I just recieved a thank you letter in the regular mail from the chairman of place I interviewed at. Is this common practice? Should I read into it?
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Post Interview Thank you note
Started by gasdoc1982
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it means that chairman has class. it means exactly what it says: thank you for taking time out of your busy life to come look at our program. interviewees are wise to exhibit such class as well. thank you for giving me the opportunity to visit your program.
What would you read into it? That he's going to rank you to match? There may be plenty of game playing to come, but it's not clear to me what "reading into it" would make you do differently. Would his thank-you note make you think he's ranking you to match, thereby causing you to rank the program higher than you might ordinarily?
Like surfer said, look at it as a sign that the guy is a decent human being. Maybe he sends them to everyone, and maybe he doesn't. You'll never know whether or not this makes you more special than the other 200 interviewees, so I would stop worrying about.
This topic, in various forms, comes up every year. "Chair at such-and-such program told me he's going to buy me a car if I rank him #1. Does this mean anything?" I actually always wonder if this isn't secretly an attempt on the part of the poster to garner admiration from the masses.
But ultimately, none of the communication back and forth, the promises they make and those they try to elicit from you, mean anything. Ultimately, your job is simple: rank the programs in the order you would prefer to go to them, irrespective of wherever you think they are ranking you. With this perspective, you will place their thank you notes and other things in the proper context.
Like surfer said, look at it as a sign that the guy is a decent human being. Maybe he sends them to everyone, and maybe he doesn't. You'll never know whether or not this makes you more special than the other 200 interviewees, so I would stop worrying about.
This topic, in various forms, comes up every year. "Chair at such-and-such program told me he's going to buy me a car if I rank him #1. Does this mean anything?" I actually always wonder if this isn't secretly an attempt on the part of the poster to garner admiration from the masses.
But ultimately, none of the communication back and forth, the promises they make and those they try to elicit from you, mean anything. Ultimately, your job is simple: rank the programs in the order you would prefer to go to them, irrespective of wherever you think they are ranking you. With this perspective, you will place their thank you notes and other things in the proper context.
I wouldn't read into it very much. Several programs sent post interview letters last year. I believe the programs that sent letters were: Mayo, UCLA, UF, probably others?? I have never heard of anyone getting a letter from a PD or a chair that wasn't sent to everyone. If they really liked you, they would probably call you. (Which some programs also do-so you can't read into a call very much either).
Like everyone else above stated...It doesn't tell you where/if they are going to rank you. So just rank the programs in order where you want to go.
