Thank You Letters

[drbriggz]

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So quite a few people have been telling me to make sure and send a thank you to the specific people who interview me as soon as I can. I have never heard of this and personally, it sounds really needy. Maybe that's just me. Are we supposed to do this? Just another question to throw out there...

[And even more complicated; should I send one to the person I have a phone interview w/?]

 

[sgrnspc]

actually i took a personal finance course where the professor interviewed a lot of people for different positions. she said that she would never consider an applicant who did not give her a thank you card...

now granted the fields are different (ie business v. med), but still that comment scared me right into always having a box of thank you cards on me at all times... 😱

hope that helps!

 

[Punisher]

I talked to a med student who did some interviews at UCLA... he said that 'thank you' letters are opened and read aloud infront of the committee in a very sarcastic tone (obviously making u look stupid). he said not to send a 'thank you' letter unless you really connected w/ the interviewer (i.e. both of you are researching the same thing and you want to follow up). so i don't know if i am going to... it sounds a little needy to me too.

 

[EnergyShotz]

I talked to a med student who did some interviews at UCLA... he said that 'thank you' letters are opened and read aloud infront of the committee in a very sarcastic tone (obviously making u look stupid). he said not to send a 'thank you' letter unless you really connected w/ the interviewer (i.e. both of you are researching the same thing and you want to follow up). so i don't know if i am going to... it sounds a little needy to me too.

I can't imagine this being the norm. As long as you don't gush endlessly and say something silly like "this was the best experience of my life" in your little thank you card, I don't see why it's much of a problem. Other people who have been through this process often remind me send a small thank you card afterwards, so I plan on doing so. I really can't fathom it negatively affecting your admissions...

 

[Law2Doc]

So quite a few people have been telling me to make sure and send a thank you to the specific people who interview me as soon as I can. I have never heard of this and personally, it sounds really needy. Maybe that's just me. Are we supposed to do this? Just another question to throw out there...

[And even more complicated; should I send one to the person I have a phone interview w/?]

This has been addressed many many many times on SDN. Thank you letters are not part of the application process and will not affect whether you will get into a school or not. I suspect there is no correlation with thank you notes and people admitted to med school. However they are a common courtesy, good business etiquette, and something that as a future professional, you should really get used to doing and may as well start here. In virtually every interview situation, whether it be at a professional school, or for a non-clerical job, it is actually the norm to thank your interviewers for taking time out of the day to talk to you. No interviewers will consider this "needy", or sucking up, or brown nosing, and generally none will read them aloud sarcastically. In the best case scenario, the letter will arrive in time to remind the interviewer who you were just prior to him/her writing up your interview "grade". In most cases, they will look at it, think "how nice" and toss it in the wastebasket. But in either event, it is just good manners to send a thank you note out. Thus it is a matter of etiquette, not something application process related. Just FYI from what I've heard/observed the majority of all applicants write thank you notes, so it's not something an interviewer will be surprised to receive.
(As to your other question, if you want to do the good etiquette thing, I would send a thank you note to anyone who interviews you, whether it is in person or by phone.)

 

[unfrozencaveman]

I talked to a med student who did some interviews at UCLA... he said that 'thank you' letters are opened and read aloud infront of the committee in a very sarcastic tone (obviously making u look stupid). he said not to send a 'thank you' letter unless you really connected w/ the interviewer (i.e. both of you are researching the same thing and you want to follow up). so i don't know if i am going to... it sounds a little needy to me too.

Can you imagine being on one of these committees? I find it hard to believe, with all the personal statements out there, that adcoms find the thank you notes the funniest thing.

Thank you notes are good business etiquette, just like law2doc said. Completely standard practice. Plus you've just spent a solid chunk of your education and life kowtowing to medschools. And the interview thank you note is the last straw??

 

[BooMed]

How do you get their addresses? Do you ask for their business card or...?

 

[Law2Doc]

How do you get their addresses? Do you ask for their business card or...?

Lots of schools have directories online. Some admissions offices give you the contact info you should use. You are also allowed to ask the admissions office people.

 

[Labslave]

How do you get their addresses? Do you ask for their business card or...?

Personally, I asked for a business card.

 

[Flopotomist]

I have interviewed for positions where I work, and let me tell you, when you have several hundred apps and have done ~20 interviews for one position, having to open up somebody's folder one more time to put the thank-you note in it can only help. It gets you to open that folder one more time and look at the candidate. In addition, it tells me that the candidate is serious about wanting to work here. I imagine it works the same for the schools.

If the adcoms want to read something aloud that is funny, they should read all of us on SDN trying to figure out what magic goes on in those committee meetings!

 

[RaaMD]

I was taught that thank you cards were a form of etiquette or courtesy. I know some schools, would stick a copy of my thank you card in the files, when the adcoms received it. Plus, I appreciated those people willing to interview me, considering how busy they are. I sometimes sent thank you emails as well, because they were cheap and direct. I would think it would be a good habit to get used to being grateful for the time that people in authority over your behalf spend with you. Good luck to you.

 

[dr.z]

I always send one directed to the admissions office.

 

[SuzieQ3417]

I was advised by my pre-med advisor to send thank you notes to interviewers. However, I don't think I would send one for the phone interview. I only say this because the phone interview you will be doing is more or less getting asked questions and having them recorded, without feedback. The person who asks those questions (I believe) is not a member of the admissions committee.

 

[Andrew_Doan]

Here is my reply about this topic: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=46994

When I served on committees and recieve TY notes, I read them and then toss them. It didn't influence my ranking of applicants.