Re post #39:“I said that IF you get your application in on time, AND there is availability, you will be contacted about SCHEDULING an interview.”
NO you will NOT necessarily be CONTACTED regarding scheduling an interview, @InigoMontoya, for the reasons – and many others – delineated in post #38. Duke will doubtless notify the alumni interviewer, but there is absolutely NO certainty that the volunteer will then contact the applicant. There can be “availability,” but the alumni interviewer has to complete the action, and that is simply not ensured. I have be a Duke interviewer for many years (and I was a VP and Executive Committee member of the Alumni Association – which runs the interviewing program – for six years) and I am certian of these facts.
You’re right, however, I should have been more precise regarding my use of the word “guarantee.” I intended it to address “contacting” as well as “interviewing.”
My son had two alumni interviews. In both instances, he emailed the interviewers to thank them afterwards, and both in turn emailed back nice responses, wishing him well and even, in one case, sending a link to some information about something they had discussed (some engineering thing).
Based on the responses here, I guess he was super lucky! Who knew.
I am an interviewer and I can see your point of view about the response to the thank you.
From my point of view, I may have already sent my report, so I might receive the thanks but it will not add to your admissions decision. I am imagining people are doing it because they are told they are supposed to. But I can see that if you don’t get a response, that could have a negative impression on you and we want you to have a positive impression. But also, keep in mind we are volunteers with many other interviews so we put the effort where we need to.
I don’t mind if the student has more questions and sends email again, keeping in mind that I am not connected to the admissions office (except for the report I send) so I may not be the best source of info.
I had five alumni interviews and promptly emailed each a thank you. While I did not expect to hear from any of my interviewers after I’d sent my thank you, I understand where the OP is coming from because all five actually wrote back again. Each meeting was either at the interviewer’s place of business (but certainly there was not a patient waiting, that is not an appropriate set-up by the interviewer) or at a neutral coffee-type location So for those of you who interview, please know that although we interviewees do not expect you to write back after we have thanked you, it is appreciated and many many of your colleagues do.
I am surprised by the negative tone inherent in some of the earlier posters and am grateful that I was not interviewed by you.
Just to state that this matter of replying to “Thank You” emails is not unnoticed in the larger society. My employer, one of the largest organizations extant, has issued directives NOT to reply to thank you emails due to – the endless cycle/loop and muddying of the continual email stream (for many of us, hundreds each day). @cttwenty15, while I get that it’s nice, email communication for those of us in the business world is practically as commonplace as tweeting or texting for others. Younger people who may not be slaved to an email server (like I am) may not understand this. S’okay, though. Certainly you send/receive texts that are only for information and don’t require a reply. Thank You emails fall under that category. Like I said earlier, unless I had additional reason to communicate, I don’t reply to Thank You emails or mailed notes.