Update letter (already)?

[RuggedShark]

Hi all!

I submitted my primary May 30th, then found out yesterday that the lab where I've been volunteering wants to hire me as a full-time research assistant. I applied to some research-heavy schools with only ~9 months of occasional volunteering with my lab, so listing this experience on my primary would have been great for those schools. I'm thrilled for the opportunity but the timing with my app was not exquisite.

What's the best strategy for telling schools about this change of plans? I'm thinking:

• For the ones that have "plans for the upcoming year" type questions in their secondaries mention it there
• For the ones that don't, send an update letter.

I know I could put it into the "anything else you'd like to share?" questions but want to save those for other stuff.

Does this make sense? How soon would I send a letter if so? Can you even send one until interview season?

Sorry for the barrage of questions and thank you for any help!

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[wysdoc]

Hi all!

I submitted my primary May 30th, then found out yesterday that the lab where I've been volunteering wants to hire me as a full-time research assistant. I applied to some research-heavy schools with only ~9 months of occasional volunteering with my lab, so listing this experience on my primary would have been great for those schools. I'm thrilled for the opportunity but the timing with my app was not exquisite.

What's the best strategy for telling schools about this change of plans? I'm thinking:

• For the ones that have "plans for the upcoming year" type questions in their secondaries mention it there
• For the ones that don't, send an update letter.

I know I could put it into the "anything else you'd like to share?" questions but want to save those for other stuff.

Does this make sense? How soon would I send a letter if so? Can you even send one until interview season?

Sorry for the barrage of questions and thank you for any help!

Update it later in one of those opportunities, not now with an update letter. They haven't even read your primary yet, and it's always good to have a new thing to talk about in a secondary or interview.

 

[cj_cregg]

Update when you actually have a substantial amount of hours from this experience, or mention these plans in secondaries where it is appropriate. Projected hours don't mean much.

 

[LizzyM]

If it doesn't fit a secondary prompt, an update in the first week of September would be appropriate and would show that you're already a few months into this gap year experience.

 

[RuggedShark]

Thank you all! I appreciate the feedback.