Thank You Notes

<p>What’s so difficult to understand? Some kids don’t like to jump through more hoops and meet random adults. I do not view a mandatory interview as “a chance to get to know a school better.” That may be true if the student requests the interview, or truly has some questions, but in this case it was the school that initiated the contact, and it was most definitely required. Anyway, the helpfulness of a long graduated alum is debatable.</p>

<p>I would feel completely differently about an interview that the student requested. My daughter also received letters and cards from local alumni of other schools she applied to, saying they would be happy to meet with her or answer any questions. Those were appreciated, though she never followed up. </p>

<p>I do not see a <em>required</em> interview as an “opportunity.” I see it as an imposition. My feeling is: the school already has umpteen essays, scores, recommendations, resume, etc. – isn’t that enough info for them? At a certain point it just becomes ridiculous. I also had alumni interviews years ago, and in both my case and my daughter’s, we learned absolutely nothing new about the schools. By the time of application, a student should already be very familiar with the schools anyway. And questions are easily answered these days by a look at the college website or an email to Admissions.</p>

<p>My own experience was similar to my daughter’s – I was contacted by local alumni interviewers who had attended the two Ivies I applied to. I did not want to be interviewed, but it was required. I remember my interviews being terrible – I was very shy and it was painful and awkward. This is not sour grapes – I was accepted to both schools. </p>

<p>Nothing has changed my mind since then that alumni interviews are a pointless waste of time. And every adult I know who interviews says this: not one kid they have ever recommended has been accepted by their alma mater. I don’t think a positive review has any effect; maybe negative reviews do, but in that case the applicant can only really be harmed – not helped – by an interview. The whole practice is mostly to keep alumni feeling connected, and hopefully contributing. And maybe to sell the school to the applicant. I just think it’s one more needless stress in an already overly-long and involved process.</p>

<p>anneroku -
I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree on whether interviews are actually required.</p>

<p>My D has very high stats, but I agree with anneroku that an interview can do more harm than help to some applicants. </p>

<p>My D told me that she was prompted to discuss her extra curricular activities at the interview. When she finished, the interviewer asked her how she came to choose such a strange combination of activities. I confirmed with her that he used the word “strange” as oppose to “interesting” or “unusual”, or “unique”. A few other remarks from the interviewer made me feel her interview did not go so well. However, the interview ended with these exact words: “It was very nice talking with you. You are exactly the type of student our school is looking for.”</p>

<p>To this day, she is anxiously waiting for a letter of acceptance from that school, eventhough she was not chosen for any of their scholarships. She gave more importance to the interview than she should have. I think the interviewer was very immature or inconsiderate to conclude his interview with a 17 years old like that when a simple “It was nice talking with you. Good luck in you college search.” would have been sufficient.</p>

<p>I can’t speak for other schools, but MIT is very upfront that it is not a good idea to skip out on the interview. The acceptance rate for those who interview is twice that of those who don’t. If you refuse to interview I think the assumption on their part is that you have something to hide personalitywise.</p>

<p>Is MIT interviewed every applicants? I have the feeling that some schools request an interview for those applicants who are not a clear cut between being accept or being reject. As if more information are needed. Is it possible?</p>

<p>MIT may not have interviewers available everywhere, but they make it very clear they would like to interview everyone (from <a href=“http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/interviews_educational_counselors_ecs/index.shtml):%5B/url%5D”>http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/interviews_educational_counselors_ecs/index.shtml):</a>

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<p>If you live somewhere where interviewers aren’t available you won’t be penalized however.

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<p>And I see it’s now three times not twice the acceptance rate.</p>

<p>Students should read websites carefully. MIT is not a school where I would blow off the interview.</p>

<p>What I don’t understand is not related to whether interviews are required or not. My lack of comprehension is in regards to the dispute over whether it is a good idea to say thank you to the person who spent the time doing the required or not-required interview.</p>

<p>Yes, put it that way, it is obvious that the interview play an important role at MIT. However, my D was interviewied 3 weeks after January 15th (deadline to apply). That is why I am under the impression that something more was needed on her, hence the interview. Her extra curriculars are very unusual for a girl and she excel at them, so maybe they were curious…</p>

<p>Write the damn thank you note. If NOTHING else, it demonstrates a consideration and appreciation of others - whether or not they are doing their job.</p>

<p>I am just now reminded when my son was born. It was during a blizzard, the doctor was very late in coming and my S – anxious to get going then as he is now – was ready to be born in a quick way - NO TIME FOR DRUGS!! My husband… he was pretty worthless. His dry sense of humor was so irritating in the moment that it was beyond distracting. The labor nurse turned to him and in the sweetest way said, it was going to be awhile and he should probably go get some coffee now and come back in a few. She took my hands, stared me in the eye and helped me breath all the way to the birth of my son. My husband came back into the room at a good time and the break in atmosphere calmed his less than witty chatter. It was nice to have him there. :)</p>

<p>You’re damn right I wrote her a thank you note. I’ve had three children and she was the most amazing nurse to ever be in the room. My doctor told me at that 6wk check that my note was posted behind the desk at the nurses station so everyone could read it. Maybe that made one other nurse especially thoughtful or maybe not. But I wouldn’t have felt right to not formally give her my sincere thanks.</p>

<p>Modadunn</p>

<p>Ok, that “thank you” note was well deserved and I am sure you did not think twice before sending it, heck, at the time, you probably though should you win the million, you would give her something. But as far as the college interviewer goes, if you are asking yourself whether you should send a thank you note or not, then, you are just following the crowd and the note is worthless.</p>

<p>mafool – Of course it is a good idea to say thank you at the time of the interview – that’s just common courtesy. Our disagreement is over sending a thank you note afterwards. To me, that seems unnecessary and self-serving. Others feel differently and that’s fine too. I was just trying to make clear that a student (and I was one) may feel reluctant or resentful about a mandatory interview, rather than happy and grateful for the “opportunity.”</p>

<p>dadx3 – The MIT example above is the sort of situation I’m talking about. There are other schools that have a similar strong preference for interviews. When a student is contacted by a local alum who wants to arrange an interview, it is simply common sense to realize that turning it down will greatly affect admission results, no matter what the website says about the school’s official policy. </p>

<p>Now, a student will never be penalized if an alum interviewer is not available in your area. The interview is waived in that case. That happened for another school my daughter applied to – the school contacted her to say there were no alumni interviews available, and that she would not be at a disadvantage for not having had one. But it was clear that had there been an alum, she would have been expected to interview.</p>

<p>I want to stress again that in both cases the schools initiated the contact – she never requested an interview. In situations like this, the interview should be viewed as a requirement; if you don’t agree to an interview after the school or alum has contacted you, you will be at a great disadvantage in admissions. I’m impressed to see that MIT actually provides clear statistics about this.</p>

<p>Based on anneroku’s comment, am I right to assume that the request for an interview after the application deadline plays a very important role in the school decision? In my D’s case, it obviously played against her., thank you note or not…</p>

<p>Modadunn – I am not arguing against all thank you notes! The one you wrote to the nurse is a perfect example of a well-deserved note of appreciation. You were sincerely grateful for the nurse’s care and wanted to express that. I doubt that most students feel anything similar after a college interview.</p>

<p>eucalyptus2 – MIT does interview everyone, and the timing you’re describing is normal and still well before they’ve made admissions decisions – I’m not sure you should read anything into it. From what I’ve seen, unusual extracurriculars can only help.</p>

<p>Lots of school schedule interviews after the application deadline. That’s not unusual at all. I wouldn’t read anything into it. I believe that both Harvard and MIT typically initiate the contact after they have received application materials. (At least that’s the way it worked for my son two years ago.)</p>

<p>As to the original question of thank you note. I believe it’s only common courtesy that someone who has volunteered an hour or more of their time should get a note. It takes a couple of minutes to write at most.</p>

<p>eucalyptus2 – The request for an interview after the admissions deadline is perfectly normal. The timing often simply depends on when alums in your area are available. In the case of MIT, I definitely do not think there is anything negative about being asked for an interview – they prefer that every applicant be interviewed if at all possible.</p>

<p>Both of my kids applied to U of Chicago and were accepted. They both interviewed on campus. Following is the statement from UofC’s website:</p>

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<p>If you are “encouraged” to go to an interview, it looks to me like you’d better have one if possible. </p>

<p>Neither of my kids sent thank-you notes to their interviewers, although they certainly thanked them in person at the end of the interviews. I think that is all that was necessary. However, both of my kids gave written thanks to the teachers who wrote letters of recommendation for them.</p>

<p>I think there is no harm in a polite thank you for anything, but am wondering about the new rules for email versus hand written and snail mailed. Does the timing affect it?</p>

<p>For example, my DD had an interview with a group abroad, she emailed every one on the committee a thank you note within 24 hours. She got her results back within 72 hours. They would not have gotten a mailed note by then, but would a mailed note have been more appropriate? Classier</p>

<p>I like thank you notes, but on the west coast we have never been big into the TY note mailed the day after a dinner invite, yet a couple of times I have had people send me a written note after being included in our festivities, esp. people from out east or who are 10+ years older than me…thoughts on this practice? Neither were close friends, so perhaps that is part of the impetus?</p>