“And the motives for these thank you notes are both suspect and transparent”
compmom, my son’s interviews (well 6 out of 8) were not with ad coms at schools, but with alumni volunteers. These were all professionals taking time from very busy lives. One met my son at the hospital where he is a surgeon and spent 1.5 hours with him. That meeting played a large role in my son choosing the school for ED. That merits a sincere thank you. I don’t think you should assume that all who send thank you emails have some ulterior motive. Maybe, just maybe… they are genuinely thanking them for taking the time.