Screwed? I didn't send a thank-you to my interviewer...

[bqj]

---

Members do not see this ad.

My first interview was at University of Utah, and I had no idea that sending a thank you card or email to the interviewer(s) was the norm. Do any of you know if that makes a huge difference or a difference at all?? On the other hand, might the interviewers think it's just another form of pre-med sucking up?

 

[kiwie07]

you're definitely not screwed...but i guess better late than never. 🙂

some schools i've been to actually ask us not to send them...so it's definitely not required. others give you an address to send the letter to. i think most schools stick them in your file until review, so i'm not sure if your interviewer actually reads it until after they decide on you or review your file.

 

[erin682]

I agree definately not screwed. I didn't send them to any of my interviewers. Some schools I interviewed at either asked that they not be sent or that you only send one to the adcom.

 

[warrenb733]

Honestly, not screwed at all.

I interviewed at a lot of schools and realized that writing thank you notes would get to be quite a burden, so chose to write absolutely none. 5 acceptances thus far without a single thank you note

..not that im discouraging you from writing them, if you have the time, they are definitely appropriate and considerate.

Brian

 

[superdevil]

My first interview was at University of Utah, and I had no idea that sending a thank you card or email to the interviewer(s) was the norm. Do any of you know if that makes a huge difference or a difference at all?? On the other hand, might the interviewers think it's just another form of pre-med sucking up?

i only sent thank-you's once, and that school is non-rolling, so i don't know if it mattered yet. i thought i would do it at every school, but i got busy and said "to hell with it."

of the 7 rolling schools i've interviewed at, i've NOT sent ANY thank-you's. i've heard back from 5 schools, and gotten in to all 5. (i'm not bragging, this is just my "data", if you will).

moral of the story: thank-you's don't get you accepted. it may be a nice touch, but don't fret about not doing it. leave the obsessive worrying to the others 🙂 👍

 

[superdevil]

hey, i just realized my post is almost exactly the same as warrenb733's. 😱

 

[kappasigMD41]

My first interview was at University of Utah, and I had no idea that sending a thank you card or email to the interviewer(s) was the norm. Do any of you know if that makes a huge difference or a difference at all?? On the other hand, might the interviewers think it's just another form of pre-med sucking up?

Don't worry. Thank you's are certainly not the "norm." IMHO, they don't make a difference one way or another. If I was an interviewer on the admissions committee, I would see them as trying to suck up. However, I don't send TY's for hardly anything, so my opinion is skewed.

 

[warrenb733]

superdevil, stop copying me 🙂

 

[superdevil]

superdevil, stop copying me 🙂

i promise nothing! 😉

 

[Pyroclast]

I completely freaked out over not sending them after my friends called me an idiot for not doing it, and it turned out to make absolutely no difference. It really seemed to come down to that interview and scores thing. Which is not to say that sending them is a bad idea. But I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[bdt]

I've only had two interviews so far. I sent thank you notes to one school, and didn't send thank you's to the second one. Here are the results...

School I sent thank you's to - Waitlisted

School I didn't send thank you's to - Accepted.

Definately not a double blind controled experiment, but It doesn't seem to be a huge deal. If you feel like the interviewer was extra helpful, let them know.

Either way, you're definately not screwed.

 

[ucla09]

relax everyone. Thank you note or no thank you note will not make a difference in you acceptance to medical school. If you believe is the right thing to do than send one in. but don't send one just because everyone else is doing it. If it makes you feel better I did not send one to my interviewers.

 

[futuremsfdoc]

i've only sent one thank you note so far, and that was just cuz my interviewer gave me her card with her email address on it and said "please make sure to keep in touch" so i wrote her and let her know how much i enjoyed the school and how it's my top choice of all the places i've been so far.

 

[futuremsfdoc]

plus my dad got me a book, 101 biggest mistakes in the residency match and how to avoid them, and it said not sending thank you notes is a mistake.

 

[Neuronix]

I would say thank yous are the norm here, but they don't matter. I agree with a poster above though: if I was on the adcom I would deduct points for the usual thank you form letters we receive. My point? It doesn't matter if you don't send one, but if you do make sure it's actually hand-written and not the same page you try to sell yourself to every school here.

 

[fpr85]

They probably get so much mail that when they open up the letter they say "pssssssh, another one of these" and crumple them up and use them for trashketball.

 

[ajt2003]

I would say thank yous are the norm here, but they don't matter. I agree with a poster above though: if I was on the adcom I would deduct points for the usual thank you form letters we receive. My point? It doesn't matter if you don't send one, but if you do make sure it's actually hand-written and not the same page you try to sell yourself to every school here.

I pretty much agree with the OP. I've only had one interview thus far, but I sort of WANTED to write a thank you note -- if for nothing more than to reiterate my specific reasons I was interested in THAT school, and how much I appreciated and clicked with the conversation/environment/student body/day. I think I'll be singing a different tune as this process wears on, but the school I interviewed at is definitely a top choice -- and I just wanted to make sure that was ABSOLUTELY clear. (My interviewer, while personable and conversational, didn't give me a chance say why I wanted to attend the school -- just showered me with reasons why I should -- I was thinking, um, I want to come here! Let me talk!) 😛