Interview thank-yous and responses

[qualle]

How are people sending their thank-yous to programs after an interview?

Also, is anyone getting a response to these thank-yous?

My experience: A few days after the interview I send an email to the program director and administrative coordinator, thanking them and the other faculty and staff. Possibly also one or two to someone I particularly enjoyed meeting. Usually I don't get much of a response ("Nice to meet you. Period.") or no response at all. I wonder if this means anything with regard to ranking or the impression left during the interview.

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[Ombret]

You are not going to get a lot of responses. Thank-yous are appreciated but the people you are writing to know that applicants are likely to over-interpret any response they get. And remember, it is not conventional to thank someone for writing a thank-you note. One way to handle this would be to write an actual note with a stamp on it. This is still the most professional way to communicate and the PD can easily put this in your file to remember how courteous you were.

 

[Neopath]

Expect no response from a thank you note. It's a nice gesture, usually ineffective, although I have to admit our program director likes receiving them,

 

[mlw03]

Agree with above. Nice gesture, doesn't matter at all towards being ranked or not, and do not expect a response 99% of the time. Only time you may get something back is if you are ranked to match or very highly ranked and the PD wants to show you some love. But that's probably very PD personality dependent, and almost certainly is the exception more than the rule.

 

[KCShaw]

I got a handful of short replies to my short thank-you's, but I agree I don't think most were particularly related to anything other than courtesy. The only back and forth conversations I had were either when following up with a couple brief non-medical chats, or rare places I knew I was in line to match at (residency) or get/already had an offer from (fellowship). Even so I would be extremely hesitant to draw conclusions from any conversations you -do- happen to have, as some people just want to appear open and inviting as part of their general marketing plans, not necessarily because they want you specifically. Nature of the beast.

 

[hallucinated]

how do we send thank you notes? snailmail? on regular sized paper?

 

[mlw03]

how do we send thank you notes? snailmail? on regular sized paper?

Get a small pack of thank you cards from target or walmart.

 

[KCShaw]

Personally I used whatever method I was already using to communicate with the program, which was mostly email. But we received a handful of written cards too when I was on the other side of it. While a simple snailmail card with some handwriting is a little more formal & professional (IMO), it's far less likely to get you into a back-and-forth -- it's much more tempting for a person to hit "reply" to an email and send back some more fuzzies. But as previously discussed, it's tough to read much into most of those replies, if they happen to come.

 

[hallucinated]

cool thank to both! will go get my lazy butt out there to pickup a pack... or should i send u guys a thank you note....

 

[c0ffee]

This might be overkill but I actually print a quick thank you text paragraph on a small blank card, then sign it. The text is mostly generic, but I insert a couple sentences specific to the person I'm writing to. The first few take a while, but then I find it much easier, and cleaner.

 

[trudyfae]

I always send a personalized handwritten card via snail mail after an interview. I think that is appropriate. As an attending now, I expect that level of courtesy/etiquette. I would not expect a response at all- AS was mentioned, no need to thank someone for a thank you note.