because you sent a letter to Kate the Princess of Wales (given the current events of HM QE2's death) doesn't mean you'll get to visit Buckingham Palace soon.

 

[arcoruff]

With adequate warning about generalizations, you don't know if schools are "are the edge" with your application. From my experience and alluded to in the article (where there is a paragraph on how committees could decide who gets invited), decisions are generally made as if you are a judge on The Voice or a similar performance show. If enough people like your application, you advance. You could get relegated if you got a minority of judges' support. You could ultimately receive an interview denial if no one wants you.

Hopefully, you know before applying how each of the other schools you are waiting to hear from welcome or handle updates. If you don't know, you risk having that update be sent for nothing (because they won't accept or read your update). If you think addressing your lack of research "success" (you claim) puts you closer to meeting a school's vision for its incoming class or its educational mission and expectations to train research-knowledgeable and -competent graduates, then it would be a strategic shot to take. To do this, I presume you know which schools in your second category have such an emphasis and expectation where such an update could help you.

There will be a point when a program is going to tell you where you stand, albeit in rather vague terms. You might get a letter saying you are on an invitation waitlist (which still means they'll let you know if you get an invitation, but they haven't ruled you out yet). You might get no response and be left hanging on for hope. The point here and in the article is that you just move forward and nurture the programs that have reciprocated your interest. Just because you sent a letter to Kate the Princess of Wales (given the current events of HM QE2's death) doesn't mean you'll get to visit Buckingham Palace soon.

This was a great read — I really appreciate the thought you put into your response. I think I’ll definitely take some time to figure out which schools are receptive to updates and cater my update letter to those schools only. Thank you so much for your time!