Thank you notes after interview?

[Enik]

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I have mixed feelings about emailing thank you notes after interviews. 90% of the time I do not know the emails or even remember the names of the people I interviewed with. If its a second year med student or if its a DO from a community somewhere... People were talking about sending thank you notes and how they send it to [email protected] or what ever. I see absolutely no utility in that since I highly doubt admissions is going to bother forwarding that email to the 3 people I interviewed with.

What are everyone else's thoughts on this?

 

[cryhavoc]

I'm not sending a thank you note. I want them to remember me from amazing interview responses, not from the time I tried to brown-nose them. I'll thank them for their time at the end of the interview. Verbally.

 

[lossycompression]

My personal opinion here: sending a thank you note is not about having a better chance at being accepted, having your name remembered, etc. It's just common courtesy. If you read some older posts on the forums, you will see that most people on here send one. Just think of it this way: especially if you are in a small interview group, if 13 out of 14 people send a thank you e-mail, do you want to be the only one that didn't?

If it's a professor on campus, you can easily find their e-mail address on the school's website or via google. If it's someone from the community or a student, I agree that it might be harder to locate their e-mail address.

I doubt that it makes any significant difference one way or another, but it can't hurt.

 

[mathnerd88]

One of the schools I sent thank you notes (CUSOM- and only because admissions hinted to) and I never got a response but got accepted. The other two schools I never sent thank you notes (CCOM and LECOM-B) and also got accepted.

I won't send thank you notes anymore, because I doubt they make a difference. Unless I really want to go to a particular school, then maybe I'll send thank you notes.

 

[Goro]

It's nice that you want to be polite, but really, these are irrelevant. So don't sweat it.

I have mixed feelings about emailing thank you notes after interviews. 90% of the time I do not know the emails or even remember the names of the people I interviewed with. If its a second year med student or if its a DO from a community somewhere... People were talking about sending thank you notes and how they send it to [email protected] or what ever. I see absolutely no utility in that since I highly doubt admissions is going to bother forwarding that email to the 3 people I interviewed with.

What are everyone else's thoughts on this?

 

[Giovanotto]

My personal opinion here: sending a thank you note is not about having a better chance at being accepted, having your name remembered, etc. It's just common courtesy. If you read some older posts on the forums, you will see that most people on here send one. Just think of it this way: especially if you are in a small interview group, if 13 out of 14 people send a thank you e-mail, do you want to be the only one that didn't?

If it's a professor on campus, you can easily find their e-mail address on the school's website or via google. If it's someone from the community or a student, I agree that it might be harder to locate their e-mail address.

I doubt that it makes any significant difference one way or another, but it can't hurt.

I'm going to go against the grain here and say that yes, I do want to be remembered as the only one that didn't send a thank-you card/email, in the example that you gave.

 

[lossycompression]

I'm going to go against the grain here and say that yes, I do want to be remembered as the only one that didn't send a thank-you card/email, in the example that you gave.

And that's just fine! I view it as sending your aunt a thank you note for that sweater you got for Christmas. It might not be crucial, but it's a nice touch.

 

[IslandStyle808]

I am fine with my thank you notes by email.

 

[Giovanotto]

I am fine with my thank you notes by email.

How's your cycle coming along?

 

[IslandStyle808]

How's your cycle coming along?

Sent half my secondaries, but still have my other half to do. Not heard back yet. Midterms are not doing me any favors LOL.

 

[68PGunner]

It doesn't hurt to send thank you notes. However not sending thank you notes could reflect badly on you.

 

[beeboops]

I usually call the admissions office of the school and ask if they'll forward my thank you e-mails to the people in question, and they have all enthusiastically said yes and just asked that I include the interviewer's name in the subject line. If you can't remember their name, maybe ask if the admissions office can look it up for you since it'll be in your file? I have no idea if my thank you e-mails actually do get forwarded to my interviewers, but I like to think that they're a nice touch. One school has explicitly told me that they'll have no bearing on our admissions decision, but I think there must be some subconscious recognition of it when your interviewer presents you to the committee. It may make the difference between you being described as "smart, personable, thoughtful, and courteous" vs. just being described as "smart and personable".

 

[lyana]

Did not send any, I think most interviewers make their decision after you leave the room.

 

[ortnakas]

It's a nice courtesy, but it's highly unlikely to sway admissions one way or the other.

I know our faculty have said they've already had the committee meeting by the time they can receive thank you notes via snail mail.

 

[hopefulERdoc251]

This was the bind I was in. At KCUMB, our student interviewers told us that they were told to "very strongly encourage us" to send thank you e-mails to the interviewers. They were saying how they do read the notes and that albeit it might not help with the decision it's common courtesy and it'll help them remember you.

 

[igor_raptor]

Sent half my secondaries, but still have my other half to do. Not heard back yet. Midterms are not doing me any favors LOL.

Yeah, same.

 

[Didierdrogba]

Sending the thank you notes is pointless. There is no need for it. I did it during my first cycle (applied only MD), rejected anyways.. The second time around, I didn't send anything at all (DO's only), and was accepted to all schools I interviewed at. So yeah...

 

[68PGunner]

Sending the thank you notes is pointless. There is no need for it. I did it during my first cycle (applied only MD), rejected anyways.. The second time around, I didn't send anything at all (DO's only), and was accepted to all schools I interviewed at. So yeah...

Whether it is pointless or not doesn't matter. It's about playing it safe. Not sending a note could hurt you while taking 10 secs to type a thank you note might be neutral to positive. With everything being digital, it's very likely that your interviewers will have the chance to read your note before presenting your case to the adcom. If you are serious about this process, everything that's falsified as optional should be mandatory.

 

[strb_thndr]

What if the interviewer explicitly stated "we are VERY receptive to thank you letters/letters of interest"...

 

[asdf123g]

What if the interviewer explicitly stated "we are VERY receptive to thank you letters/letters of interest"...

then yes. What school does that?

 

[darknecrosforte]

Western U, Pomona actually explicitly said that and even had it on a PowerPoint slide, as well as multiple ways to reach every interviewer.

Still not going to send one though for the many reasons mentioned earlier.

 

[Giovanotto]

Western U, Pomona actually explicitly said that and even had it on a PowerPoint slide, as well as multiple ways to reach every interviewer.

Still not going to send one though for the many reasons mentioned earlier.

I don't remember that, and I was just there.... not sure if they took that out.

 

[Dreamstoo]

Our school's former pre med adviser recommended everyone to write thank you cards for all allopathic/osteopathic medical schools that invite you for an interview. That and letters of interest if you are waitlisted at a school you really like.