<p>of note- Carol Lawrence aka CC's Carolyn is mentioned at the bottom of this article.</p>
<p>October 9, 2007
Thank-You Note Enters College Admission Game
By KAREN W. ARENSON
Call it a testament to how carefully students court college admissions offices these days: Thank-you notes have become the new frontier. </p>
<p>Take the one that came with M & Ms to match Lehigh University’s school colors of brown and white, and with the applicant’s name inscribed on the candy. She thanked officials for her interview, adding, “Keep me on the tip of your tongue when reviewing applications.”</p>
<p>Some students buy college stationery for their notes as if to signal they already belong on campus. The flying pigs that adorned a thank-you to Guilford College in North Carolina were certainly eye-catching, as was the smiley face at the end of the note.</p>
<p>There are even thank-you notes that are less than thankful, like the one from a young man who announced he had visited Lehigh under parental duress and begged to be rejected. “He said, ‘My parents don’t know I’m sending this letter,’” said J. Leon Washington, the dean of admissions and financial aid. </p>
<p>Mr. Washington said that he was seeing more thank-you notes than ever, and that Lehigh received 50 or 60 in just one day last week. The notes are directed not just to admissions officers, but also to college tour guides and alumni who are often the ones most likely to be conducting college interviews these days.</p>
<p>If anyone deserves a pile of nice thank you notes, it’s Carolyn! :)</p>
<p>But I’m confused by the article - it seems to indicate that people are writing thank you notes for campus visits and tours? That certainly seems like overkill to me. However, I do think a sincere, handwritten note of appreciation - minus the self-promotion - is in order after a student is interviewed by an adcom or alum, or after a meeting with a faculty member.</p>
<p>And the kid who wrote the Lehigh adcom begging to be rejected could be onto something - that’s one way to get around parental strategizing, I guess. It may well catch on!</p>
<p>I made sure my D thanked everyone who interviewed her; we had no ‘strategy,’ I just felt it was the right thing to do. I guess my Momma done raised me right.</p>
<p>A thank-you note depends on level of attention you received and the interest in the school–but not always! I’m feeling a little embarrassed now, because I wrote a thank-you to Carleton admissions after a visit because we felt the adcom spent a lot of time with us, as did the two tour guides (two guides for one kid and his mom!)–but it really was sincere because I knew son would not be applying (as much as he loved the campus and people, they don’t have a degree in his specific interest; he didn’t write a note, I did. If I had college to do over again, I’d go to Carleton in a heartbeat!). I did not write a note, nor did S, to Macalester because it was a cattle call (this may differ from person to person–this is just our experience). Both of us wrote thanks to St Olaf because they REALLY went out of their way and, of course, they are high on S’s list of schools with the music program he wants. S has written emailed thanks to a prof in a university near us who let him sit in on an evening performance class, and to grad students who gave impromptu tours. I don’t see anything wrong with a quick note if you really mean it. The candy thing is a bit much, though.</p>
<p>On the flip side, my d received a handwritten note from her student interviewer at Wesleyan, thanking her for coming and spending time on campus! (For those who think about such things, the note was not a harbinger of things to come - d didn’t get in.)</p>
<p>My son also got notes from some of his tour guides, a nice touch.</p>
<p>He wrote thank you notes to all of his interviewers. I got him some beautiful cards with work from Vermont artists. Figured it couldn’t hurt–and most of the interviewers really made him feel at ease, including the first one at Macalester. He, and we, did feel really grateful for their attention and kindness.</p>
<p>bethievt, I had a feeling our experience at Macalester was not typical and am glad to hear about yours being good. We visited during spring break and near the end of the week, so they were flooded with people. (In any case, Mac doesn’'t have exact program S wants but it looked like a very cool place, and we had to laugh when we arrived because after seeing the giant wind turbines at Carl and Olaf, we figured that no urban college would have one, but–surprise!–there was Mac’s!)</p>
<p>I don’t want to derail the conversation from thank-you notes, just wanted to mention that I’m sorry to have left a not-so-great impression of Macalester.</p>
<p>I agree with Midmo that such a thing would make a negative impression. My kids would call that being a “suck-up”. </p>
<p>My kids wrote notes to their interviewers saying that they enjoyed speaking to them about xxxx school, maybe something specific they had discussed, and that they definitely planned to apply, or something like that.</p>
<p>Bottom line (for me): When someone goes out of his/her way, devotes a chunk of time, or otherwise does something nice for me, a thank-you note is a given. So that would definitely include an alumni interview or a one-on-one meeting with a faculty member.</p>
<p>Nothing elaborate or sucking-up, just a straightforward “Thank you for taking the time…” “I enjoyed…” “I was interested to learn…”</p>
<p>I was also one of those who would not allow S to spend gift money until the thank-you note was written!</p>
<p>What struck me about the woman with the matching M and M’s is that presumably an order of monogrammed M and M’s in a certain color – with shipping – is at least ten dollars, probably more.</p>
<p>and presumably this young lady interviewed at ten schools or something. </p>
<p>I’m concerend that families that don’t have an extra hundred bucks for m and m’s and all the rest are going to be economically disadvantaged in the admissions process.</p>
<p>They’re not going to be “economically disadvantaged” because any admissions committee worth its salt won’t be swayed by anything like that. And if they would be, it’s not where I would want my kid to go anyway!</p>
<p>Personalized M&Ms are not cheap. I recently ordered some for D’s golden birthday (she was 23 on the 23rd). Four cellophane packages of candy, custom monogrammed. No more than a pound of candy. With shipping and all, $60.00. Fun idea but I won’t be repeating it for DS’s birthday.</p>
<p>Completely agree with mafool’s bottom line. S sent handwritten thank you notes to local alumni interviewers, teacher recommenders, and the like. No strategy—just courtesy. </p>
<p>As for the college contacts, S primarily corresponded via e-mail. Most college personnel, from professors, admissions officers, student hosts or tour guides, handed out cards with e-mail contacts for additional questions. </p>
<p>S took their lead as to the preferred mode of correspondence. He followed up with a sincere note thanking them for their advise or time, and when appropriate he mentioned how he proceeded or what he discovered. Asked questions when appropriate. Nothing new here, just good follow-up skills. He was surprised by the level of response to his e-mails. </p>
<p>I think this portion of the article makes good sense:</p>
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<p>Not only is the catchy stuff off-putting IMO, but it’s a perception my S wouldn’t want to convey. Not his style. </p>
<p>S still employs appropriate correspondence and follow-up skills for internships, program applications and the like. To me, this goes under the life skills category.</p>
<p>My DDs got hand-written notes from their tour guide at CSUMB. It was a nice touch.</p>
<p>This thread is timely as my DDs have their first interviews on Sunday. I think a postcard from our area with a nice little thank-you would be really appropriate but I wouldn’t have necessarily thought of it without this so thanks!</p>
<p>SuNa - I have never heard of a “golden birthday” before, but I just realized that my daughter’s is coming up soon because she will be 20 on the 20th!!! Thanks!!! :)</p>
<p>I agree with the general sentiment here. My son sent thank you notes or e-mails to interviewers (whether admissions officers or alumni) as common courtesy. As an alumni interviewer myself (for over 10 years), and one who devotes a fair amount of my time to interview students, I know I would have appreciated the sentiment. I have never received a thank you note from an applicant that I interviewed. It wouldn’t have helped in the admissions decision; it’s just good manners. At least I’ve instilled that in my son. And I also hate the M&Ms idea. That is not a “thank you,” it’s a gimmick.</p>
<p>Writing thank you notes has been a part of our childrens’ lives since they were tiny. I don’t think our boys would consider NOT thanking their interviewers and anyone who gave them time. I think its sad (1) that contrived messages (like the M&Ms) are being mixed up with genuine courtesy and (2) that the implication in this article of simply expressing gratitude is “what it will get me.” We also thanked the local hosts of an incoming freshmen gathering after S1 was accepted…and didn’t think we were doing it for some future reference or something.</p>