thank you after bad interviews

[bubbleyum]

so, with all the thank you letter threads, here's another one.

what do you write in a thank you letter to an interviewer after a really bad interview??
do you just write thanks for your time and keep it short? usually you refer to specifics about the interview so that he'll remember you, but in light of the bad interview, don't know if i should jog his memories. i'm sure it's a bad idea to write excuses like " i know i was somewhat nervous during the interview" etc right?

ugh.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[veenut]

i didn't write thank you letters to interviewers who gave me a hard time, i'm not in the habit of thanking people for kicking my a**. i dont think interviewers care much about those thank you notes unless you really have something to say that stands out, and if your interview sucked, you probably dont have anything positive to remind the interviewer about.

 

[CenteredDoc]

By saying "bad interview," what do you mean? Was it really that bad?

btw i've only interviewed at three schools so far. each school had two interviews, for a total of 6. all of the interviews went pretty smoothly, except 1. i wrote a thank you note to all of my interviewers except that one bad one. imho, i dont think you should write a thank you note to an interviewer if it really was that bad.

 

[etown]

Ditto...it would be insincere to thank an interviewer that behaved like a jerk.

 

[RxnMan]

The threads are full of stories of people who got in after terrible interviews. I wouldn't use just your perspective to determine if you scored well - they may have been just trying to put you under pressure. So send everyone thank you's. As for specifics, maybe use the subject matter you discussed ("I thought your insights into AIDs were interesting",) not bad points (I was the kid with huge sweat stains).

 

[DrKitty]

The threads are full of stories of people who got in after terrible interviews. I wouldn't use just your perspective to determine if you scored well - they may have been just trying to put you under pressure. So send everyone thank you's. As for specifics, maybe use the subject matter you discussed ("I thought your insights into AIDs were interesting",) not bad points (I was the kid with huge sweat stains).

Which is exactly why I sent thank-yous even after "bad" interviews. Though it felt unnatural to write generic thank-you letters to bad interviewers (I focused on the positives), in this process I learned it is impossible to fully judge the success of your interview from just your own perspective and I treated all of my interviews, "bad" and "good", with respect and appreciation.

 

[bubbleyum]

even if they were bad interviews, i would like to send letters to all of them. at this school i had 2 interviews, on was just BAD, and the other one was not horrible but not good, just one of those awkward interviews where you don't feel like you connected well with the interviewer and after you leave you think of all these other things you should have said and how you could have better presented yourself.

the "bad" interviewer wasn't mean or anything to me. didn't yell at me, didn't make racist or sexist remarks, didn't say "how come your grades are not all A's" (closed file interview, hah) etc etc. it was just bad because he asked me all these unexpected questions phrased in a cryptic manner that threw me off balance, so i couldn't answer promptly and in an intelligent manner. he also asked me what i knew about rural medicine, which i don't know much of. anyways it was just bad.

so even though i know i will get rejected, i feel like they still deserve their appreciation because i'm sure they are busy and interviewing naive students asking the same questions over and over are not the most exciting thing in the world to them. and also i would like to leave somewhat of a good impression as i will probably apply again at the school next year/cycle.

thanks for your insights!

 

[badlydrawnvik]

i didn't send thank yous to two schools where i had terrible interviews.

 

[RayhanS1282]

Is it bad if you don't send a thank you note? I had this sinking feeling I forgot something.

 

[Saluki]

Is it bad if you don't send a thank you note? I had this sinking feeling I forgot something.

Don't let it eat at you- it's a nice thing to do, but they probably didn't even notice, and they certainly won't remember it later...

 

[beetlerum]

Is it bad if you don't send a thank you note? I had this sinking feeling I forgot something.

It's not bad. The overwhelming majority of applicants don't send them. There's not much chance that sending a thank you note will help and it's also possible it could hurt you. It's a nice gesture, though.

 

[LO281OK]

It's just the right thing to do. No matter how the interview went, you should send a note. The tough interview just makes the semantics that much more important. The fact that you are wavering is precisely why it is to your advantage to write these notes. We all feel a pause and some or most don't follow-through on the thank yous. However you feel that you did in an interview you can never tell exactly how the other person felt afterward, but to not send the notes is like refusing to check a box on the application that says, "I am a decent, conscientious person."

Just my thoughts.

 

[Rafa]

Completely disagree with the previous poster.

To the OP: I wouldn't. But I wouldn't after a 'good' interview either, so there you go.

 

[lilymoo]

I sent thank you notes to all my interviewers, good and bad.

 

[etf]

i wrote a thank you (which i thought was particularly heartfelt) to a particularly awful interviewer, and in it, answered a question (about a class) that I wasn't able to answer at the interview...needless to say, i was still rejected outright...

 

[p00psicleSTICK]

Imagine if you are the interviewer, and someone you interviewed did terrible but sent you a thank you note after.

Would it make a difference? Probably not.

 

[tacrum43]

I had one interview that was less than great. It wasn't terrible, but the interviewer made me feel kind of inadequate with a few implied insults. I sent him a thank you anyway. I just thanked him for taking the time to interview me, and talked about some positive things I liked about the school (and thereby put the focus on that instead).

 

[beetlerum]

Completely disagree with the previous poster.

To the OP: I wouldn't. But I wouldn't after a 'good' interview either, so there you go.

Yes, I disagree too, and regardless of whether's the "decent" thing to do, it is very unlikely to make a difference in admissions. And, as I said before, it also has the potential to hurt you.
Example: another poster mentioned answering a question about a class that she or he couldn't answer in the interview. Well, for all the person knows, the interviewer forgot that she could answer it, or didn't even perceive at the time that she was failing to answer it. Interviewers are very difficult to interpret.

So if you do it, I recommend sending a very short one.

 

[jebus]

Imagine if you are the interviewer, and someone you interviewed did terrible but sent you a thank you note after.

Would it make a difference? Probably not.

It probably won't make a difference, and that's exactly why you should send it. I agree with LO281OK, it's the right thing to do. It's not about how it improves of decreases your chances to get into the medical school. It is a letter of appreciation for giving you a chance, taking the time to show you their facilities, to learn about you, for you to learn about them, etc. Sending a letter despite a poor interview speaks more to your character than anything else. Besides, if you get in the habit of doing "the right thing" it makes it a lot easier to do it in the future. Why not start now?
If you don't send it that's fine, too. It's your time, energy, and postage. Don't do it if you don't want to.

 

[beetlerum]

It probably won't make a difference, and that's exactly why you should send it. I agree with LO281OK, it's the right thing to do. It's not about how it improves of decreases your chances to get into the medical school. It is a letter of appreciation for giving you a chance, taking the time to show you their facilities, to learn about you, for you to learn about them, etc. Sending a letter despite a poor interview speaks more to your character than anything else. Besides, if you get in the habit of doing "the right thing" it makes it a lot easier to do it in the future. Why not start now?
If you don't send it that's fine, too. It's your time, energy, and postage. Don't do it if you don't want to.

Well, we just disagree. I don't think it's the "right" thing. It's nice but there's certainly nothing wrong with not doing it. And frankly, it's not a colleague or friend giving you a tour of their facilities for your own edification. I mean, you could just as soon say they should write you a thank you note for taking the time to travel to their school, at your own expense, and present your candidacy, which greatly helps them in the all important task of building the best possible class for their school.

Basically, to me, it's a positive reflection on you, but entirely optional.

 

[jebus]

Basically, to me, it's a positive reflection on you, but entirely optional.

agreed.

 

[bubbleyum]

thanks for all your comments guys. the conversation kinda turned into a debate about WHETHER or not i should send the letters, not what i should write in them though! 😛

i guess maybe i should mention that the dean of admissions sent a thank you letter(although via email) to all the interviewees for traveling to the school and taking the time to consider their institution, etc. i was a little surprised.

anyways. i did end up sending short thank you letters to both of my interviewers. they were very short ones, basically thanking them for their taking teh time out of their busy schedule to sit down with me for the interview, and how much i would like to go to their school. i also wrote a letter(much longer letter) to the admissions committee thanking them for the interview opportunity and how much i liked it there and why, sort of outlined my strengths as an applicant and why i think i would be a good fit for their school, yada yada... wonder if they will see that as me being totally desperate? har har. which is actually all right because i am quite desperate at this point!

but like you all said, the letters probably won't make too much of a difference either way. i think it's more about feeling i did what i should have, for myself more than anything.