Thank You Letters: Email or Handwritten

[PTPoeny]

How do you guys address your thank you notes to chief residents? On interview day she was quite clear about preferring to be referred to by her first names, but I don't know if that would be too informal on a thank you note.

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[harate09]

Dear Jodi,

You don't need Dr. Friedman,

 

[m1125]

Just curious, but is it unprofessional in the thank you note to say you will rank the program very high or #1? Will this affect the ranking of an applicant if you do not disclose any information about ranking the program?

Thanks in advance!

 

[duckie99]

I think email is appropriate as that is the way people generally communicate nowadays. Obviously some people may like that nice handwritten letter but imo it isn't necessary and I am not going to do it.

Just curious, but is it unprofessional in the thank you note to say you will rank the program very high or #1? Will this affect the ranking of an applicant if you do not disclose any information about ranking the program?

It is fine to say you like the program. IMO if you are interested in a place you should let them know. However, PLEASE only tell your #1 program they are #1. Others you are thinking about ranking high you should say just that. If you tell multiple programs you are ranking them #1 and they rank you high and don't match there it does not reflect well on you or your school.

As to the effectiveness of this tactic... I think it really only matters at places you have a history with (e.g. a place you did an away rotation at and you know the PD personally to an extent). Otherwise I think everyone takes this stuff with a grain of salt. I suggest all applicants do the same as programs will also contact people to try and recruit them as match day gets closer. Good luck!

 

[Epo83]

I interviewed at a program last Wed and sent out thank you emails Saturday when I had time. Still haven't heard any response that they've been received/seen.

1) For future programs should I be emailing them asap (next day)?
2) Is it normal to not hear back? If not, should I try calling the program to thank them if they don't respond by Friday?

Small potatoes I know....just curious.

 

[gutonc]

I interviewed at a program last Wed and sent out thank you emails Saturday when I had time. Still haven't heard any response that they've been received/seen.

1) For future programs should I be emailing them asap (next day)?

You should email soon. Next day, next week...both OK. Next month? Probably a waste of time.

2) Is it normal to not hear back? If not, should I try calling the program to thank them if they don't respond by Friday?

Small potatoes I know....just curious.

Two things here.

First...I hate the arms race of TY notes in life in general. A TY note does not require any further communication. I did something for you, you said thank you. That's the end of it. Maybe the next time we cross paths IRL we can talk about it. But I've gotten TY notes for sending TY notes. That s**t is just crazy.

Second...your TY should be a sincere expression of thanks for the interview and what you learned about the program, NOT an opportunity to crawl up the PDs butt. You said "thanks." Move on. There are many programs that, as a rule, do not engage in post-interview communication outside of answering specific questions. Don't get hung up on this. And if you do hear back from a program, the only piece of information that you should put any weight on at all is a screenshot of their certified ROL from the NRMP website showing your name and ROL position. Everything else should be treated as complete bulls**t. Just like they treat your "I totally love you and I'm ranking you #1" email.

 

[twright]

Just curious, but is it unprofessional in the thank you note to say you will rank the program very high or #1? Will this affect the ranking of an applicant if you do not disclose any information about ranking the program?

Thanks in advance!

If you tell a program "I will be ranking them highly", it will be interpreted as "I will not be ranking you #1".

Whether or not that will affect their ranking of you is a separate issue.

 

[dude1344]

If you tell a program "I will be ranking them highly", it will be interpreted as "I will not be ranking you #1".

Whether or not that will affect their ranking of you is a separate issue.

I don't see how anyone can be telling a program they're #1 at this point, even if they are. When sending thank yous soon after the interview, I think it would look bad saying "you're #1" when interview season has just begun - it looks a bit funny to me.

But if they ARE your #1, what do you do. *sigh* this process can be a headache.

 

[pooh86]

I interviewed at a program last Wed and sent out thank you emails Saturday when I had time. Still haven't heard any response that they've been received/seen.

1) For future programs should I be emailing them asap (next day)?
2) Is it normal to not hear back? If not, should I try calling the program to thank them if they don't respond by Friday?

Small potatoes I know....just curious.

I've interviewed at places where the program director told us if we don't hear back from them after a thank you note, it's normal and most likely they've received it.

 

[twright]

I don't see how anyone can be telling a program they're #1 at this point, even if they are. When sending thank yous soon after the interview, I think it would look bad saying "you're #1" when interview season has just begun - it looks a bit funny to me.

But if they ARE your #1, what do you do. *sigh* this process can be a headache.

Some people know early on. You want to live in San Francisco and you want to go to the best program possible that would help you with an academic career... so UCSF is your #1. Very little about your interview day will change it. The CPMC residents could be the happiest residents on earth, but you just can't stomach the thought of being at a second-rate academic institution. The Stanford residents love the land of milk and honey but you just can't stomach the thought of living in The Peninsula.

Other people might care about other things and really are trying to spend the 2-3 months kicking the tires. So if, at an early stage, you don't know -- then why not just write a thank you note that expresses gratitude for the time that your interviewers took to consider your application? You can even write that you liked the program a lot. But there's still no need to write anything close to "I will be ranking you highly".