Thanking Pre-health advisors

[mikeonline]

I recently visited my pre-health advisor to get a recommendation letter... it was the second time I spoke to her. The recommendation letter was for a summer internship program. She has my recommendation letter ready at the front desk to pick up. I want to build a better relationship with her since I know I’m going to need more letters as I apply to other programs and schools later. I want to know from yall if it is appropriate to give her a thank you card, like many of you give to med or dental school interviewers... except I would be thanking her for the recommendation. And if I do give her a card, would it seem too much like as if i'm brown nosing...? Any quality help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

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[szhao]

speaking of this, do we need to ask for a different letter for reapplicants?

 

[TypeA]

SZHAO... you don't waste any time hijacking a thread, do you?

OP...I don't have a good answer for you on this because I have yet to thank LOR writers, but I am the type that would head for a card and some sort of edible thing. Perhaps it would be seen as brown-nosing but after the letter written and in hand what good would brown-nosing do? So, go with your gut. Do what you WANT to do not what you feel is not going to lead to a thought of brown-nosing.

Just my 1.5 cents.

 

[mikeonline]

SZHAO... you don't waste any time hijacking a thread, do you?

OP...I don't have a good answer for you on this because I have yet to thank LOR writers, but I am the type that would head for a card and some sort of edible thing. Perhaps it would be seen as brown-nosing but after the letter written and in hand what good would brown-nosing do? So, go with your gut. Do what you WANT to do not what you feel is not going to lead to a thought of brown-nosing.

Just my 1.5 cents.

Thanks for your response... your right.. i should go with my gut feeling rather than over thinking the situation. I believe the polite thing to do would be to give a thank you card... to show my appreciation for the time spent on writing a recommendation... though it is her job. This is no different than thanking the starbucks person for the coffee made... its just common courtesy.

 

[tdkneo]

you guys are so lucky you have pre-health advisors at your school, my school doesnt have anyone that actually can tell me anything.........the last time i talked to the "so called" advisor, she tried to force me to drop chemistry because she said medical schools do not require chemistry and asked why i was wasting my time taking chemistry.........that's how bad the so called advisors at my school are, thank god for this website and forums........

 

[RunninDoc]

I sent each of my letter writers a thank you card, and three of them actually took the time to stop me and tell me how much they appreciated it. My advisor gave me a hug and told me how much it really meant to him. So I think you should go for it; it's not brown-nosing if you're genuinely thankful, which I assume you are!!

 

[MyNameIsOtto]

All I did was send a thank you email to the prehealth advisor after I was accepted to med school.

 

[frubeak]

Defiitely give them a thankyou card. It's common courtesy and not weird. It's not brown-nosing because you already got the letter from them. They won't forget it, and if you need their help again later on, they will be more likely to remember you.

 

[EmbellisMaVie]

I usually like to include updates and stuff in my thank you notes, so what I do is give my letter writers an informal "thank you" either by e-mail or verbally. Like, "I got your letter, thanks so much!" A couple of weeks later, after I find out about the scholarship/program/school, I'll write a formal thank you, saying, "I was fortunate enough to be accepted/Unfortunately, I wasn't selected, I really appreciate your time, etc." I usually send it with a small box of chocolates or something, but I just think it's nice to let them know how things went.

 

[MasonPrehealth]

I usually ask for a followup on the process, and I usually get a thank you card or email.