Importance of Thank You Letter/Email

[justdoit1234]

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I am just wondering how critical it is to send post interview thank you letters/emails to your interviewers? I haven't sent one to my interviewers from my interview that was one week ago. I'm starting to regret it, and hope it doesn't play a part in the admissions decision. Do you think I should go ahead and send the email even if it's been 8 days since the interview?

 

[WedgeDawg]

Probably won't make a big difference but it's generally a polite thing to do. I wouldn't go back and send one to interviewers from a week ago, but if it's bothering you, just sent them to subsequent interviewers. A quick email is fine, don't need a physical letter at all.

 

[123456123456]

I sent thank you letters (hand-written) because it is better to be safe then sorry IMO and it does not take much time and stamps are cheap. Plus I got a pack of nice thank you letters at the dollar tree. However, I heard they generally should be sent within 24 hours so personally I think it is too late now. But if you get another interview then definitely send the thank you letters for them

 

[Glandzburg]

It's a polite gesture, but will ultimately have zero bearing on the outcome. No need to add more stress to an already anxiety-inducing process. R-e-l-a-x.

 

[jac09]

If it makes you feel better, go for it! Will it score you brownie points to get your application to the top of the accepted pile? Doubtful.

 

[HybridEarth]

The only school I've heard of this mattering at is Georgetown (Mrs. Sullivan said it is used during the post-interview decision making).

 

[Goro]

If you are a polite person, go ahead and send them.

But really, the decision on your fate has been made. The note isn't going to change anything.

I am just wondering how critical it is to send post interview thank you letters/emails to your interviewers? I haven't sent one to my interviewers from my interview that was one week ago. I'm starting to regret it, and hope it doesn't play a part in the admissions decision. Do you think I should go ahead and send the email even if it's been 8 days since the interview?

 

[Doug Underhill]

At one school I interviewed at, I was told to send a thank-you card specifically from Walgreens with the correct answers to any interview questions I felt I answered incorrectly on it.

The "specifically from Walgreens" thing was a result of Walgreens being connected to their School of Pharmacy

 

[lcm2020]

I never sent any. Still got in multiple places

 

[Cookie04]

I only sent thank you notes when I truly enjoyed talking to my interviewer, not because I thought it would have an impact on my decision. So if you truly want to send the thank you notes because it's polite and you really enjoyed your interview then do it. But if you are just going to send one with the hopes that it gives you an advantage, don't even bother because it won't. Besides by the time they even read your note they most likely already submitted your evaluation to the committee unless you get it to them by that night or early the very next day.

 

[justdoit1234]

Thanks for the input everyone. It was just my neurotic pre-med coming out of me. I'll send letters to future interviewers.

 

[Terry Toma]

But really, the decision on your fate has been made. The note isn't going to change anything.

What if a check written out to the interviewer with the memo line "there's more where this came from " happens to find its way into the envelope with the note?

 

[InsertMemberNameHere]

Ultimately, writing thank you letters is NOT going to affect whether you get an acceptance or not.

But personally, I wrote brief but sincere thank you letters to almost all of my interviewers. Almost all of them interview so many applicants every interview season, so I wanted to thank them for taking time out of their schedule to get to know me and tell me more about their medical school.

Here is a guide on how to write a good an appropriate thank you letter after a medical school interview: http://users.clas.ufl.edu/msscha/premedcss/thank_you_notes.pdf

 

[muzzy44]

Agreed that thank yous are not "make it or break it" unless you write something dumb. Out of curiosity, has anyone here gotten responses to thank you emails?

 

[NorthOfBroad]

If the school made it easy to send thank you letters (faculty gave me a card or admissions office routed them for you), I sent them usually within a week of the interview. If not, I did not. I also did not send a thank you note to a school and got accepted (albeit they had a very fast turn-around of 3 days so I doubt they were even expected notes that quickly)

 

[Goro]

That's the only thing that would help! The more zeros after the number, the better.

What if a check written out to the interviewer with the memo line "there's more where this came from " happens to find its way into the envelope with the note?