Formality in Thank You Notes

[KYmed]

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I will be sending thank you notes to my interviewers today. The school seems to prefer that I send communications electronically through the admissions office. I was going to hand write them, because I thought this would be more personal, but I guess I should do what they seem to suggest.

I think I will send the admissions office an email with the letters attached in word docs. One of my interviewers was a student. How do you guys think I should address him? As in, should I start with:

Brad,
or
Mr. Smith,

Considering the interviewer was probably only a year older than me, it sounds strange to say Mr. or Ms., but I'm not sure if I should be so informal as to just use a first name (though this is my first inclination). Any thoughts?

 

[Pacna]

When in doubt, I would go with more formal.

 

[AquiVoy13]

Yeah I would go with 'Mr.' or 'Ms.' just to be safe. Also, for what it's worth, I sent a few thank you notes via email. That way I didn't have to worry about them downloading/opening an additional document. I'm sure either way is fine though.

 

[BlueLabel]

If you have to do by email, I think the most formal possible way to send a note would be to type one up in Word, print and sign it, then scan it and attach it to the email. You don't need to do that, but that's what I would do. It's just a little extra effort, might not even be noticed, but I think it's a nice touch.

Definitely go with Mr. In the correspondence I've had via email with a couple of my student interviewers, they always led off by addressing me as Mr. So I'd say you should go with that.

 

[C.glabrata123]

I've been emailing my interviewers directly, and cc-ing the admissions office. They have all responded within a day or two. It didn't hurt my chances at these schools.

 

[235009]

If you have to do by email, I think the most formal possible way to send a note would be to type one up in Word, print and sign it, then scan it and attach it to the email. You don't need to do that, but that's what I would do. It's just a little extra effort, might not even be noticed, but I think it's a nice touch.

Definitely go with Mr. In the correspondence I've had via email with a couple of my student interviewers, they always led off by addressing me as Mr. So I'd say you should go with that.

printing, signing and scanning is ridiculous. don't do that. I would suggest you just write the text in the body of the email and send it directly to the interviewer. You can cc the admissions office if you want but not necessary.

I think calling a student interviewer by their first name is perfectly acceptable. You are future colleagues.

"The only thing that will stop you from becoming a doctor is if you seize to want it. Do you want to become a doctor? If your answer to that question is yes, then you will become one"
-Streampaw
Best website ever: http://streampaw.blogspot.com/

"seize to want it" LOL ....come on people!

(i think the author of that blog meant "cease")

 

[BlueLabel]

printing, signing and scanning is ridiculous. don't do that. I would suggest you just write the text in the body of the email and send it directly to the interviewer. You can cc the admissions office if you want but not necessary.

How is that ridiculous? It's a whole lot less effort than snail mail. Writing a few lines into an email is probably sufficient, but there's nothing ridiculous about taking a few moments to go above and beyond.

 

[nemo123]

Whoops, I addressed my student interviewers by their first names in my thank you notes...

 

[KYmed]

I've been emailing my interviewers directly, and cc-ing the admissions office. They have all responded within a day or two. It didn't hurt my chances at these schools.

Thanks. I would go the more direct route too, but the school said they prefer any electronic communications to the interviewers to go through the admissions office.

I think I will type them up and send them as attachments. It just seems weird to send more than one thank you note in the body of the same email.

 

[elektroshok]

If you have to do by email, I think the most formal possible way to send a note would be to type one up in Word, print and sign it, then scan it and attach it to the email. You don't need to do that, but that's what I would do. It's just a little extra effort, might not even be noticed, but I think it's a nice touch.

Definitely go with Mr. In the correspondence I've had via email with a couple of my student interviewers, they always led off by addressing me as Mr. So I'd say you should go with that.

This is way overkill. Don't listen to this. Just shoot an email

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[QuinnTheEskimo]

Wow. All my thank-you notes were really informal emails. I addressed my student interviewers by their first name.

Wondering now if that was a blunder...

 

[gyngyn]

I've been emailing my interviewers directly, and cc-ing the admissions office. They have all responded within a day or two. It didn't hurt my chances at these schools.

This is fine, but in OP's case they specifically requested communication through the office. Following instructions is always preferred.

 

[235009]

How is that ridiculous? It's a whole lot less effort than snail mail. Writing a few lines into an email is probably sufficient, but there's nothing ridiculous about taking a few moments to go above and beyond.

It's ridiculous because it appears way too desperate and is just complete overkill.

If there were specific instructions regarding how to send thank you notes and who to send them to you should absolutely follow those instructions.

 

[BlueLabel]

It's ridiculous because it appears way too desperate and is just complete overkill.

If there were specific instructions regarding how to send thank you notes and who to send them to you should absolutely follow those instructions.

This is way overkill. Don't listen to this. Just shoot an email

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I mean I take a dim view of emailing a thank you in the first place. Everyone knows that the thank you is a non-essential part of the admissions process; sending one won't get you accepted, failing to send one won't get you rejected. A letter is likely to have exactly zero impact, unless you say something in it that's somehow untoward. Clearly then, sending thank yous in the first place is nothing more than a courteous gesture. I'm old school; I prefer snail mail for this kind of thing. The next best thing to a physical letter is a scanned copy of the same. It's one thing to balk at that level of effort for a gesture of courtesy, and as I mentioned, it is certainly sufficient if instead you shoot off a quick email. But the only thing "ridiculous" about this discussion is the suggestion that this would somehow reflect negatively on you as a candidate.

Also note that I never said OP had to do things this way, merely that the scanned letter would be the "most formal" option if going the email route.

 

[chickensoupdr]

I just sent a friendly/informal, small thank you card to my interviewers. It worked out pretty well so far 🙂

 

[Lya]

For the student interviewer, it would be acceptable with calling his/her first name, especially if the interviewer introduced himself/herself as the first name.

Writing a brief thank you note in the body of the e-mail, rather than attaching a document (pdf or word), should be also reasonable. I have to agree about the overkill as someone mentioned above. You need to be formal in letter of interests or intent, but for thank you notes, probably not.