Screwed up my interview, how can i make that up?

[pharmerted]

Hello everyone, i just cam home today from an interview. There were 2 interviews and a group session.

The first interview was with 3 students and I totally aced it. They asked difficult questions and i didn't make a single mistake, got along with all 3 people and made an excellent impression.

The second interview was with a faculty member. I started out pretty good but clammed up a few times towards the end. there were at least 2 questions for which my mind just went completely blank for some reason. I think that overall the impression that i gave was that i was not very knowledgeable in pharmacy.
The funny thing is that i gave the opposite impression in my first interview.

I'm preparing to send thank you letters to the admissions director and the faculty member who interviewed me. how can i rectify the situation?

i think that the situation is probably salvageable. Right now, i believe i have a 50/50 chance. What should i do?

What's even funnier, is that the faculty member (that I interviewed with) knows a friend of mine and they work for the same company?

Argggghh!! Why did i clam up?

I want to try to contruct an email thank you letter that helps explain what happened. Thanks for your help!!

The admissions committe meeting is tommorow, so i need to send an email today!!

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[CSzGirl]

I wouldn't try to "salvage" the situation, per se. First of all, you have no idea what the adcom is looking for, so what you think of as "screwing up" may not be seen as such. If you're insistent on writing a letter, I wouldn't say anything more than something to the effect of "you asked some challenging questions that really made me think.." blah blah blah. Just DON'T try to explain away what you did in the interview...bad idea.

 

[Ugo]

Totally agree with CSzGirl. Excellent suggestion.

 

[jmhousem]

Agreed. Don't try to explain what happened in the interview. You'll end up digging a deeper hole. If you can work a "'you asked some challenging questions that really made me think..' blah blah blah. " type of section into a thank you letter, great. If you can't, I don't think that's the end of the world, either. Sometimes it's best just to leave your mistakes alone rather than draw attention to them by way of explanation. In any case, a thank you letter would probably be a nice touch, and a way to leave a good impression.

 

[mahishrimp]

Does that mean.. we have to write a "Thank you letter" after each interview? However, the interviewers do not give us their email address. God, I did not write any thank you letter after my interview.

 

[mahishrimp]

Does that mean.. we have to write a "Thank you letter" after each interview? However, the interviewers do not give us their email address. God, I did not write any thank you letter after my interview. I should know better. My bad.

 

[KYMonty]

I would venture to say that most applicants don't write thank you letters after their interviews. With as many applicants as most school are interviewing, doint such a thing could in some ways simply be extra paperwork that is never truly looked at and thus would have no bearing on your possible acceptance.

 

[pharmerted]

just wondering, have did most people here write thank you notes?

 

[endlesslove]

I wouldn't try to "salvage" the situation, per se. First of all, you have no idea what the adcom is looking for, so what you think of as "screwing up" may not be seen as such. If you're insistent on writing a letter, I wouldn't say anything more than something to the effect of "you asked some challenging questions that really made me think.." blah blah blah. Just DON'T try to explain away what you did in the interview...bad idea.

exactly. heck, i thought i didn't ace (or did bomb) my UCSD interview b/c IMO, i didn't feel it went as well as my other ones b/c I didn't get to say everything that I wanted to say, but hey i got in! so just hang in there. Best of luck!

 

[PiecesOfFlair]

just wondering, have did most people here write thank you notes?

I sent thank you cards to the 3 people who interviewed me. I made sure to get their names after the interview ended. During the pre-interview, the admissions staff reminded our group that it would be a good idea to send them thank you notes. I've always been under the impression that one should send thank you notes after an interview. If I were giving the interview, it would reflect positively upon the applicant. We don't really know how many letters they get from interviewees. If everyone thought thank you notes would be extra clutter for them, they wouldn't receive any notes. It would bother me if nobody acknowledged the time I took to interview them.

The point I'm getting at is that the probability of a positive reaction is greater than a negative reaction. For some reason, I can't imagine someone getting annoyed at receiving a thank you note.

 

[chloejane]

I really think it depends on the school- if the interviewing staff suggested writing a thank you note, I would definately do so... However, I haven't written one to any of my interviews and that has not seemed to affect my acceptance.
I would be wary of trying to 'explain' your situation as to the committee and others it may come off as excuses and such. I would try to have confidence and if you do choose to send a thank you note, mention that challenging questions made you think, but don't explain why you were "off" that day or what your answers would have been.
If you just blanked out a couple of times, I'm sure that isn't uncommon... try to have faith in your abilities and all will work out accordingly!
I'll keep you in my thoughts and let us know what the outcome is!

 

[kwakster928]

in my school if you try to e-mail or send a card to thank the interviewer, you are asking for a rejection letter. you should be really careful with that stuff. before you do anything, i strongly suggest, if such a thing is against the admission policy. some schools really do not take that stuff that well.

 

[PiecesOfFlair]

in my school if you try to e-mail or send a card to thank the interviewer, you are asking for a rejection letter. you should be really careful with that stuff. before you do anything, i strongly suggest, if such a thing is against the admission policy. some schools really do not take that stuff that well.

Wow, that's an eye opener. I guess the thing to do then is to contact the admissions staff about the matter. May I ask why a note of thanks would be grounds for rejection? I'm just curious because it surprises me. That would be unfortunate for someone if they were to send a follow up thank you note (which is taught in many interview how-to books) and then end up getting rejected because of it. This is a great forum; I never would have known about this. Thanks for the lesson!

 

[ultracet]

i've always been told that thank you notes are a MUST after interviewing

 

[WVURxGal]

I really think it depends on the school. I spoke to professors at WVU, and they discouraged the idea. Of course, we're just a bunch of backwoods hicks, we don't know nothin' bout them there fancy business practices.

I would suggest talking to a current student at any school and ask if they or any of their friends sent thank you notes.

 

[kwakster928]

i dont know why it is to tell you the truth. it is just our school's policy. only thing i can think of they just want to minimize extra influence that can be given from the applicant him/herself. at school they are warned to not to do so at the interview, but i am sure people will still do it, and when they get their letter, they are stunned at the content.