If thank you notes REALLY don't matter...

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p0gono

p0gono

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If thank you notes actually don't have an impact on admissions outcomes, then why do so many schools have explicit policies on thank you notes (snail and electronic) going through the admissions office?

The last three places I have interviewed had such policies. I get the idea that interviewers interview tons of people and notes would be overwhelming, but why wouldn't they just have a no thank-you policy if that were the true reason?

I hypothesize that higher tier (esp private) schools actually use the content in thank yous to gauge interest for yield purposes. Maybe not sending one won't hurt, but sending one that says the right things could help?


Edit: I don't think thank yous should be used in this way and think that it is dumb, but real (in some cases).
 
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I kind of figured it was to protect the interviewers' privacy. Policies like help ensure that interviewees won't try to ask for the interviewers' email or physical addresses to send them a note and then pester them later.
 
Hmm yeah that would make sense too, but 2 of the schools explicitly said that even if our interviewers gave us their contact, to submit through the office. All of my interviewers so far have volunteered their emails.
 
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p0gono said:
I hypothesize that higher tier (esp private) schools actually use the content in thank yous to gauge interest for yield purposes. Maybe not sending one won't hurt, but sending one that says the right things could help?
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Oh c'mon. And on what is this hypothesis based? You really think schools analyze thank you notes to determine yield? Really? Out of allllllllllll the information they have on you, including a face to face interview, they choose the oh so insightful and monumentally important thank you notes?

Most schools barely read thank you notes. They have policies so you don't badger the faculty because nobody cares about these notes and the faculty aren't interested in reading ton of them that parade as a low-key LOI or some other stupid kiss ass strategy some premed thinks is gonna get brownie points. (Besides Georgetown, that is. Apparently notes there can determine if you can get off the WL. Stupid)
 
avgn said:
Oh c'mon. And on what is this hypothesis based? You really think schools analyze thank you notes to determine yield? Really? Out of allllllllllll the information they have on you, including a face to face interview, they choose the oh so insightful and monumentally important thank you notes?

Most schools barely read thank you notes. They have policies so you don't badger the faculty because nobody cares about these notes and the faculty aren't interested in reading ton of them that parade as a low-key LOI or some other stupid kiss ass strategy some premed thinks is gonna get brownie points. (Besides Georgetown, that is. Apparently notes there can determine if you can get off the WL. Stupid)
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Many schools ask that if you felt good about your interview day and remain excited about the school, please "keep in touch." These notes are an opportunity to show continued interest in a less contrived way than LOI etc. I don't think it's about brownie points, more about what you actually communicate in the note. Just an idea, I think it would be oversimplified to say this is always true OR never true.
 
p0gono said:
Many schools ask that if you felt good about your interview day and remain excited about the school, please "keep in touch." These notes are an opportunity to show continued interest in a less contrived way than LOI etc. I don't think it's about brownie points, more about what you actually communicate in the note. Just an idea, I think it would be oversimplified to say this is always true OR never true.
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Where are these places? This seems so needy.
 
I dont know - what do they really mean. And also everyone does them. I dont know if it really makes you stand out.
 
I was told by a school that the reason they have specific policies about sending notes to the admissions office is because sometimes applicants will use thank you notes as an opportunity to update their application by mentioning a publication or something important and the interviewer will likely not remember to update the applicant's file. If you send the note to the office they will read it over apparently and get it to the interviewer. However, protecting the interviewer's privacy makes more sense to me. Either way, sending thank you notes to interviewers seems so odd to me. But what do I know?
 
A few schools I have interviewed at including UCSF and USC have strict no thank you note policies, they really are useless, I have gotten in without sending any. Most schools ask you to electronically submit them to your application because this eliminates any extra work on their part.
 
Even if thank you letters/notes did not matter, it is still proper professional etiquette to send them.

MedTRON said:
I dont know - what do they really mean. And also everyone does them. I dont know if it really makes you stand out.
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It's not about standing out. It's about being professional. More likely than not, they do nothing to boost your application. However, they can show that you are grateful for the wonderful privilege of being interviewed. Your interviewers took time out of their busy lives to interview you and answer your questions, one of the lucky few who even get the honor of receiving a medical school interview.
 
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El-Rami said:
Even if thank you letters/notes did not matter, it is still proper professional etiquette to send them.



It's not about standing out. It's about being professional. More likely than not, they do nothing to boost your application. However, they can show that you are grateful for the wonderful privilege of being interviewed. Your interviewers took time out of their busy lives to interview you and answer your questions, one of the lucky few who even get the honor of receiving a medical school interview.
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It started off as showing appreciation, but then spiraled out of control with neurotic pre-meds going over the top and attempting to make themselves stand out. Now it's just seen as a nuisance by interviewers/adcoms and has lost its meanings.
 
El-Rami said:
Even if thank you letters/notes did not matter, it is still proper professional etiquette to send them.
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I cant imagine sending a thank you note to any engineering interview I have had. I dont see why you should send one to a med school interview.

Truly one of the stupider things premeds do
 
7331poas said:
I cant imagine sending a thank you note to any engineering interview I have had. I dont see why you should send one to a med school interview.

Truly one of the stupider things premeds do
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Like I said in my above post, I do not believe they help boost your application much, if at all. The fact that many people do just fine without sending a single letter supports this. However, thank you letters have traditionally served an important purpose of showing gratitude and are thus basically an unspoken professional rule of etiquette for interviews. It's kind of like the handshake. On the surface, it seems pointless. In fact, no one really thinks about the handshake after the fact. However, a very poor handshake can leave a negative impression.

Most people probably don't care about them; the majority are likely discarded. However, there are people who subscribe to the traditional view that thank you letters show gratitude, so they may be appreciated for what they are by these individuals.

Again, it's not about what you get out of it. It's just being professional. I believe an individual who only does things because they benefit him has a poor attitude.
 
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Thank you notes don't mean crap for your actual application. Not sending one isn't going to be the thing that causes a med school to deny you.

However, it is common professional etiquette and it wouldn't hurt to send one in. I sent thank you notes for my interviews. It is to be nice, to perhaps make the interviewer feel good for a quick second. which is worth the minuscule effort of writing a quick letter IMO
 
adfalcon said:
However, it is common professional etiquette and it wouldn't hurt to send one in. I sent thank you notes for my interviews. It is to be nice, to perhaps make the interviewer feel good for a quick second. which is worth the minuscule effort of writing a quick letter IMO
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Except when they tell you not to send one...
 
2 cents is worth less in this economy, but....

One school I interviewed at told us the interviewers make recommendations after the interview. Those candidates files are then passed to the Dean who makes the final choice himself. ANY thank you note is included in this file...so it's one extra thing that the final boss sees before their decision. I could see an advantage to sending one in in this case.
 
gyngyn said:
Where are these places? This seems so needy.
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I prefer not to say specifically, but I have finished 6 interviews and of those, 2 essentially said the same thing about keeping in touch and a third insinuated as much. All 3 were private and in the "top" 20 Snooze Index.

I haven't interviewed at Vandy, but someone in the thread mentioned hearing something like this there too.

Again, maybe it's a phenomenon only at select places but it doesn't seem like an anomaly either.
 
I'd assume it's like tipping your pizza delivery guy. If you do, great, pretty much everyone does. If not, that could be viewed as inconsiderate. This is just my 2 cents, should be taken with a shot of vodka.
 
GiveMeThatMD said:
I'd assume it's like tipping your pizza delivery guy. If you do, great, pretty much everyone does. If not, that could be viewed as inconsiderate. This is just my 2 cents, should be taken with a shot of vodka.
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The delivery person is relying on tips for survival.
The expectation that a candidate should send a "thank you" note to a medical school is just goofy.
 
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CCMDOC9254 said:
It started off as showing appreciation, but then spiraled out of control with neurotic pre-meds going over the top and attempting to make themselves stand out. Now it's just seen as a nuisance by interviewers/adcoms and has lost its meanings.
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This. Thank you notes are about manners/etiquette. Like saying thank you if someone passes you the salt at a dinner table. (You'd still get the salt if you didn't say it, but it means you are a classless.) But when dealing with premeds, everything unfortunately devolves into "check the box". If you say you should shadow, it becomes "how many hours is enough". If you say you ought to write a thank you note, it becomes, "how many words, what kind of stationary, by snail or email, how soon do I have to do it, to everyone or just the PC, OMG I won't get in". Even this thread highlights the absurd neurosis of some premeds that has forced places to create policies regarding this. Don't read more into it.
 
p0gono said:
Hmm yeah that would make sense too, but 2 of the schools explicitly said that even if our interviewers gave us their contact, to submit through the office. All of my interviewers so far have volunteered their emails.
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did you specifically ask for their emails or did they just give 'em to you?
 
Law2Doc said:
This. Thank you notes are about manners/etiquette. Like saying thank you if someone passes you the salt at a dinner table. (You'd still get the salt if you didn't say it, but it means you are a classless.) But when dealing with premeds, everything unfortunately devolves into "check the box". If you say you should shadow, it becomes "how many hours is enough". If you say you ought to write a thank you note, it becomes, "how many words, what kind of stationary, by snail or email, how soon do I have to do it, to everyone or just the PC, OMG I won't get in". Even this thread highlights the absurd neurosis of some premeds that has forced places to create policies regarding this. Don't read more into it.
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This is why the best course of action is usually to not send thank you notes
 
Anecdotal, but the 2 places I didn't send thank you notes to were the 2 places that accepted me! The first 3 schools I interviewed at and sent thank you notes for = waitlisted. :laugh:
 
Thank you notes have zero bearing on your admission decision (except for a negative bearing at schools that explicitly state not to send them).

They are, as many have said, a matter of proper etiquette.
 
Sending thank you notes for interviews has always been about trying to curry favor. Even if you are genuinely grateful, there is at least some element of sucking up involved in it, so long as the decision is still being made.

A thank you note sent when there is nothing to be gained from it still rings as genuine. If you are someone who just really, sincerely wants to express gratitude, do it after you get your decision. If that were the custom, I'd anticipate the exceptional rarity of thank you notes sent by rejected applicants, expressing appreciation for the opportunity to interview and for the time and attention of the adcoms.

It is easy to say thanks when you get what you want, and it is easier still if you think it will help you get what you want. But gratitude offered for efforts on one's behalf that didn't turn out as desired... that is undeniably sincere thanks.
 
How about F You notes for those unreasonable and loaded interview questions am I right?
 
p0gono said:
I prefer not to say specifically, but I have finished 6 interviews and of those, 2 essentially said the same thing about keeping in touch and a third insinuated as much. All 3 were private and in the "top" 20 Snooze Index.

I haven't interviewed at Vandy, but someone in the thread mentioned hearing something like this there too.

Again, maybe it's a phenomenon only at select places but it doesn't seem like an anomaly either.
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Congrats you've learned of the 3/5 places that do this. Hardly a thing considering there's 160+ schools.
 
Because the application cycle is a mystical process involving a lot of superstition and folk science, anything one can do as an offering to the powers that be may help to gain acceptance.

This would include letters of thanks or lighting candles before the statue of Gandhi in San Francisco, among other things.

Whether or not it helps is beside the point, it does one thing that is quite important: makes you feel better!
 
Dr Tony T. Chopper said:
How about F You notes for those unreasonable and loaded interview questions am I right?
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Qft

I sent thank you notes to the interviewers when I actually came out of the interview day feeling good and feeling thankful for the experience. When the interview makes you feel like you don't even want to be a human being let alone a doctor anymore, I wished I could send a very different type of correspondence.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Promethean said:
Sending thank you notes for interviews has always been about trying to curry favor. Even if you are genuinely grateful, there is at least some element of sucking up involved in it, so long as the decision is still being made.

A thank you note sent when there is nothing to be gained from it still rings as genuine. If you are someone who just really, sincerely wants to express gratitude, do it after you get your decision. If that were the custom, I'd anticipate the exceptional rarity of thank you notes sent by rejected applicants, expressing appreciation for the opportunity to interview and for the time and attention of the adcoms.

It is easy to say thanks when you get what you want, and it is easier still if you think it will help you get what you want. But gratitude offered for efforts on one's behalf that didn't turn out as desired... that is undeniably sincere thanks.
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I have sent only one thank you note this cycle, and that was to one of my interviewers at Sinai. It was for something he'd said during my interview that I was really grateful to hear (and no, this was not directly related to my application). I did not send the note until after my decision came out, and I told him that I waited so that there would be no questioning of my motive in sending the note. Not sure I'd send a thank you note to a school that rejected me, though.

I might run the risk of being classless, but something would have to go above and beyond the interview itself in order to inspire me to say thank you. I'm not moved by the argument that they're "sacrificing their time" to interview me. While that may be true, I'm also sacrificing my time when I show up, and even though I might not be paid as much as my interviewer, my time is still worth something.
 
In my experience, I think it's best to only send thank you letters that have some substance (a rare occurrence) and only if you really want to. Don't feel obligated to. Just don't go into writing thank you letters with the mindset that it's going to help your application. I've attended 7 interviews so far in this cycle. At the end of every interview, I just made sure to show the interviewer that I was appreciative of their time and effort. With one exception, I didn't feel the need to write a thank you note because I knew it would just be a rehash of our conversation, pretty pointless. Plus, at some schools that I "liked a lot but didn't love," I did not feel that I could honestly say that they were "my top choice" or even "one of my top choices" as that felt too letter of intent-y for how I truly felt. So instead of sending a bland letter, I just didn't send one. All four of my acceptances so far have been from schools to which I did not send thank you notes (n=1).

In the one exception, my interviewer spent a fair amount of time discussing something quite personal in her life, as a way to connect with a similar thing that happened in mine. I was genuinely touched by our conversation and wrote a thank you email focusing on that aspect. I didn't mention anything specific to my application, or my interest in the school. I just used it as a way to show her how much I appreciated her discussing a rather difficult topic with me. Plus, she specifically offered their email address (like, wrote it down in my notebook), and wrote me a fairly long letter back in response to my thank you letter. In this case, I was happy with my decision to write the thank you letter. I am still waiting to hear back from this school but I don't expect that the letter will help or hurt me.

As a minor caveat, one school I interviewed at said that "letters of intent factor into our decision later down the road, such as when we're deciding between two candidates from the waitlist, but not for the initial acceptance." So certainly, showing genuine interest might help your application at some schools, but perhaps that's better sent as a LOI as opposed to squeezed into a thank you letter.
 
thrudheim said:
I wonder how much tequila goes into the decision to write and send one of those to an ADCOM
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We always send a thank you email to the screener for their astute decision in these cases.
 
Half the interviews I attended mentioned a thank you note protocol. In the professional world outside of medicine, highly qualified candidates are never hired if they don't follow the simple etiquette of a thank you note. Why would medicine be any different?
 
You're incorrectly assuming that because schools have policies on thank you notes, they matter, when the real reason is because they receive so many whether they want them or not, they may as well have a policy on managing them.

I wouldn't be surprised if a school that says "Make sure you send your Thank You's to the admissions office and we'll make sure they get your message" also tells their administrative assistant "Just delete any thank you emails you get".
 
Officer Farva said:
Half the interviews I attended mentioned a thank you note protocol. In the professional world outside of medicine, highly qualified candidates are never hired if they don't follow the simple etiquette of a thank you note. Why would medicine be any different?
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Though there must have been a time when these notes were actually expressions of thankfulness, it has long since passed. Protocols were developed to address the escalation in responses from the candidates.
There is actually no need nor expectation to thank the school or its representatives in this process in the form of a note or email. Show civility in your behavior on interview day. That is enough.
If anything, the school should be thanking you (and I hope they did).
 
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