<p>I am an alum who meets with applicants. Sometimes I get thank-you e-mails from students; more often I don’t. </p>
<p>My S is a senior this year. He has e-mailed his college interviewers to thank them. He will give the writers of his recommendation letters at the high school gifts when he knows the outcome of all of his applications. He will wait until then, so that they know how he made out in college admissions. I read that the teachers always like to know the admissions results.</p>
<p>Hey… if S gets into one of his top three colleges, he will write a thank you to whomever the rep is for our area for reading his application in a positive light. Just because something is required doesn’t mean the person shouldn’t be thanked. A wedding gift is often required, but I definitely expect a thank you and wasn’t really impressed with the Christmas card/thank you photo with a generic imprinted thank you on it. </p>
<p>Son went to visit a school upon their request, was told they would be in touch to follow up in a week and certainly within two. He wrote a thank you. And then… nothing. I found it to be extremely bad form. So while it’s true that basic manners are not a hallmark of even the best of schools, it always is better to err on the side of having them.</p>
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<p>I agree that it is not necessary. Many of the nice things many of us do throughout the day are not, strictly speaking, necessary. I do not have to thank the worker at the coffee shop for the coffee I just bought. She has not done me a favor by taking my money and giving me a coffee, but I do say thank you. I smile at people even though it is not necessary.</p>
<p>In this case, it is not altogether altruistic, as the writing or emailing of the note may actually do you some good. It certainly will not hurt.</p>
<p>Interviews are rarely required for college admissions. They are often highly recommended. Similarly, thank yous are not required. But I highly recommend them.</p>
<p>I ask for recommendations so often I haven’t done anything yet but verbal thank-yous… but I’m planning on a really big, awesome gift for my advisor after he writes my last recs as a way to show my gratitude.</p>
<p>The only interviews my daughter had were required ones – she would never have agreed to do one had it only been recommended. </p>
<p>While it may be a nice gesture to send a thank you note, I still think it’s a bit silly and in my opinion seems somewhat self-serving (trying to win a favorable review.) Then again, I object to college interviews in the first place.</p>
<p>I don’t see any reason to thank someone for something you are being forced to do. My daughter was required to be interviewed as part of the admissions process – I don’t feel like this was a favor being done for her.</p>
<p>I don’t understand why we are so begrudging of the simple act of saying Thank You.</p>
<p>Thank you for reading.</p>
<p>My S had 2 interviews: </p>
<p>Interviewer #1 was very rude to my S. He asked him to come to his workplace and continued to work all through my S’s interview, often interrupting my S in mid-sentence. My S walked out of that interview somewhat angry that the interviewer (who set up the time and place) didn’t seem even remotely interested in talking to my S. </p>
<p>Interviewer #2 was very nice to my S. They spent 2 hours chatting, and my S walked out of the interview all smiles. </p>
<p>I agree with anneroku that a Thank You note seems a bit self-serving. Certainly Interviewer #1 didn’t deserve a Thank You note since the interview was obviously a bother to him. Interviewer #2 probably should have received a Thank You email, but she asked my S to let her know if he gets into the school. I think S should send the Thank You email when he finds out whether he gets into the school (regardless of whether he gets into the school or not.) It makes sense to me to send her one note thanking her for her time and giving her the end result of his application process.</p>
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<p>Life is not all about test scores and grades. While the interview has certainly become more optional than not, I think meeting someone face to face goes a long way in seeing if they are genuine or not. People might think there is a prejudice in meeting people face to face but would you want to hire someone while never meeting them? It merely cements some other things and a lot of what people bring to the table are the intangibles of who they are at heart.</p>
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Of course not, but I don’t believe a college interview and a job interview are exactly the same. An employer is hiring someone they will be paying. In contrast, the student will eventually be paying the college.</p>
<p>The college interview has its roots in Ivy League quotas for Jewish students. It puts students who are shy or quiet at a disadvantage and feeds into the notion that students are joining a “club” rather than simply attending a college. I feel the same way about reference letters. But of course, it’s hard to avoid this nonsense.</p>
<p>I’m just not aware that many colleges or universities require interviews for undergraduate admissions. I checked the admissions websites of Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Stanford, Cal Tech, Penn, Amherst, Swarthmore, Williams, Pomona, Bowdoin & Middlebury. All the univerisites said explicitly either that interviews are not required or are not offered. Of the LACs, the only one that came close to saying that an interview was required was Pomona, which said that Southern California applicants are expected to interview. I was not able to find an explicit statement from Amherst & Williams, but their Common Data Sets say that interviews are not considered for admissions. Middlebury’s CDS says interviews are considered, but they are not required.</p>
<p>So perhaps there’s a universe of colleges out there that require an interview, but I haven’t really found many.</p>
<p>Anneroku- The idea of the note is to show gratitude to the alumni interviewer who took time to meet your student, and write up an evaluation. They are not being paid, and are spending a fair amount of time with multiple cadidates. </p>
<p>As for interviews in the college admissions departments, yes they may be required or highly encouraged, but they are still a human-to-human interchange. A student who can show sincere gratitude in a nice, PROMPT note, demonstrates a level of civility, and a willingness to contribute a level of consideration to the community. </p>
<p>If you read all the admissions brochures, they continually state they are looking for students who will add somthing to the college “community”. The adcoms, professors, and administrators would much rather spend four years dealing with a considerate, civil student than one who is indifferent, ungrateful or rude.</p>
<p>dadx3 – According to our knowledgeable school counselor, at a high school that sends a high percentage of students to Ivies and other elite schools, when a student is contacted by an alumni of a top college for an interview it is absolutely required, no matter what the college website says. Students applying to competitive schools must show the requisite amount of interest if an alumni is available locally and offering an interview. This is really not optional.</p>
<p>fauve – Of course the student should be polite and thank the interviewer at the time they meet. I just think a note afterwards is over the top. I would not consider a student who neglects to send a note to be “indifferent, ungrateful or rude.”</p>
<p>We will have to agree to disagree about this, though I am surprised that so many parents seem to buy into the notion that interviews are useful and the student should be grateful for the opportunity. The history of college interviews is one of exclusion – it was originally a way for Ivy League schools to determine who was Jewish and “not one of us.” I still believe an interview can only hurt an applicant, since most end up being generally positive or neutral.</p>
<p>There is more than one way to look at this. The student needn’t be “grateful for the opportunity” in order to appreciate the time and effort a busy, unpaid alum is investing in the process.</p>
<p>But I am one of those glass-half-full types, and I feel that the more we all say thank you, smile at one another, hold a door for someone with both hands full—it makes the world better and it makes those of us doing those things feel better, too.</p>
<p>Whoops, forgot: :D</p>
<p>anneroku - Perhaps I am being na</p>
<p>I think it is “required” by the HS school that anneroku’s daughter attends. That’s how I read the post, anyway.</p>
<p>FWIW, I know students who are currently attending Harvard, Stanford, Duke, and other schools who never interviewed–for a variety of reasons.</p>
<p>My D received a formal letter for an interview that read: Interviews will be conducted in your area on such date, please choose a time in order of preference…</p>
<p>I interpreted it as she had to go, eventhough it was written at the very bottom of the letter something like “Athough interviews do not play a role in the selection process, it is highly recommended that you seek one.” Therefore, I don’t see the necessity for her to write a thank you note to the interviewer. </p>
<p>She will however write thank you notes to all of the universities that accept her and that she will not be going to. I agreed that recommenders should receive a thank you note</p>
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Yes, this is similar to what my daughter received after her application was submitted. She had not requested an interview.</p>
<p>This has nothing to do with a requirement for her high school. An applicant would have to have a very good reason not to show up for a local interview when asked. The high school counselor told students to make every effort to attend an interview like this, which is just common sense if the student wants to appear interested in the school.</p>
<p>I also know plenty of kids who did not interview (and were accepted) at various top schools, either because there were no local interviews conducted and the schools were far away, or because the schools simply never interview. But students who were contacted for a local alumni interview <em>always</em> went.</p>
<p>Obviously, we are going to have to agree to disagree, but I will say that if you can’t understand the benefits of social graces in all human interaction, required or not required, than I can understand how something like a thank you note would seem over the top. However, if offered the chance to talk with someone about a school, what they have to offer you and what you have to offer them, why would you NOT go? And if you’re truly not interested in attending, why apply at all? Seems to me that if you don’t care to get to know something more about the school you shouldn’t be wasting anyone’s time – your own or the person offering theirs to you, regardless of whether or not it’s in their job descriptions. If someone is giving you a chance to get to know a school better – especially when they are either giving you lots of money to attend or you are paying lots of money to attend – it seems very dismissive to not take them up on an opportunity.</p>
<p>I don’t so much disagree as I just don’t understand. But, I think my lack of comprehension is likely to remain.</p>