Is it standard protocol to send thank you notes to members of the admissions committee after an interview? It was suggested by a family member who's been through med school. I think it would be nice but on the other hand it kinda seems like sucking up...what do you think?
It's common courtesy. I always send a 2- or 3-line email thanking the interviewers for their time.
I interviewed with all of the professors in the PT dept, all 10 of them. I sent each of them a couple line email but changed one of the lines to something specific that we talked about in our interviews. That way they would know I was paying attention and they would remember who I was after the fact.
E-mail makes it as easy as ever. It probably won't factor into the school's decision, but why not thank them? Make sure you thank them as soon as possible. And like the poster above said, make it personal. Don't send a standardized thank-you that reads like junk mail.
Kevin
Kevin
I did an individual person.... thank you note and included thank you for your time, mentioned something personal that was discussed during the interview. This was done ASAP and often wrote them up in the car after the interview...using the specific person's name and title....maybe included something about how hard their decision would be with so many qualified candidates....blah blah..and went back in and left the note w/ the front desk or office. email still seems impersonal.
its absolutely sucking up but it is a nice touch that makes you stand out against the noise of 300 other well qualified applicants. it shows that you have people skills or at least were raised right.
I agree that email is impersonal. Who doesn't like opening an envelopePersonally I don't think it makes any difference. At most schools you are scored at the time of your interview and then put back in the stack for ranking. Those people you send your thank you note to most likely are not even allowed to go back and dig for your app and give you more points after the fact. A lot of times interviews are with adjuncts or alumni who aren't on even on the Adcom too. This is of course going to vary school to school, but in general I don't think it will help you or hurt you.
I got accepted to 3 of the 4 schools I applied to without sending a thank you to anyone. I thanked each person who interviewed me very kindly both at the beginning and end of each interview and left it at that. The feedback I got from the one school I was rejected from was such that it was clear that sending thank you notes would have made no difference. I was interviewed by 7 different individuals in my travels and was not given contact information for any of them. Several of them were not affiliated with the school and would have been quite difficult for me to dig up contact info for on the internet.
I think what matters is the stats that are on your app and what score you are given on the day of the interview (at most schools anyway). Just my $0.02. Take it with a grain of salt if you like.
I got accepted to 3 of the 4 schools I applied to without sending a thank you to anyone. I thanked each person who interviewed me very kindly both at the beginning and end of each interview and left it at that. The feedback I got from the one school I was rejected from was such that it was clear that sending thank you notes would have made no difference. I was interviewed by 7 different individuals in my travels and was not given contact information for any of them. Several of them were not affiliated with the school and would have been quite difficult for me to dig up contact info for on the internet.
I think what matters is the stats that are on your app and what score you are given on the day of the interview (at most schools anyway). Just my $0.02. Take it with a grain of salt if you like.
I sent brief personal thank you emails to my interviewers, because I thought cards would take too long in the mail (I was from out of state). For the interviewers who did not work at the school (they were PTs in the community), I specifically asked them for their contact info during the interview. It wasn't to get more points or increase my chances necessarily, but just as a common courtesy. I've always sent thank you notes after any type of interview, but I'm also older than most current students, so maybe it's not as common anymore?
I don't think it affects your chances at acceptance for the reasons DesertPT stated. At the same time, it's common courtesy to send thank you emails, and I'd definitely recommend it. If you were interviewed by staff/professors, you can bet your bottom it's in your best interest to start demonstrating your professionalism early in the game
I like getting thank you notes from applicants I interview. As Desert PT stated, it has absolutely no bearing on if a student gets admitted to our program.
I do save all thank you notes, and if a student comes to us, I often show them I saved it and comment on the professionalism. I think it is nothing to do with being a non-traditional applicant or older or anything like that. But it is a good habit to get into for a professional career. Email is cool, card is cool, typed letter is cool....the sentiment and content is far more important to me than the delivery method.
I do save all thank you notes, and if a student comes to us, I often show them I saved it and comment on the professionalism. I think it is nothing to do with being a non-traditional applicant or older or anything like that. But it is a good habit to get into for a professional career. Email is cool, card is cool, typed letter is cool....the sentiment and content is far more important to me than the delivery method.
Possibly a silly question, but how do you address the interviewer? Dr. last name? First name only? Assuming he or she has a DPT only
I'd say Dr. LastName, I don't feel like a professor who interviewed me would be someone I should be calling by their first name. Could come off as unprofessional. I'm sure some people wouldn't mind but it is an unnecessary risk without any upside (besides typing slightly less letters)
Do we collect our interviewers' emails before we leave? Or we just email the admission office in general? I really dont know when to ask them for their emails.
If you know their name, check the programs website it usually has the faculty emails listed