The implications of not sending thank you letters to interviewers??

[johnwandering]

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I was wondering what the implications of not sending thank you letters were.

I honestly had no idea that people sent thank you letters to interviewers. My handful of pre-med friends were clueless on the matter as well. It wasn't until we read it on one of the medical school websites (for their respective undergrad premeds) that we even heard of it.

I had an interview at Hofstra about three weeks ago and am going to send letters over the weekend. I am not quite sure when the committee meets to speak on candidates, but no acceptances are given out until clear after New Year's.


I was wondering, if I send the letters on Monday, what would the negative implications be on my chances at that medical school?
Also, because it has been a while, should I give a sentence or two about my specific interviews which can help them remember who I am?

 

[ArkAngel]

I was wondering what the implications of not sending thank you letters were.

I honestly had no idea that people sent thank you letters to interviewers. My handful of pre-med friends were clueless on the matter as well. It wasn't until we read it on one of the medical school websites (for their respective undergrad premeds) that we even heard of it.

I had an interview at Hofstra about three weeks ago and am going to send letters over the weekend. I am not quite sure when the committee meets to speak on candidates, but no acceptances are given out until clear after New Year's.


I was wondering, if I send the letters on Monday, what would the negative implications be on my chances at that medical school?
Also, because it has been a while, should I give a sentence or two about my specific interviews which can help them remember who I am?

3 weeks later, chances are the interviewer will not remember you very well. You could still send the notes but they might have submitted their evaluation already. Anyway, the general consensus is that these notes should not have an effect on whether you get in or not but when I interviewed at Penn, I was specifically told to send thank you notes because they are "big on it". I'm not sure what that means but I figured why take the chance. My advice to you (and what I do now) is to simply take a few thank you cards with you to the interview and spend a couple of minutes after the day is over to fill them out and drop them at the admissions office. They are usually receptive to this and it ensures that whatever specific details you discussed with the interviewer and fresh in your mind. It also ensures that the interviewer will receive it in a timely fashion and saves you postage stamps😛. So simply, I don't think it will be a massive deal if you didn't do it because technically, it shouldn't sway anyone's decision but better safe than sorry

 

[Catalystik]

1) I was wondering what the implications of not sending thank you letters were.

I had an interview at Hofstra about three weeks ago and am going to send letters over the weekend. I am not quite sure when the committee meets to speak on candidates, but no acceptances are given out until clear after New Year's.


I was wondering, if I send the letters on Monday, what would the negative implications be on my chances at that medical school?
Also, because it has been a while, should I give a sentence or two about my specific interviews which can help them remember who I am?

After three-plus weeks an interviewer is much less likely to recall who you were unless you jog their memory by referring to a specific interchange that occurred during the interview.

Important to note is that all interviewers are not present at committee meetings where the results of the interview are assessed (though their writeup will be in your file), so individual notes may have no impact at all, as they won't necessarily end up in your file.

Consider instead sending a note of appreciation for the interview addressed to the Admissions Committee as a whole if you want to be sure it is taken into account.

 

[Venc]

3 weeks later, chances are the interviewer will not remember you very well. You could still send the notes but they might have submitted their evaluation already. Anyway, the general consensus is that these notes should not have an effect on whether you get in or not but when I interviewed at Penn, I was specifically told to send thank you notes because they are "big on it". I'm not sure what that means but I figured why take the chance. My advice to you (and what I do now) is to simply take a few thank you cards with you to the interview and spend a couple of minutes after the day is over to fill them out and drop them at the admissions office. They are usually receptive to this and it ensures that whatever specific details you discussed with the interviewer and fresh in your mind. It also ensures that the interviewer will receive it in a timely fashion and saves you postage stamps😛. So simply, I don't think it will be a massive deal if you didn't do it because technically, it shouldn't sway anyone's decision but better safe than sorry

Should this thank you cards be very formal or can they be a little funny? Or should I take 2 different types (formal and funny) and choose depending on the interviewer?

 

[IHeartNerds]

I can safely say that, at least at my school (Penn, I have no idea where these rumors above came from), nobody gives a damn about thank you notes. At most, sending an email to the director of admissions saying thanks for having me might be nice. Save your postage.

 

[Catalystik]

Should this thank you cards be very formal or can they be a little funny? Or should I take 2 different types (formal and funny) and choose depending on the interviewer?

Assuming you're referring to the appearance of the card itself, in the absence of a specific example of "a little funny" I'd suggest that it's best to stay with a formal-looking card. If you are talking about the content of the note, then it's OK to mirror the tone of the interviewer.

 

[Venc]

Assuming you're referring to the appearance of the card itself, in the absence of a specific example of "a little funny" I'd suggest that it's best to stay with a formal-looking card. If you are talking about the content of the note, then it's OK to mirror the tone of the interviewer.

Thank you.

 

[wanderer]

It shouldn't make a difference, but at every school where I asked how to send thank you notes (or emails in my case), I was told to CC the admissions office, so that it gets added to my file. Why would they add it to applicants' files if it meant nothing?

At one school my interview group was "strongly encouraged" to send thank you notes, and we were told that even if we sent a physical card it would be copied and placed in our file.

 

[littlealex]

I went to 6 interviews, did not send any thank you letters, 5 acceptances.
As far as I know thank you letters are good to show your appreciation, but they do not help you get better comments, and their absence does not hurt you.

 

[ArkAngel]

I can safely say that, at least at my school (Penn, I have no idea where these rumors above came from), nobody gives a damn about thank you notes. At most, sending an email to the director of admissions saying thanks for having me might be nice. Save your postage.

I heard this directly from the mouth of someone from the office of student affairs. Even though she's not part of the admissions office, I'm sure she has been around long enough to have an idea of what they value. Not saying I doubt you but that's what I was told and that's what I did.

 

[Caristra]

I did not send letters when I was an applicant and I did not think it had any impact on my acceptance rate. If you really hit it off with someone then I guess it could help but there is no reason to freak out or panic because you did not send a thank you letter.

 

[johnwandering]

So, at this point, do you think I should send thank you letters at all??

I feel like they can even damage my application at this point as they go through the thought process: who was this kid again? I guess he wasn't important.

 

[NickNaylor]

I haven't sent any thank yous and feel like things are going well. It should be something you do as a courtesy. Expecting anything more is silly.

 

[Kip]

i haven't sent any thank yous and feel like things are going well. It should be something you do as a courtesy. Expecting anything more is silly.

+1

 

[TheFogHat]

I've had 6 interviews, 2 acceptances, 2 rejections.... I only sent a thank you once. I got rejected. So no, there are no implications..

 

[TarHeelEMT]

I didn't know to send them.

 

[georgearms]

Interviewed at 9 schools, accepted to 5, waitlisted at 1, 0 rejections so far. I didn't send any thankyou notes because I was too lazy, but I kinda wish I had sent thankyous to a few of my interviewers who were really nice to me

 

[Hejman]

I was wondering what the implications of not sending thank you letters were.

I honestly had no idea that people sent thank you letters to interviewers. My handful of pre-med friends were clueless on the matter as well. It wasn't until we read it on one of the medical school websites (for their respective undergrad premeds) that we even heard of it.

I had an interview at Hofstra about three weeks ago and am going to send letters over the weekend. I am not quite sure when the committee meets to speak on candidates, but no acceptances are given out until clear after New Year's.


I was wondering, if I send the letters on Monday, what would the negative implications be on my chances at that medical school?
Also, because it has been a while, should I give a sentence or two about my specific interviews which can help them remember who I am?

You get eaten by a velociraptor.

 

[venacontracta]

You get eaten by a velociraptor.

But what if a pterodactyl swoops down from the sky and saves your ass from the velociraptor?

Conclusion: Thank you notes are a nice gesture but are very unlikely to affect your chances.

 

[johnwandering]

lol

thanks guys
I'm just a little high strung from applications. I am going to get a drink~