Thank you letter after interview

[cwc07]

Has anyone sent a thank you letter to their interviewers after the interview? I've been trying to find the proper protocol on this and all I've found has been with medical school students, and even with them its not quite clear as to whether it should be done. I won't find out for a couple weeks if I have been accepted. I don't want to appear as if I'm trying to brown nose my way in, but I also don't want to breach etiquette.

I did write down my interviewer's names, but other than contacting the administration office, I have no way of knowing how to get ahold of them. I even did a directory search of people at my school and I couldn't find them, so I have no idea if they were even faculty members!

Thanks!

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[RazorDoc2010]

I sent a thank-you to my interviewers at K-state, Missouri asked that we didn't, and I just didn't send a thank-you after my LSU interview. One of my K-state interviewers actually sent a response back to my thank-you letter. So I think it's more a judgement call on your part. If you do though, make it short and sweet and just avoid saying anything that you makes you feel uncomfortable about being "brown-nosing"

 

[mom2jnc]

At Davis, they're doing 6hrs of interviews from 2/26 - 3/16, so I just figured that thank-you letters would be more of a hassle for them since their email and correspondence time is so limited. Therefore, I did not send thank-you letters. I know there is some conflicting information as to whether thank-yous should be sent or not, but I remember one interviewee in particular mentioning that Dr. Spier specifically said that thank-you letters from 200 interviewees would be too overwhelming.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I like to think that my experience, grades, and interview reflected my professionalism, and that a note sent afterwards did not affect their decision.

 

[cyrille104]

It's up to you. I sent thank you emails to my interviewers at Penn, and that same day I got a phone call. In all honesty I don't think it made a difference (or if it did it was like "oh! i forgot to call him!"). But like RazorDoc said, if you're going to do it, make it like 3 sentences thanking them for their time and one short sentence about how you really fell in love with the school or something. It may not help, but it definitely can't hurt.

Edit: After looking at Melissa's post, there is the risk that it may be somewhat of a hassle if its only a few interviewers doing a lot of interviews in a short period of time, but I think that at worst they would just ignore the email.

 

[kate_g]

I sent thank you emails to my interviewers at Penn, and that same day I got a phone call.

Because of the time difference, I got the phone call before I had a chance to send e-mails to my Penn interviewers. So instead, I sent e-mails thanking them for the phone call!

The woman who was coordinating the interviews at Davis the day I was there (never caught her name - not Yasmin though) specifically asked me not to e-mail the interviewers (she volunteered this, I hadn't asked about it), but then went to some trouble to write everyone's name down and gave me a pre-printed slip with the vet school address on it (again, without my asking). She said "if you want to send anything, send it there and we'll make sure they get it." I'm torn as to whether to send anything. On the one hand, they seem to be almost asking for you to mail thank-you letters. On the other hand, they may just be trying to divert those 200 (X3!) letters to one place so that they can easily round-file them...

 

[cyrille104]

Talk about mixed messages - if it were me I would err on the side of caution, though, and not send anything...

My posts are like giant now because of that donor symbol. Oh yeah, and because of my giant avatar. But the giraffe is so cute!! In any case, I apologize for the extra scrolling...

 

[mom2jnc]

My posts are like giant now because of that donor symbol. Oh yeah, and because of my giant avatar. But the giraffe is so cute!! In any case, I apologize for the extra scrolling...

I like the giant avatar and the giraffe. I've seen your posts so often, but this gives me a sense of your personality and your passion (and don't even ask how long it took me to realize that you were actually a minority male amongst the majority of female pre-vet students...)

 

[cyrille104]

I like the giant avatar and the giraffe. I've seen your posts so often, but this gives me a sense of your personality and your passion (and don't even ask how long it took me to realize that you were actually a minority male amongst the majority of female pre-vet students...)

Uh oh, I'll have to start making my posts more masculine

Edit: Can you tell I'm procrastinating from writing my thesis right now?

 

[wildfocus]

Because of the time difference, I got the phone call before I had a chance to send e-mails to my Penn interviewers. So instead, I sent e-mails thanking them for the phone call!

The woman who was coordinating the interviews at Davis the day I was there (never caught her name - not Yasmin though) specifically asked me not to e-mail the interviewers (she volunteered this, I hadn't asked about it), but then went to some trouble to write everyone's name down and gave me a pre-printed slip with the vet school address on it (again, without my asking). She said "if you want to send anything, send it there and we'll make sure they get it." I'm torn as to whether to send anything. On the one hand, they seem to be almost asking for you to mail thank-you letters. On the other hand, they may just be trying to divert those 200 (X3!) letters to one place so that they can easily round-file them...

hey kate_g - i sent thank you's to my davis interviewers (got the same message from the interview coordinator - kathy?). i figure they just won't open them if they don't want to...

as for the other schools, i sent thank you notes to everyone. wsu after i was accepted (b/c it happened so fast!) and to everone at colorado (b/c they paid for my trip there and i had ~7 hours of interviews)... i was worried about appearing like a "brown noser" too, but just kept it focused on what we talked about and thanking them for their time.

 

[msmrtrthnyllb]

It comes off as sucking up/desperation to me. I wouldn't.

 

[horsybaby]

I sent e-mail thank you notes to my interviewers. Mostly because e-mail address was easy to find and I thought it might be more efficient than through campus mail. One interviewer actually responded back and said how much he enjoyed the interview and thanking me for the note. I felt good about the decision to send it

 

[isitAprilyet]

my rule of thumb after interviews, whether its for school or for a job, is to just acknowledge the interviewers for their time and consideration. after all, they cant condemn you for politeness! i sent my interviewers brief emails and have no moral qualms about it because it was my natural response. just do what feels right, i doubt u will get accepted/rejected based on your decision.

 

[Fairyblastt]

I sent them to Davis... more bc of the front person giving us the names and addresses too. I figure, even if they don't read them (and I really can't see them wanting to do that), it's the effort that counts...

 

[seavet]

Because of the time difference, I got the phone call before I had a chance to send e-mails to my Penn interviewers. So instead, I sent e-mails thanking them for the phone call!

The woman who was coordinating the interviews at Davis the day I was there (never caught her name - not Yasmin though) specifically asked me not to e-mail the interviewers (she volunteered this, I hadn't asked about it), but then went to some trouble to write everyone's name down and gave me a pre-printed slip with the vet school address on it (again, without my asking). She said "if you want to send anything, send it there and we'll make sure they get it." I'm torn as to whether to send anything. On the one hand, they seem to be almost asking for you to mail thank-you letters. On the other hand, they may just be trying to divert those 200 (X3!) letters to one place so that they can easily round-file them...

I had a similar situation--after my davis interview, i asked if thank you letters were discouraged or not, and she happily gave me everyone's names and the address--I agree that they seemed to want them, so I went ahead and did it. I'm worried about being a brown noser too--but in any other situation, i would have followed up with a letter, so why over think it?

 

[mtrl1]

For Davis, I was discouraged from sending thank you letters...so I haven't. I also know people who are in vet school now who didn't send them.

For Tufts I did (email), because it was personal, and I even received a response back.

I also sent them to WSU (email), but I don't think it made a difference.

 

[Fairyblastt]

Yea I don't get how one of the reception ppl is encouraging it, and the other isn't... but yes I agree. And doubt it'll make any sort of difference... well outside of my peace of mind. I now definitely know that there is nothing more I can do until that email. lol.

 

[mom2jnc]

So I know that last night I posted that I didn't send any thank you notes and how I hoped "that my experience, grades, and interview reflected my professionalism", blah, blah, blah...

BUT, after reading the posts today, I rushed to the bookstore, purchased 3 very cute kitten cards, wrote sappy, personalized thank-you notes and stamped each one with a silly cow happily munching on grass and mailed each one using campus delivery. So now I'm feeling that I acted a little desperate, like a big ol' kiss up, but reassured that I've done everything I can

Probably won't make a difference, but it sure can't hurt!

 

[seavet]

yeah, it's not going to make or break us...just gotta go with your gut...although my notes didn't have kitties best of luck to everyone!

 

[horsybaby]

Did I say how much I love reading everyone's thoughts! I especially love how being invovled in the "conversation" lets you weigh the pros and cons of all sides and figure out what is best for you. How Cool!

 

[wildfocus]

So I know that last night I posted that I didn't send any thank you notes and how I hoped "that my experience, grades, and interview reflected my professionalism", blah, blah, blah...

BUT, after reading the posts today, I rushed to the bookstore, purchased 3 very cute kitten cards, wrote sappy, personalized thank-you notes and stamped each one with a silly cow happily munching on grass and mailed each one using campus delivery. So now I'm feeling that I acted a little desperate, like a big ol' kiss up, but reassured that I've done everything I can

Probably won't make a difference, but it sure can't hurt!

cool stamp! really hoping we get to be classmates so i can borrow sometime!

 

[mom2jnc]

cool stamp! really hoping we get to be classmates so i can borrow sometime!

You'll have to battle it out with my 4-year old; he thought it was pretty cool too. My husband, on the other hand, was simultaneouly amused and disgusted by how ridiculous the cow stamp was

I'll have to figure out how to scan and upload it so you can truly appreciate how silly it is

But I also hope we're classmates!

 

[eep29]

I am currently a program coordinator for an Internal Medicine Residency program (human) and one of my major jobs is to facilitate our interview season. We bring in about 400+/- ppl every year, and many of them write thank you notes.

I realize this is for residency and not actually getting into school so the process is a bit different, but I think some of the same basic principles apply.

A couple things to consider:
1.A lot of pple send thank you emails/letters to my Program Director, Interviewers and staff (me). I can tell you my Program Director and I read every one. Don't know about other programs.
2. It's really hard to tell people's sincerity w/ a Thank you note. Are just saying they loved your program to CYA themselves or do they really mean it? so...
3. If you write a thank you, make it short and sweet, but sincere. Don't lie to a program and tell them they're your number one choice when they're not. Tell them you think very highly of their program and insert primary reason a, b and c.
4. For us. and I can't speak for all residency programs, TY letters don't ever hurt you. Some of our inerviewers tell us "Oh so and so sent me an email and really liked our program" and we make a mental note.
5. You're going on a job interview - I've always sent thank you's after going on job interviews so it's not bad protocol.
6. One last thing - since I read every email./letter, too I've noticed this - if you write multiple letters to a program, personalize them!!! A lot of people will write a form letter and switcfh up a sentence or two. At the risk of the same person reading ALL of your thank you's, switch it up. It makes me feel like you didn't have the time to really sit down and think about writing my letter when it's essentially the same as the next one you wrote to your OTHER interviewer.

Hope that helps some!

 

[horsybaby]

Great help eep29! Something to hold on to for future reference!