Yet another question on Thank you notes

[Huit]

I know, it's the question about thank you notes again. I know many have said that it probably does not make a difference, but then a lot of the neurotic us have sent out tons of them. Anyways, a couple of questions....

1. Is it too late to send out thank you notes now? I mean if you send them out now for programs you interviewed at early January, would it reflect poorly upon you that you are doing it so late (that you didn't do it right away)? If you do send them out now, email or snail mail?

2. Do you guys remember which programs explicitly said no thank you notes? Can you send a letter of intent to these programs tho?

Thanks for any insights in advance!

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[Cheebs09]

No Thank Yous at Michigan and NYU - those are the only ones I remember...

 

[DermMatch]

If you're going to send a thank you note, send it ASAP. If you want to send it now because you're feeling neurotic, go ahead. I doubt it will affect your rank at this point.

Understanding the minimal role of the thank you note requires understanding the technical aspects of compiling a rank list, and the psychology of making that list.

Programs will rank either immediately after interviews, that night, but unlikely will wait a tremendous amount of time before finalizing their rank list. I've heard of waiting for about a week, I guess.

Thank-you notes rarely influence rank. I've heard faculty state that if you are borderline, and you send a REALLY nice thank you note, that MAYBE they'll be persuaded to get off their duff and wander over to the PD and chair to put in a good word. But even then, I cannot imagine a situation where it would sway people to shift the rank list, as it is a list compiled by consensus.

Some faculty find email thank you's very annoying, as they know you can send the same thank you to a bajillion people. If you send a thank you, I suppose you should err on the side of being conservative and send a handwritten and personalized thank you note. Make sure they are legible, so print if you have to.

Strategy if you want to your thank you's to have maximum impact: Have your notes ready to go, and drop them off either at the secretary before you leave, or in the mail while you're still in town, before you catch your flight out.

Worst case scenario: Your thank you note becomes the butt of departmental ridicule, either among attendings or residents, which has indeed happened to some.

 

[scumbagderm]

Worst case scenario: Your thank you note becomes the butt of departmental ridicule, either among attendings or residents, which has indeed happened to some.

this is rude and unprofessional (to pass around notes from applicants to ridicule) during this stressful and trying time. It also gives me another thing to have nightmares about the days preceding match.

 

[DermMatch]

Sad but true. Unfortunately you can't eliminate the worst aspects of human nature from the interview process.

IMHO: Be politely positive. Keep it short. Send only if you truly feel thankful. Limit to PD/chair/select faculty. Don't bother sending to residents - they are not expecting thank yous.

 

[brightoats]

I didn't send them. Most ppl I talked to were sending them 2 weeks after intvwing. Doubt they have an impact unless you truly personalize them. But just my opinion. Talk to a resident who has seen it from the other side or ask your home dept if u can.