Thank-you note for a student-interviewer or email?

[lady in red]

Did you guys send thank-you notes by mail to your student interviewers or did you send an email. Another question: is it appropriate at all? My student interviewer was very formal, very nice and welcoming, but still VERY formal. I certainly don't have her address but found her email account.

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[deleted7807]

I usually send student interviewers a thank you card...I too have never had their address, so I just send it to them care of the admissions office and hope that the admissions office is nice enough to forward it. But I would think that a thank you in any form would be fine and much appreciated

 

[deleted7807]

I usually send student interviewers a thank you card...I too have never had their address, so I just send it to them care of the admissions office and hope that the admissions office is nice enough to forward it. But I would think that a thank you in any form would be fine and much appreciated

 

[bebe2]

Originally posted by lady in red:
•Did you guys send thank-you notes by mail to your student interviewers or did you send an email. Another question: is it appropriate at all? My student interviewer was very formal, very nice and welcoming, but still VERY formal. I certainly don't have her address but found her email account.•••

I wouldn't email her since she didn't personally give you her email address. A handwritten thank you note is my pick! It shows you spent time on it and is in keeping with the "formal" type atmosphere you mentioned.

Good luck

 

[megkudos]

You're not supposed to contact interviewers (student or not) directly, you are supposed to write them through the admissions office.

 

[Original]

Megkudos:

I think that might vary on a school-by-school basis. My student interviewer gave us his email. Greatest guy! I was going to send him a thanks email right after my interview, but then I delayed a bit and got accepted "anyway". I still went ahead and sent the email "anyhow" It was nice cause I told him that he could at least be certain that I wasn't just kissing @ss.

My advice is that if you sincerely love a place post-interview, let them know ASAP (email) how much you liked the place and would like to attend. Schools are very concerned about their "yield" (offers-made/offers-accepted ratio). If they know that A will come if accepted but B might not; then A has a good leg up over B.

There's an ethical component to the game though. One has to be sincere in one's evaluation of the school. One shouldn't say stuff like "I'll definitely come if accepted" If you're not really sure.

That's just my theory. It's probably all BS.

 

[megkudos]

.....even if they give you their email it makes more sense to me to be formal about it and send it through the admissions office but to each their own Plus then it will probably be put in your file.....

After you are accepted it would be nice to have the person's email though so you could chat about the school in an informal way.

Just a thought

 

[Original]

Megkudos:

sorry I edited my post on you. In anycase I think I see your point. The note to the adcom can be filed while a personal email might probably not be much of a factor. I guess a good compromise might be to do both ASAP.

 

[Incendiary]

So you all think sending a thank you note through the admissions office is better than sending one directly to the interviewer? If the interviewer gives you his/her contact information, wouldn't it make more sense to send it to them directly? Or is this just so a note to can added to your file? I don't think it's common practice to mention in someone's file that a thank you note was passed through the office. Has anyone heard about this being done (other than at UCSF, I think it was)?

 

[megkudos]

Original-
I aggree with your compromise idea

Incendiary,
I think that when you send it through the office it gets added to your file. So in other words send the note to the office--that way your interviewer reads it *and* it gets added to your file. From what I have heard this is the formal and accepted way to go about things

 

[sandflea]

actually i wouldn't call it standard to send a thank-you letter to the admissions office. i have never been advised to handle it that way and i would only do that if i had no other way of getting a thank-you note to the person--admissions offices get enough mail and i would want to ensure that my interviewer actually received it in a timely manner. original was right in that what is preferred can depend on the school. oftentimes you are given your interviewer's business card....implying that the contact info given on it is a proper way to contact them. even without a business card, contact info is generally easily available on the school's website, etc.

besides, many interviewers have nothing to do with the admissions process other than doing an interview and filling out an evaluation form. many don't actually sit on admissions committees, so there would be no chance for them to see your file *after* a letter has been added to it--the adcom takes the interviewer's evaluation form and makes an admission decision taking the interviewer's comments in good faith. often interviewers go way out of their way to make time to interview you, so a personalized letter directly sent to them is not out of line and is in no way too informal.

 

[megkudos]

I think it's a matter of documentation....you want (or I guess I want) all correspondance with a school to be on file including any thank you notes...

...I guess it makes it harder if they give you their card (you don't want to look like you lost it or are incompetent or anything if you mail the admissions office).....

 

[skelly99]

I was an undergrad student interviewer at Dartmouth when I was there. I would say written thank you note, but if you have any questions about the school, etc., you can use email if the interviewer gave you his or her email address.

 

[SMW]

Lady in red, there you are!! I was wondering what had happened to you! I favor handwritten thank-you notes sent to whichever address I happen to have on hand. Preferably on a card with gorgeous and/or interesting Alaska type pictures.
How about an update about what's up with you?

 

[SMW]

Originally posted by SMW:
•How about an update about what's up with you?•••

 

[lady in red]

I like everybody's opinions, they all make sense. SMW, I've just come out of a LONG depression, I moved to a new place and cannot dial-up to the internet from there. Since I last posted, I got 2 more interview offers, but from sort of "back-up" schools. I am still happy with what I have and hope one of them works out!

 

[alice]

i've only written through the admissions office when i didn't have an address for an interviewer and couldn't find one online. theoretically, the thank you note is for the interviewer and not for your file. i am sure if a school cares a lot about these notes, your interviewer will mention that he/she got one from you if it comes up. i think sending through the admissions office looks a little obsequious. i have emailed thank-yous to any student interviewer for whom i couldn't find an address, too. i can't remember if that was at schools i got into or not, though.

 

[RainaNoelle]

I just called the Admissions office of U. Kentucky yesterday to ask them where I should send thank you notes (to both a faculty member and a student) and I was told they want them sent to the Admissions office directly, where they will distribute them out to the right people. So you may want to call the admit office and see what they say to do...each school may have their own preferences of how to handle it.

Best of luck!

Raina

 

[brandonite]

Originally posted by lady in red:
•I like everybody's opinions, they all make sense. SMW, I've just come out of a LONG depression, I moved to a new place and cannot dial-up to the internet from there. Since I last posted, I got 2 more interview offers, but from sort of "back-up" schools. I am still happy with what I have and hope one of them works out!•••

So, you have four interviews now? Well, that's getting up there! I still don't have any, so you can at least feel better when compared to me.

I hope everything else is working out for you! I've noticed you haven't been around here as much - we've missed you!

Good luck with everything!