thank you notes

[Captain Sisko]

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searched for this and was surprised it hasnt been asked yet. maybe search got confused by the popular keyword "notes"


anyone do thank you notes after an interview? will they help or have no effect? do they get added to the applicants file, or would they serve mainly to increase memorableness? and email, letter, or actual thank you card?

 

[Gerudo]

From what I can tell as a medical student and someone who is not an admissions board in any capacity... Thank you notes will generally do nothing for your application. They won't help or hurt you as an applicant.

I have heard of at least one school that does actually add such notes into the student's file but even that doesn't necessarily mean it is looked at positively or 'adds points' to ones application score. It is very possible that it is simply procedure to record all contact made with an applicant.

It is ultimately impossible to make any generalizations. I do think it would be very difficult for a thank you note to hurt you as an applicant but I think a vast majority of thank you notes (95%+) effectively do nothing for the final decision that is made.

That being said, you never know what a faculty member may remember about an applicant. There are too many variables involved to really narrow down how this should or should not be done: timing (when to send the letter), length (a simple few sentence thank you or a semi-update along with the thank you), medium (email? paper? hand written?), to who (the interviewer directly? admissions?).

Do whatever makes you feel most comfortable.

 

[kyamh]

The Pritzker podcast adcom members said that something like 50% of their applicants send thank you notes after the interview. That particular adcom said she thinks that thank you notes are the basic gesture of politeness that is expected, but clearly people get in without the notes. The adcom also said that she personally don't care about email vs paper. n=1

 

[Ismet]

Definitely not necessary, but from an interviewer perspective, it's nice to get a quick thank you email from an interviewee. I always give my email address to whoever I interview, inviting them to feel free to ask any questions they have about the school, and about half of them so far have emailed me a quick thank you. I think (?) if you send a physical thank you card to the admissions office, they might make a copy of it for your file and then forward it on to your interviewer, but I highly doubt it plays a role in admissions in anyway. Just a nice touch, since these people are volunteering an hour out of their day to interview you, plus time to write up a review. 🙂

 

[jdfamily]

So is it polite to ask for your interviewer's info after the interview? Or do you just look up the info later on?

 

[alpinism]

Thank-you notes will never help you, but they can definitely hurt you.

(Unprofessional comments, inappropriate requests, referring to someone by their first name, etc...)

We get the above almost every year for med school. It happens all the time during residency interviews as well.

Bottom line: Don't do it because you think it will help, do it as a simple gesture of politeness. Keep it short and professional.

 

[KinesiologyNerd]

I'll never understand thank you notes to interviewers. I can't see it helping, but I can see it hurting you as above posters have noted.

 

[Buzz Me]

Don't use email. Send the real thing.