after the interview?

[jasonparks]

I've seen this topic on SDN before. But I'll ask anyway. What are your opinions on sending thank you notes to your interviewers? I think it's unecessary (even a bit silly). However, I spoke with a friend who went to an Ivy League School, and he said his pre-med advisor urged him to write a thank you note. I had a great interview last month, but I didn't write a note. Should I regret my choice? Should I send a letter out this week? I loved the school.

Thanks.

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[quideam]

Would it hurt you to send a thank-you note? I mean would it really, really hurt you? Come on... this topic is getting ridiculous. If you're too lazy to send a note, don't send the note. If you can spare a stamp and a couple of sentences, then for god's sake, do it - enough already! The time that it took you to write this post could have been used writing that letter.... argh!!!!!!



- Quid

(sorry to be harsh...but really!!!!!!!)

 

[jasonparks]

Don't be a fool. Obviously it's the principle that is under consideration not the amount of time that it takes to write a note. Many schools might view writing a thank you note as being overly presumptuous.

 

[sickofit]

jason, i didn't send any, and i don't regret it. it may be a courtesy, but it also seems to me like sucking up, and overly so. in the end, though, it's all up to what you want to do, because each interviewer will interpret a thank you note in his or her own way.

by spending the time and by paying the money to arrive at the school for your interview, you are showing the school you care about them. how could a thank you note decide your fate?

 

[jasonparks]

I agree with you. I think that paying hundreds of dollars to travel to the school, and thanking the interviewer personally after the interview, is sufficient to express your gratitute and interest.

Thanks for expressing your view.

 

[superdevil]

i've asked lots of people this question, too. the general consensus i've heard is that some schools do in fact read them (and i hear a small minority add them to your app packet for consideration) and some schools open them, scan them, and throw them in the trash. bottom line: its not a 'must,' but it doesn't hurt, and it may even help if you're lucky (especially if you are SINCERE and SERIOUS regarding things such as "UnivX is definately my first choice," etc.). just what i've heard, anyhow.

you have nothing to regret about not sending one, but you may as well do it for your remaining interviews.

 

[Gleevec]

Originally posted by superdevil
i've asked lots of people this question, too. the general consensus i've heard is that some schools do in fact read them (and i hear a small minority add them to your app packet for consideration) and some schools open them, scan them, and throw them in the trash. bottom line: its not a 'must,' but it doesn't hurt, and it may even help if you're lucky (especially if you are SINCERE and SERIOUS regarding things such as "UnivX is definately my first choice," etc.). just what i've heard, anyhow.

you have nothing to regret about not sending one, but you may as well do it for your remaining interviews.

I disagree telling schools they are your first choice in a thank you card. First off, this isnt the time of the year for LOIs. Secondly, schools will think you are telling EVERY school you are thanking that they are your first choice. Thirdly, a few med schools say it just adds to the amount of work already-overworked secretaries have to do.

Ive been told by a couple schools that thank-you cards are nice, but they won't help you any. Its likely the school already decided on your application prior to the arrival of the thank you cards. Even if it refreshes someone's memory about you, the decision for that round of acceptances has already been made so it wont benefit you.

That said, I think its nice to try and email your student hosts if you can find their email on the webpage. Unfortunately I was not able to do this for some schools (IP restriction to access student guidebook), but its always nice to thank people for letting you chill at their place. And of course, the best way to pay back student hosts is to become one yourself when you're in med school.

So I dont think thank you notes will hurt or help you really in the big scheme of things, usually they come in after the decision has been made. Wait for LOI season, once waitlists are generated, before telling a school they're your #1 choice-- because then they will believe you since you have to withdraw from other schools upon acceptance.

 

[mlw03]

i'm with the "it doesn't matter either way" camp. i cannot believe that it'll make any difference - if you impressed them enough to offer acceptance they're not going to rescind it because you didn't send a thank you note. and if you were going to be rejected, a thank you note isn't going to change it. i also agree with the sentiment that the best way to "thank" student hosts is to do it yourself when you're in med school. i sure plan to next year.

 

[superdevil]

I disagree telling schools they are your first choice in a thank you card. First off, this isnt the time of the year for LOIs. Secondly, schools will think you are telling EVERY school you are thanking that they are your first choice.

you're right, i just got my signals crossed thinking about LOIs. my bad.

 

[quideam]

Don't be a fool?! My god...

Consider this:
Let's say that, hypothetically, 50% of the schools don't care either way about your thank-you note and will just throw it in the trash, 40% will stick it in your file and not really care much, and 10% will actually consider that extra effort along with your application.

If you send a note to all of the schools, will it hurt you? NO. Do you seriously think that an adcom would say "well, we really liked this applicant, and would have accepted him, but he wrote a freaking thank-you note! Jeez, that suck-up! No way we're letting him in now" ?!

On the other hand, if you don't send notes, that could potentially hurt you at those occasional schools that do care about the notes.

It's polite. Write the freaking note. Or, don't. But is this really so important that we must have multiple threads on the topic?

 

[DoctorWannaBe]

I got some advice from my career center regarding thank you notes after interviews for jobs and internships. They highly recommended thank you notes because it is proper professional etiquette and might help you stand out in the mind of interviewers, and you can remind them of the strengths in your application, your interest in the position, and mention something that you talked about during an interview.

On the other hand, maybe applying to medical school has different rules regarding thank you notes. Maybe thank you notes really are just more paperwork to process, who knows.

 

[sickofit]

ok let's say you send the thank you note to your interviewer...what does he or she do with it? increase the rating they gave you on their form? write a note to the adcom to accept you because you suck up? i don't think so. a note to the adcom is one thing, but a note to your interviewer is different, and unrelated.

write a note if you feel you haven't expressed your gratitude to the interviewer enough in person. otherwise, it just seems like a waste of everyone's time

 

[periodic]

innately, i agree with everyone who's saying that it's meaningless

but, my pre-med advisor related a story about an applicant with really good credentials, one he was sure was going to get into (insert top-tier med school). When the kid ended up not getting in, our school advisor actually called up the dean of the med school and asked.

the dean said he had taken the lack of any further contact after the interview (ie, no thank you note to show gratitude to his interviewers or statement that he was still very interested in the school) to mean that the kid wasn't as interested as some other applicants...hence, they passed on him.

i think i'm going to write thank-you notes

 

[Gleevec]

Originally posted by periodic
innately, i agree with everyone who's saying that it's meaningless

but, my pre-med advisor related a story about an applicant with really good credentials, one he was sure was going to get into (insert top-tier med school). When the kid ended up not getting in, our school advisor actually called up the dean of the med school and asked.

the dean said he had taken the lack of any further contact after the interview (ie, no thank you note to show gratitude to his interviewers or statement that he was still very interested in the school) to mean that the kid wasn't as interested as some other applicants...hence, they passed on him.

i think i'm going to write thank-you notes

That's weird, Ive never heard of anything like that. While I think its nice to thank interviewers and student hosts, I do that in person after the interview is done. That said, I think your story is missing some information. If he was on the waitlist, he should have sent an LOI or something to indicate continuing interest in the school.

Furthermore, if it was simply a flat-out rejection, I doubt it had anything to do with a thank-you note. Most adcoms meet the week of the interview to decide on an applicant, and there is little chance a thank you note will get there in time before the decision is made.

So, I dont see how a thank-you note would have affected his chances of getting in, as the decision on him should have been made already.

That said, its always nice to thank the interviewer and the student host, but I try to do that in person. There's a fine line between being gracious and sucking up, and I really rather not cross that line. But I think its always nice to thank people in person rather than with some inanimate card that gives secretaries even more work to do.

But if youre on the waitlist, or havent heard from a school towards the end of the acceptance cycle, DEFINITELY send a letter saying youre still interested in the school or even an LOI to your top school.

 

[sickofit]

Originally posted by Gleevec
That's weird, Ive never heard of anything like that. While I think its nice to thank interviewers and student hosts, I do that in person after the interview is done. That said, I think your story is missing some information. If he was on the waitlist, he should have sent an LOI or something to indicate continuing interest in the school.

Furthermore, if it was simply a flat-out rejection, I doubt it had anything to do with a thank-you note. Most adcoms meet the week of the interview to decide on an applicant, and there is little chance a thank you note will get there in time before the decision is made.

...unless it was at a non-rolling school and this applicant interviewed early in the half/cycle. if he/she interviewed in december and didn't update the school at all between then and march (when the commiteee sends out decisions), it seems more reasonable for the school to interpret that silence as a lack of interest...although this assumption seems unfounded. at a rolling school, i don't see how this could happen