thank you letters

[js255]

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I'm interviewing at alot of programs and was wondering if...

Does anybody know if it's OK to send just one letter to a program or do you really need to send one to each interviewer?

Do they really need to be hand written?

 

[Bitsy3221]

I just asked my advisor about this, a retired chair and someone who has been around the residency application game for a while. He said one single letter to the chairman/program director is sufficient, but you may want to mention all the administration--something along the lines of "Dear Dr. PD, I would like to thank you, Dr. So-and-so (Chair) and Dr. XYZ (Assistant PD) for the opportunity to interview...blah blah blah." Somewhere else you may want to mention "how insightful meeting with Dr. A, Dr. B and Dr. C (the interviewers)". He also said to type it, not hand write it--this is still a business interview, not a date.

I am only writing an additional letter if I really hit it off with someone, and in that case I am sending an email. I sent a hand written thank you card only to an attending (and his wife) who hosted the pre-interview dinner in their home, and that was a "thank you for your hospitality" type card, and kept is rather formal.

Just my experience, though!

 

[reglan]

Save paper. I have written exactly ZERO thank you letters. I have been told by faculty and residents at multiple institutions that these letters are not read and are unnecessary. One chairman said, "Don't send them, I'm not sending everyone of you a thank you letter."

 

[SLUser11]

Save paper. I have written exactly ZERO thank you letters. I have been told by faculty and residents at multiple institutions that these letters are not read and are unnecessary. One chairman said, "Don't send them, I'm not sending everyone of you a thank you letter."

You also haven't matched yet, so your advice is almost worthless, and definitely limited to your personal experience as opposed to a good rule of thumb.

Also, I'm guessing that the multiple institutions you speak of are mostly large academic centers. Of course a thank you letter to UTSW is low yield when they interview 160+ people.

At many programs, your thank you letters are read, and they have an effect on your ranking. This is because PD's at many programs want to gauge your level of interest, and they're not above tweaking their ROL so that, later on, they can feel proud that they didn't have to go too far down their list to match all their spots.

The safe and smart thing to do is to write them to everywhere you plan on ranking.

 

[Winged Scapula]

This is an extremely common question - one which has been dealt with at length in this forum and the General Residency forum.

In short, IMHO, thank you letters are not meant to "get you something" (ie, a higher ranking) but rather are simply the proper and polite thing to do.

Yes, lots of people don't write them and still manage to match and many people who do write them don't get a residency position, or at least not at the program of their choice.

However, I and many others concur that writing them is a sign of good breeding and should be encouraged for the activity itself, not as a self-serving exercise which many students seem to find it.

 

[kaos]

Is it acceptable to send a bunch to the secretary/program coordinator, or is it better to send them all individually? I'd like to save on postage.

 

[Lioness]

E-mail \ call the coordinator and ask... a lot of the places where I interviewed preferred that they all go directly to the coordinator to hand out. They're the best people to get the correct address(es) from anyways.

Is it acceptable to send a bunch to the secretary/program coordinator, or is it better to send them all individually? I'd like to save on postage.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Is it acceptable to send a bunch to the secretary/program coordinator, or is it better to send them all individually? I'd like to save on postage.

Is it really going to save you that much on postage? After all, if you include all the thank you letters in the same envelope, you'll be paying by weight - I can't imagine its that much cheaper.