Should students send thank you notes after college visits? I’m thinking that D should write thank you notes to the teachers she met with individually. I’m not sure if she should also include letters to people that did group presentations. What have your kids done? Would it be over the top to send a small gift (Girl Scout Cookies)?
I would not do that. Do you know how many students these people come in contact with regularly. It will not make a difference. If she met with an individual professor, it may be nice to send them an e-mail (look on the school’s website), thanking them for taking the time to talk with her. My D did that for the Classics professor she met at Yale. He responded but with the caveat that he had nothing to do with admissions. I think all of this kind of contact can be misconstrued. I definitely would not send a gift. that would be inappropriate.
If they want to send their interviewer a thank you e-mail, that would be nice. Though I have never gotten one from an applicant in the 25+ years I have been interviewing and it doesn’t affect my write ups at all.
Our D sent thank you emails to the professors who took the time out of their day to meet with us personally (including one department head) and to each of our tour guides since we had personal tours at all but one school. Every one of them responded graciously and the professors all mentioned that the appreciated the response. None of them warned her it would mean nothing during application time. She wrote these to be polite, not to goose her future applications. They were busy people who took time out to speak with us.
I would not send gifts-that seems over the top.
@Tperry1982, I am actually shocked that you have never received a thank you email in all your years of interviewing. Am I really that much of an old-fashioned fuddy-duddy? I absolutely expected my Ds to send thank you emails to their interviewers. Not to gain points (really how much do those interviews matter anyay) but because it was very nice of these folks to take time and in general they were interesting, helpful and my Ds enjoyed meeting them and, as I tell my kids, it is always OK to say thank you.
I should add, I am a Girl Scout leader too. Maybe it’s a Girl Scout leader thing. 
D would be an auto admit at this school she has nothing to gain personally. To be clear we are talking about a visit to OU arranged by the National Merit office. I’m sure that the two German teachers rarely if ever meet with prospective students and the music teacher has never meet with a prospective Music Minor before since she just learned her department has offers a minor. I could tell that the meteorology department does these meetings offten. The all went way above and beyond especially the music teacher. Her half hour sample lesson turned into an hour lesson and was amazing and she would not accept payment for the lesson (she is officially an adjuct and is allowed to charge for lessons).
Yes, my D sent cards after interviews highlighting something new that she learned about the school. She also used the cards to express her continued interest in the school.
I thought students routinely sent thank you e-mails to alumni interviewers.
Given that being an alumni interviewer is a time-consuming pain in the backside, this seems justified.
If in doubt, always send the thank you note.
No gifts, though.
When we did this with my D she sent a note to anyone she met with individually, but not to people who led group sessions (although I guess you could). I agree that professors won’t have anything to do with admissions decisions, but it is the right thing to do if someone takes time our of his/her day to talk. And no gifts no matter how small – it could be taken as a bribe and you just don’t want to go there.
Agree with a hand written thank you to interviewers (on campus in particular). Nice touch.
Can’t hurt and is good practice.
It will set a good example for later
Thanks everyone, I’ll have send the notes and let her eat the cookies:-)
I would send thank you notes to people who have influence on the admissions decision and who went out of their way to meet with you and that you may work with in the future.
I wouldn’t bother sending notes to people who gave presentations to large numbers of students.
Our kids always sent a hand written thank you note to everyone who handed them a business card.
@3scoutsmom, I don’t know if the Girl Scout program works the same as Boy Scouts but, our boys are Eagle Scouts. When each son made Eagle, he received congratulatory letters from universities and prominent leaders from across the nation. DS1 called the president’s office of a school he was particularly interested in attending. (Top 20 school) He mentioned his congratulatory letter that that president had personally signed and asked if he could come in to chat with the president about the school for a few minutes. Long story short, I had to drive him since he was still without a license but, DS1 got to chat with the president of that university for 20 minutes while I waited in the car. He told DS1 to keep in touch and be sure to come visit him if he decided to attend in the future. Fast forward, son applied and received A LOT of scholarship money from that school. He ended up deciding to attend a different university but, this one stayed a top contender until the end.
My point is, while the cookies may be questionable, you could still be able to network with your Girl Scout connections.
I think his response was a cautionary response because I am sure there are kids that send these kinds of notes thinking they are going to get a leg up. All you have to do is read CC to see kids who would most definitely do this thinking it would give them an edge. It is really unfortunate that professors have to react that way. To be sure, his response was very nice, Admissions probably tells them to add that disclaimer. It did not change the fact that he graciously responded.
My D has always done thank you cards. But I also taught her how to dress in business attire, how to eat with proper utensils at formal dinners, etc. She was also a debutante. However, I do understand that not all kids are taught this way since so many adults are lacking in social graces these days. They think it is quaint and old fashion.