Changes in projected hours

[Lake_Front]

In my application, I listed the hours for a certain activity as 30hrs (the amount I had actually completed at the time) and stated that "I have made a commitment to complete 170 more hours before July 2022" in the details. While I have been making progress on this activity, with life etc. I'm finding that it may be a bit more difficult to reach this total and should be closer to ~150 hours total instead of 200. Is this anything I should be worried about or potentially letting schools know about in an update letter? I would hate for this to potentially ruin any of my acceptances or cause any kind of unnecessary drama.

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[Catalystik]

In my application, I listed the hours for a certain activity as 30hrs (the amount I had actually completed at the time) and stated that "I have made a commitment to complete 170 more hours before July 2022" in the details. While I have been making progress on this activity, with life etc. I'm finding that it may be a bit more difficult to reach this total and should be closer to ~150 hours total instead of 200. Is this anything I should be worried about or potentially letting schools know about in an update letter? I would hate for this to potentially ruin any of my acceptances or cause any kind of unnecessary drama.

Any decision made on your file will be based on completed hours, not possible hours. There is no reason to call attention to the probable shortfall. For schools that accept update letters, you can mention significant additions to hours of critical ECs, in case it may make a difference in how your file is processed. If you do complete the 150 total hours and your Contact is contacted for verification someday, I doubt a 50 hour difference will be held against you, as 150 hours is still a decent level of involvement.

 

[BeMoConsulting]

Hi there, this is a good question. One of the main things that admissions committees look for in your activities is your commitment to the activity and your progression through that activity (i.e., moving to another, higher level role). Sticking with the activity until matriculation shows that you are passionate about the field. If your projected hours from one activity are slightly lower, you will likely not face any issues. However, if you misrepresented the coming year substantially, this could be cause for concern.

I would suggest waiting to send your update letter until you have other, more substantial things to add to it. You can mention that for full transparency, your actual hours are a little less than what you had projected due to other activities. However, that should not be the driving reason to send an update letter. Ideally, you will want to update them on additional activities or anything you have done or began (that was not in your application documents), that you believe makes you a stronger candidate. Please also remember to research the schools before sending your update letter, as some schools do not accept these.

Best of luck!

 

[Lake_Front]

Any decision made on your file will be based on completed hours, not possible hours. There is no reason to call attention to the probable shortfall. For schools that accept update letters, you can mention significant additions to hours of critical ECs, in case it may make a difference in how your file is processed. If you do complete the 150 total hours and your Contact is contacted for verification someday, I doubt a 50 hour difference will be held against you, as 150 hours is still a decent level of involvement.

Thank you very much. I already have an acceptance to one of my top choices and I'm not even sure if (or if schools that gave acceptances) even bother to still read update letters. I will just keep completing as many hours as I can then. Thank you.

 

[allseasons]

Any decision made on your file will be based on completed hours, not possible hours. There is no reason to call attention to the probable shortfall. For schools that accept update letters, you can mention significant additions to hours of critical ECs, in case it may make a difference in how your file is processed. If you do complete the 150 total hours and your Contact is contacted for verification someday, I doubt a 50 hour difference will be held against you, as 150 hours is still a decent level of involvement.

the one exception I've found to this is recent job you've began. I got two jobs that literally began the week before I applied (so 10 hrs completed, 1000 hours projected) and it came up as a major point of interest in almost all of my interviews. I think it's because unlike volunteering or other ECs, jobs are seen as more "definitive", as in you have a reason to complete it outside of your application.