Do interviewers at the same school compare thank you letters?

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Hi,

I've had several interviews this season so far, and have been writing thank you letters to all my interviewers in less than 24hrs post-interview.

The thing is, after writing the first few, a general template of thank you letter was sort of generated. So I've been sort of using that template and just replacing names of interviewers + schools. Of course, I would rewrite some paragraphs or other details that were specific to each interviewer (for example, my thank you letters are usually 3~4 paragraphs long and for every letter, around 2 paragraphs would be different). However, I still used the same flow of letter (as in say thank you first, note something specific about the interview, say how I'd fit into the school, say thank you again), and several phrases within the letter would be the same.

I was writing another letter today, and this just hit me, but would interviewers print out the thank you letters and add these to my applicant file when everyone in the admissions gathers to make the decision for me? If this was the case, I'm kind of worried that my interviewers might see each other's letters and think negatively about it...

 

[Remy LeBeau]

There are many aspects of a med school application to consider when making an admissions decision. I would be shocked if duplicate vs. unique thank you letters were among them.

 

[Nena01]

No. Thank you letters are not printed and added to your file. In fact, they don't affect your admissions decision at all, it's just courtesy.

Some schools (like Emory) even ask us not to send thank you letters because it's unecessary and does not at all increase your chance of admission.

 

[osprey099]

There are many aspects of a med school application to consider when making an admissions decision. I would be shocked if duplicate vs. unique thank you letters were among them.

I would be shocked if thank you notes in General were among them.

 

[darkjedi]

If you emailed the thank you letters directly to your interviewers, they will almost certainly not compare them to other people. They will likely receive a whole bunch of letters, and really who has to time/would even care to compare thank you letters.

If you have to upload them onto your application page, it's possible that it can be collated into your application however. It will differ form school to school, and probably pretty rare a school actually collects them.

 

[rfvbnmju]

Too much neuroticism here.

No they don't. They have more important things to do like actually making those admissions decisions.

Sent from my phone.

 

[Ismet]

No. Thank you letters are not printed and added to your file.

Don't make blanket statements like that. Some schools do add thank you letters and emails to your file for the whole committee to see.

It doesn't matter in terms of the admissions decision unless you somehow say something unprofessional in the letter. I'm sure it's happened before. But for the overwhelming majority of the time, it doesn't matter if you send one or not, or what you say.

 

[wiloghby]

Some schools do add thank you letters and emails to your file for the whole committee to see.

Absolutely true! I recently interviewed at a school with open file interviews, and when I walked in to the interview, the interviewer started by mentioning things that were *only* specified in personal e-mails between me and the Dean of Admissions. In fact, my interviewer remarked how it was funny that I started all my e-mails to the Dean of Admissions the same way. (It was light-hearted; the interview went very well.)

While of course in my case these e-mails helped my interviewer understand how interested I was in the school (i.e. he learned I had unsuccessfully attempted to apply Early Decision after accidentally specifying other schools on my primary), I can imagine that some applicants' awkward e-mails follow them around in their official file a lot longer than they expect.

That being said, if you are sending an e-mail to someone outside admissions, I would be surprised if they went through the effort to have it placed in your file.

 

[Ismet]

That being said, if you are sending an e-mail to someone outside admissions, I would be surprised if they went through the effort to have it placed in your file.

It's as easy as hitting the "forward" button and addressing it to the admissions office.

 

[pyrrion89]

With how busy admissions people must be, I'd be shocked if they have enough time or motivation to do something as trivial as comparing thank you notes.

 

[Goro]

I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt that you're not a troll, but this is a really stupid question. If you 're going waste energy fussing over an anxiety generating process like the app cycle, at least worry about something more serious.

Hi,

I've had several interviews this season so far, and have been writing thank you letters to all my interviewers in less than 24hrs post-interview.

The thing is, after writing the first few, a general template of thank you letter was sort of generated. So I've been sort of using that template and just replacing names of interviewers + schools. Of course, I would rewrite some paragraphs or other details that were specific to each interviewer (for example, my thank you letters are usually 3~4 paragraphs long and for every letter, around 2 paragraphs would be different). However, I still used the same flow of letter (as in say thank you first, note something specific about the interview, say how I'd fit into the school, say thank you again), and several phrases within the letter would be the same.

I was writing another letter today, and this just hit me, but would interviewers print out the thank you letters and add these to my applicant file when everyone in the admissions gathers to make the decision for me? If this was the case, I'm kind of worried that my interviewers might see each other's letters and think negatively about it...

 

[twinning]

Hi,

I've had several interviews this season so far, and have been writing thank you letters to all my interviewers in less than 24hrs post-interview.

The thing is, after writing the first few, a general template of thank you letter was sort of generated. So I've been sort of using that template and just replacing names of interviewers + schools. Of course, I would rewrite some paragraphs or other details that were specific to each interviewer (for example, my thank you letters are usually 3~4 paragraphs long and for every letter, around 2 paragraphs would be different). However, I still used the same flow of letter (as in say thank you first, note something specific about the interview, say how I'd fit into the school, say thank you again), and several phrases within the letter would be the same.

I was writing another letter today, and this just hit me, but would interviewers print out the thank you letters and add these to my applicant file when everyone in the admissions gathers to make the decision for me? If this was the case, I'm kind of worried that my interviewers might see each other's letters and think negatively about it...

Simple solution: don't write them so they don't think you are insensitive for copying and pasting.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MedBrah]

Simple solution: don't write them so they don't think you are insensitive for copying and pasting.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Either this, or write such an epic letter that they NEED to add it to your file because it's so good.

 

[twinning]

Either this, or write such an epic letter that they NEED to add it to your file because it's so good.

Better yet write each of them an epic to immortalize them in interviewer history the way Homer did for Odysseus and Achilles.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[muddyduck7]

A four paragraph letter is really overkill. If you feel the need to send thank you letters, keep them concise.