Thank you Cards?

[kreno]

I've heard from various "How to get into Medical School" publications that it's a
good idea to send a "Thank you Card/Letter" to your interviewer after the experience. Not that I wouldn't take the time to do it, but, for some reason that seems kinda cheesy to me - like you're trying to hard, even sucking up? On the other hand, maybe I'm just totally ignorant and my mom didn't raise me good manners? Anyone who has been accepted done this? Anyone planning on doing this?

Thanks a lot
Leon

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[joojoobeware]

kreno,
it is almost expected to do this.
If you don't, you'll probably stand out as a jerk...
I had some schools remind me to do this. I did it for all my school I interviewed with.
It is really just common courtesy. I thought it was kinda cheesy, but it makes sense...Good luck man!

 

[tbachi]

So should you ask your interviewer for a business card so you can send it directly to him/her..... or should you try really hard to remember the name and send it the the college of medicine attn: interviewer's name.. whats the best way to go with this???? 😎

 

[Popoy]

I sincerely wanted to do Thank you cards regardless of what has been told to me.... during the interview I even ask my interviewers, as my last question to them, as to how they handle thank you cards.

I suggest you ask during your interview if the medical school wants them or not. I heard that a few schools don't really want them and think they are a waste of time and valuable mail space .... 🙄

See what the school thinks.... if you don't feel like doing one then don't do one....

Like any other type of interview, there should be a thank you letter following the interview, but then again so don't want them.... You decide and you find out.... best wishes....

 

[Popoy]

One more thing.... during your interview, you normally get a list of the names of your interviewer. Typically, you send the thank you letter to the admissions office with attn to the interviewer's name....

Again, ask the admissions office after your interview or ask your interviewers how the school handles thank you letters and they'll tell you how they want it address or even if they want it....

 

[mcwmark]

One thing to consider is that most of the schools I interviewed at: the interviewer filled out his evaluation right after the interview.

A thank-you card that would arrive three days later would have no effect on the evaluation. I doubt thank-you cards make any impact on your chances (they are a nice gesture, however).

What I would suggest is a carefully written "thank-you" note to the admissions committee (for certain schools that encourage applicant contact), which would get put in your file BEFORE they rank the applicants.

 

[yigit]

I did thank you notes. I felt cheesy doing it too cause everyone hates an asskisser. I ended up getting into every school that I interviewed at, but I don't think it had anything to do with my thank you notes (I promise I'm not as cocky as that sounded). I do know that at a lot of schools they get added to you file. Just remember the name of the person interviewing you and send the note to the admissions office with their name on it. As long as you don't sound like you are kissing ass I dont think it can hurt.

 

[star23]

I think it totally depends on the school. Some school expect them and others think it is ass-kissing. Ask around before you send them out.

 

[lilycat]

I think in general it is a nice courtesy. And even if the admissions committee thinks it's unnecessary, that may not be your interviewer's individual opinion. I usually tried to find some interesting aspect of our conversation to refer to in the note -- ie, "I very much enjoyed our discussion on ____," hoping that such a detail may remind them who I was. Above all, keep it brief and polite, and don't use it as a page-long diatribe on why you want to get into that school.

As for the address, you can send it care of the admissions office, or do a little detective work on the school website -- most have faculty and student directories.

 

[ILoveThaiFood]

I didn't send in any thank-you cards to my interviewers, even though I had planned to (but got too busy and didn't get around to it). I actually ended up sending thank-you cards to the med student hosts that I stayed with instead. I would send thank-you cards only because it is a nice gesture, but not for increasing your chance of getting accepted. Some schools encourage you to write thank-you notes, and one actually told me, "Must you? We really discourage it." I thought that was extremely rude because some interviewers may like having thank-you notes sent to them and the admissions office should not encourage/discourage you (it is just unprofessional). Anyway, bottomline is that it is a nice gesture to write thank-you notes (I feel guilty that I didn't do it), but I don't know if it'll really help your chances of getting accepted (I got into 8/10 schools that interviewed me w/out any thank-you notes). So, do it because you truly want to thank them for taking their time to interview you, not so that they can write a more positive evaluation about you. Good luck to you future interviewees!!!!

 

[MoeDaMan]

This sounds like really hog wash to me. 😀

Four years ago, one of the supposed former committee of board members of UCI came to a medical session to give us the "ins" and "outs" of medical school. When asked about his question, he said at the beginning it was really nice, but imagine getting 200 cards saying thank you from everyone?

DA point: It is only a nice gesture, won't improve your chances, practially everybody else is probably doing it, and sometimes really depending on the school I feel like it is kissing up?! I might send it to schools I don't care about it, but schools that I care about I hesitate?

It might end up being seen as rather annoying more than polite? I mean if you knew the person personally, ok, but if u met a stranger, after a conversatoin say thank you for that nice opportunity? sounds corny to me 😀

 

[freshity]

i'm surprised to hear people say it sounds corny. when i worked for an organization that interviewed people for a national program after they completed a process similar to college applications, i was NEVER annoyed, perplexed, or sorry in general to get a thank-you. it's nice. you'd be surprised how many people DON'T send thank you's, and personally, that's a little perplexing to me. the idea of it being corny sounds absurd. i sent thank you's to all of the people that interviewed me, and on occasion, to the admissions office if i felt they did a superb job organizing the day. i haven't spent any time trying to figure out if that correlates to my success in this process. to me, it's a service that someone is doing you to interview you and to give you the best possible recommendation based on your conversation. by sending a thank you note, you are acknowledging this, opening lines of communication that might (you never know) become an important consideration at some point, and simply saying "thank you." also, many of the interviewer's have soem time to turn in their reports of your meeting (this was my experience), so a letter from you may make a difference. who knows?!! you want these folks to like you--to think you're personable and warm, on top of having great numbers and drive. it requires absolutely no "kissing-up" to thank a person--it's just common courtesy. when people thank me for things i do, i seldom assume they're trying to kiss up to me. i guess the point isn't really whether that alone makes the difference in the fate of your application. i don't suggest sending them with that ulterior motive. the bigger issue is: do you often thank people for things they do for you? do you appreciate their time and consideration? if so, go ahead and tell them, even before you find out if you got in. go crazy and be nice! since when is that corny??

 

[whynotme?]

I couldn't have said it better myself. 😀

 

[electra]

fre****y, you are exactly right. IMHO.

I enjoyed my interviewers, and found thatI had something in common with most of them. Sometimes the school does a good job in letting you know a little about the interviwer personally, and others leave it up to the student guides. The common interest/hobby/etc did a lot for me in getting relaxed and "ready to interview" once I was in the room. When I did the thank yous that evening in the hotel, I made sure to mention something about the school or that person. If they don't like it, they can toss it. But, the physicians who were in attendance for the interview most likely took their own time to sit and assist those of us entering the profession. It's just politeness to acknowledge their time.

and, if the admissions dept did a good job hosting you, etc, it's a nice thing to acknowledge their work and assistance to you.
everyone likes to be encouraged sometimes, that their work is appreciated.

electra