<p>I received my invitation for a Columbia University interview today. However, I am not sure how to begin my response. The alumnus’s name is Kit. Should my response begin with either Ms. or Mr.? Please help.</p>
<p>since when is kit an asian name? and i’m pretty sure Kit is a girl’s name</p>
<p>Gender-ambiguous names… what a hassle.</p>
<p>Just refer to them as “Dedicated Alumnus” or something, but even that is somewhat gender-specific. Try googling him/her. That might work.</p>
<p>Kit Carson. Guy.<br>
Kit </p>
<p>Did you try Googling their name, with.without the word “Columbia”… do you know ehere they work? What they do?</p>
<p>Some basic detective work is required here.</p>
<p>EDIT: LOL: ust saw thet while I was typing, angrygoldfish was saying same thing.</p>
<p>i know a Kit who is a guy. Short for Christopher</p>
<p>No/irrelevant google results.
Nahshimshimhaeyo- The last name of the alumnus clearly has asian roots. I thought that Kit may possibly be short for something. Excuse my ignorance.</p>
<p>it’s fine. i wasn’t angry or calling you ignorant. i was just curious.</p>
<p>You could just skip the greeting part of your email. I doubt they would really really mind. Unless you can think of something else.</p>
<p>don’t be stupid guys, it’s an alum, just say “Hey Kit” or “Dear Kit” no need to be extra respectful, alums in general are chilled esp when meeting applicants. Also alumnus is the male-singular version of the word, so have you answered your question?</p>
<p>alumnus = male-sing
alumni = male-plu or both gender plu
alumna = fem-sing
alumnae = fem-plur</p>
<p>oh for gods sake, just say “herro mista alumni…” (u said hes asian)</p>
<p>
Uncalled for.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>i dont know…i would err on the side of caution here. first of all you don’t know how old this person is …if they are over 40 and you’re 17 you really shouldn’t be calling them by their first name without them giving you permission (just a formality). but of course if you REALLY can’t figure it out then go with “Dear Kit” which is more formal than “Hey” …also you can ask the alumni relations office…or maybe C02 or Denzera know of some way to figure this out for you by using some online alumni network that i haven’t bothered to join and am not sure if it even exists.</p>
<p>dear kit works… common sense. this isnt royalty youre addressing here.
btw cooked it was a joke.</p>
<p>Quote:
oh for gods sake, just say “herro mista alumni…” (u said hes asian) </p>
<p>Hilarious.</p>
<p>If you could PM a Columbia student or alumnus on this subforum your city, someone could log into the Columbia alumni site, and look up the name in the Columbia alumni directory.</p>
<p>If you are from, say, Northfield, you could skip the greeting and start your email with</p>
<p>“Greetings from Northfield!
Thank you for your …”</p>
<p>Kit is the name of an American Girl Doll. It is a traditional nickname for Katherine.</p>
<p>wow, I dont think your screename could be more apt, mom.</p>
<p>OP: did the alum give you an introduction? if he/she is young, and graduated recently, it’s totally fine to to address him/her as ‘kit’. If there’s no indication, just say Kit. Better to do that than risk embarassment and insert bias into the interview.</p>
<p>I knew a Kit in the class of 08 who’s a guy</p>
<p>Why not just start with “Thanks for the invitation for an interview…”</p>
<p>MidwestMom2Kids_, as the parent of a child going to college in Northfield, I love your greeting!</p>
<p>MidwestMom wins the “most helpful advice” award. That’s an excellent suggestion, if you don’t feel familiar enough to just say “Dear Kit…”.</p>
<p>My assumption otherwise would be that they are female. Surely any guy who decides to go by “Kit” is used to the occasional gender confusion from time to time and won’t take it all that personally.</p>