One of the biggest temptations that b-school applicants face is the urge to continue fiddling with their applications, even after the final deadlines have passed. That urge to embellish is especially strong when there’s a piece of good news to share, like a work promotion or a professional award. In some cases, it’s appropriate to forward this type of information to the admissions office and ask that it be added to your file. In many cases, however, supplemental material does little to improve an applicant’s admissions chances – and the impression a candidate makes by requesting special treatment can backfire.
Business schools set application deadlines for a reason. The deadlines help admissions committees to organize their work and ensure that all applicants are competing on a reasonably level playing field.
When you ask an admissions office to open your file to include a new piece of information, you’re upsetting the usual process. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it will draw attention to you. You want to make sure that your motives and reasoning stand up to the scrutiny you will receive.
The first thing to ask yourself is whether the information you want to have added to your file substantially strengthens your candidacy. A promotion, a raise, an award – those are all important to you, of course, but will they be important to the admissions committee? Unless the information improves your candidate profile by filling a gap, mitigating a weakness, or significantly increasing a strength, you should probably let it go.
The second thing to consider is timing. Even if your information is important enough to merit being added to your file, will it get there in time to make a difference? It’s unreasonable to expect admissions committee members to go back and re-read your file once they’re already reviewed it.
When it comes to application updates, an applicant waiting for an initial admissions decision is in a different situation than one who is waitlisted. A waitlisted candidate can benefit from submitting updates – not because the information is important, but because the communication reminds the admissions office of the candidate’s continuing interest in the school. That shouldn’t be a concern for someone who’s submitted an application so recently that their case is still under review.
Every interaction you have with an admissions office is a chance to demonstrate your character and judgment. You don’t want to leave a negative impression. You should think twice about asking to add material to your application unless you’re very confident that it can make a positive difference to your admissions outcome. If not, you’re probably better off leaving things as they are and shifting your focus to completing applications for the next schools on your list.