Is it appropriate to send a "thank you " letter to a college representative after he gave presentation at local high school and gave his card?
not if he did not talk to you individually.
What if he did and also wrote down the name? Not too many people attended this presentation so it almost was one on one.
It won’t hurt to say thank you.
Just not sure on etiquette.
If it was almost one on one and you want to be remembered, this is a good way to do it. It demonstrates additional interest, especially if you can mention something in the presentation that stuck in your mind and has increased your interest in the school.
Personally, I think a thank you letter is too much – appearing sycophantic. The rep does this presentation multiple times daily when he/she is on the road. An email note might be the better tone.
It never hurts to send a short thank you note either by mail or email (transmission method really doesn’t matter). Jest keep it to one or two sentences
Reps from smaller LAC’s often sent short thank you postcards to D last year, if she went to a presentation and left her name and address. So it goes both ways.
^ True… the marketing/relationship building does go both ways.
I was thinking more about one paragraph or so email.
I would put it not as much as a thank you but more a quick note to let him/her know how much you enjoyed the presentation and that the school is a top choice (or whatever is true for you).
Really, keep it to two, three sentences.
This is what D received from the AO: Thank you for attending xyz presentation on 1/1/2014. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. We hope to see your application soon!
Maybe the student version is something like "Thank you for visiting xyz school on 1/1/2014. I enjoyed your presentation and liked what I learned/heard about your school. (if you’re applying, you can say you will be submitting soon - if you’re going to visit, say that).
For the books about college admissions that I have read, they always suggest to send a thank you note after an interview or campus visit.
^ I concur with @billcsho 's info. But seeing as this was a visit to do a presentation at the HS, I think it differs.
@SlackeMomMD - if I were an admissions rep, and I received the email you suggested, I would not be impressed. The kid would come across as a “grinder,” someone without imagination who’s doing as told to try to help their chances at acceptance. I would assume that the student would be sending the same type of email to every other admissions rep and thus it would be close to worthless to me. I can see some even viewing such a rote message as a negative.
P.S. Sorry in advance if this was harsh, I thought it would be more helpful without sugarcoating
I guess it would depend on how much interaction OP had with the presentor.
Thank you everyone. My DD sent a “thank you email” and got a nice note back.
As an alternative to a thank you. Send an email saying (assuming this is true) that you thought of another question to ask after our brief conversation. Then ask the question and request a response. Answering questions is a big part of what the representative does so getting a question by email makes sense to her and gets more information for you.
@CHD2013, well, all I can say is that my daughter received and wrote similar notes. She usually had talked with the rep for a few minutes and had questions. It’s not so much to “impress” the rep. For D, it was just common courtesy. Nothing more. She was accepted to all her schools. Admittedly, they were all smaller LACs with very affable admission reps and staff.
@SlackerMomMD - I may be totally off on these opinions. Or not. Either way, I’m glad it all worked out for your daughter. Also, out of curiosity, were most of the LACs in a specific geographic region? If so, could you tell us which one?