Who to send thank you to?

[saabbro]

Hi all,
Just had an interview recently and can't find my interviewers email anywhere. Could I just email admissions and ask them to forward it? Or is there another way? And if I ask them to forward it should I send my thank you in an attachment within the email or just put the whole message in the body of the email as text?
Thank you in advance!

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[NotASerialKiller]

Hi all,
Just had an interview recently and can't find my interviewers email anywhere. Could I just email admissions and ask them to forward it? Or is there another way? And if I ask them to forward it should I send my thank you in an attachment within the email or just put the whole message in the body of the email as text?
Thank you in advance!

You could not thank them post-interview

 

[phuynh94]

it to the admissions committee/office (either by the original office email or upload it to the portal under additional info) thanking them for the opportunity to visit and interview. I then write a second paragraph extending my thanks to my interviewers. (If I know their emails, I cc them. Otherwise, I trust that the office will forward the thanks as requested). Some schools like Vandy add the note to your file, so it can't hurt!

 

[gyngyn]

There is no need to send thank you messages.
If you feel compelled to do so and the school has not prohibited it, send it to the admissions office.

 

[WedgeDawg]

There is no need to send thank you messages.
If you feel compelled to do so and the school has not prohibited it, send it to the admissions office.

Some schools (*coughcoughNYUcoughcough*) explicitly ask for them though, and a lot of other interviewers seem to appreciate them, so I think it's a nice thing to do (in general, not just with med school admissions).

 

[NotASerialKiller]

Some schools (*coughcoughNYUcoughcough*) explicitly ask for them though, and a lot of other interviewers seem to appreciate them, so I think it's a nice thing to do (in general, not just with med school admissions).

I'll thank them when they accept me

 

[Pastamahn]

Hmm at the interviews I've been to, my interviewers have given me their business cards at the end, so I have sent my thank you letters directly to them seeing as I had their address from the business card. Is this bad etiquette?

 

[WedgeDawg]

I'll thank them when they accept me

(I know you're being at least somewhat facetious but I'm going to say this anyway for the benefit of other readers).

Beyond trying to get an interviewer to remember you and keep you in their memory, a lot of adcoms don't get paid or anything for serving on an admissions committee - they're doing it because they're interested in the future of medicine, so I think it's always a nice gesture to let them know their efforts are appreciated, regardless of the outcome of the interview and admissions decision.

 

[NotASerialKiller]

(I know you're being at least somewhat facetious but I'm going to say this anyway for the benefit of other readers).

Beyond trying to get an interviewer to remember you and keep you in their memory, a lot of adcoms don't get paid or anything for serving on an admissions committee - they're doing it because they're interested in the future of medicine, so I think it's always a nice gesture to let them know their efforts are appreciated, regardless of the outcome of the interview and admissions decision.

I can't remember a time when I've said something that wasn't at least somewhat facetious.

Why would they ever interpret it as an honest gesture of thanks though? Thousands of pre-meds desperately clamouring for a few seats, and they assume that you really appreciate their time and are not just trying curry favour? Even if you are thankful for their time, they have so little reason to believe that you're sincere.
"I know you're deciding whether or not I am imprisoned for 20 to life Mr. Judge sir, but I honestly appreciate your service to the justice system so I decided to bake you this cake!"

 

[WedgeDawg]

I can't remember a time when I've said something that wasn't at least somewhat facetious.

Why would they ever interpret it as an honest gesture of thanks though? Thousands of pre-meds desperately clamouring for a few seats, and they assume that you really appreciate their time and are not just trying curry favour? Even if you are thankful for their time, they have so little reason to believe that you're sincere.
"I know you're deciding whether or not I am imprisoned for 20 to life Mr. Judge sir, but I honestly appreciate your service to the justice system so I decided to bake you this cake!"

I mean, if you feel that way, then don't send a thank you. Simple as that. I hope that mine were well received, and based on the responses I got in return, I think they were appreciated.

 

[gyngyn]

Some schools (*coughcoughNYUcoughcough*) explicitly ask for them though, and a lot of other interviewers seem to appreciate them, so I think it's a nice thing to do (in general, not just with med school admissions).

About 10% of applicants have some pretty serious problems.
These communications can become adversarial when the decision is rendered, so communication through a third party (if desired) is preferred.

NYU, really? I didn't know they were so needy...

 

[WedgeDawg]

NYU, really? I didn't know they were so needy...

It was really surprising... they did MMI and as we were leaving, they were like "please send thank you notes to [email protected] (or something) by no later than a week after your interview" and I was like are you joking. Now, I like sending thank you notes to my interviewers and letter writers and people who, you know, I feel like deserve my thanks, but being not asked, but told, to do so, particularly for an MMI where they aren't really going to connect with the interviewer, I was a little bit put off. Oh well.

 

[gyngyn]

It was really surprising... they did MMI and as we were leaving, they were like "please send thank you notes to [email protected] (or something) by no later than a week after your interview" and I was like are you joking. Now, I like sending thank you notes to my interviewers and letter writers and people who, you know, I feel like deserve my thanks, but being not asked, but told, to do so, particularly for an MMI where they aren't really going to connect with the interviewer, I was a little bit put off. Oh well.

Weird.

 

[Pastamahn]

o.0. That's so weird. How does that even count as a genuine thank you note if they're practically twisting your arm to do it?

I had a similar experience at a different medical school. They didn't push us sending the thank you letters as much, but they did give us a firm deadline to submit the thank you letters by.

 

[Oranges2]

haha this seems to be a hot topic as of late

 

[saabbro]

haha this seems to be a hot topic as of late

oops wish I noticed your other thread haha

 

[Anomandaris]

I mean, if you feel that way, then don't send a thank you. Simple as that. I hope that mine were well received, and based on the responses I got in return, I think they were appreciated.

Did you frequently get responses back from schools to which you sent thank you notes? I just recently sent out some thank you notes (albeit physical ones) and was wondering if I should expect some kind of response...

 

[WedgeDawg]

Did you frequently get responses back from schools to which you sent thank you notes? I just recently sent out some thank you notes (albeit physical ones) and was wondering if I should expect some kind of response...

I sent thank you notes to all except 2 schools I interviewed at (one explicitly said no thank you notes, the other was MMI and I didn't know who to send it to). I got responses back from all schools except NYU.

 

[Donald Juan]

o.0. That's so weird. How does that even count as a genuine thank you note if they're practically twisting your arm to do it?

Maybe the point isn't that it is genuine, but that they want to see we can act out professional courtesy. It's like how we're basically required to wear a suit to interviews and act politely while there. It's not to pretend that we actually like wearing suits or that we act that way 24/7, it's just to show that we know how to behave like a professional.

For the record, I don't ideally believe in the practice of quasi-mandatory thank you notes, I just can see this as a partially acceptable reason. Also, for the record, I will be sending out thank you notes to every person I interview for residency with, but it seemed less necessary for med school interviews at the time to me.