<p>I have received a couple of thank you notes and e-mails over the years from students I interviewed. I thought it was completely unnecessary and it felt forced and calculated. I don’t need or want someone’s strategic thank you note. A heartfelt warm smile and handshake at the end of the interview goes much further. I feel badly for Princeton now that they’ll have all of those notes to file.</p>
<p>Interesting perspective, nimby.</p>
<p>Maybe now that they are more unusual, the notes may appear “forced and calculated.” I’ll stick to my assumption that a thank you is never inappropriate and hope that none that either I or our S has written has come across as anything other than a sincere gesture of appreciation.</p>
<p>I think BES’s experience is sad, because it suggests that most thank you notes are sent strategically–in the hope that it will contribute some small admissions bump. (I think most students and parents think of the alumni interviewer as out of the loop once the report on the interview is filed.) </p>
<p>It seems to me that thanking an alumni interviewer is more obligatory than sending a note to a professional adcom, because the alum gives up their personal time to assist in the process. Seems just plain inconsiderate not to than a volunteer.</p>
<p>Interesting indeed. </p>
<p>Here’s what I remember on the topic from MIT admissions in 2005: <a href=“http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/interviews_educational_counselors_ecs/advice_on_how_to_approach_your.shtml[/url]”>http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/interviews_educational_counselors_ecs/advice_on_how_to_approach_your.shtml</a></p>
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<p>DS1 emails thank you notes to the folks who interview him and to any profs he talks to on campus when he visits. No “strategery,” just an acknowledgement of their time and courtesy.</p>
<p>We have NEVER received a note from a tour guide! A couple of surveys from the admissions offices, but nothing that personalized.</p>
<p>Maybe I’m just one of those volunteers who does not expect be thanked or cares if I do get thanked. I do what I do because I think it matters. When it come to interviews–I try to do what I can to make the admissions process easier and friendlier for students. The thanks I get is watching them relax and be themselves and feel good about the interview.</p>
<p>And don’t get me wrong–I don’t think badly of someone sending a note. It just makes me sigh because students want so badly to do all of the “right” things–as if they can manage the process and the outcome. I meet a lot of amazing kids who would be great additions to the school community but who don’t get in. In fact, most of them don’t get in. I always tell them that I don’t have any a lot of pull, but that I know that they will be successful wherever they go and that I wish them great luck with the process. If we are to place value on things–I would probably put more value on their fortitude than my time.</p>
<p>nimby – if I expected to be thanked in this process, I would have stopped volunteering my time to interview long ago. That doesn’t mean that I didn’t encourage my son to send thank yous. It’s the way I was raised and the way I have raised him.</p>
<p>S sent thank you emails to interviewers - no strategy - just the thing to do. One alum interviewer kept in contact with him through admission process and one student interviewer did as well. He certainly didn’t actively pursue the contact - it just happened. Denied at first school (Gtown) and admitted at 2nd (WUSTL)</p>
<p>IMO, the only genuine “thank you” notes are the ones sent AFTER the admission decisions have been made, and especially thoughtful if sent to school officials who did NOT accept a student.</p>
<p>No matter how one defends the practice and label it as basic courtesy, the fact remains that sending a note IS meant to make someone look “better” in the eyes of a decision maker. This said, sending thank you notes to people who are not involved in the finally decision (alumni “recruiters” or other interviewers who pretend to have a say) is utterly irrelevant! So fire away if it makes you feel better or … more courteous.</p>
<p>xiggi - Following your logic, sending notes after the decision is made is also totally irrelevant. Why bother? To “look better”? Ouch, that’s a bit cynical for me.</p>
<p>PS I just noticed your header re: “in the college app process” OK maybe not so cynical.</p>
<p>Notes thanking me for info sessions or high school visits come off as a little over the top. If I spend a significant amount of time with a student, it’s always nice to hear from them, though.</p>
<p>With all the paper that comes through our offices, even with an online application, it saddens me that students push more and more at us because they think it will make a difference when we review their application. It’s a rare thank you note that deviates from the normal spiel anyway…no one is distinguishing themselves by writing one.</p>
<p>This seems like a practice that is becoming more and more common at our high school. Kids will ask a teacher to write the letter of recommendation; teacher accepts; next thing you know, kid presents teacher with a thank you card including a gift certificate to local restaurant (this is before the letter has been written!). Same thing with early Christmas presents (to GCs) and “end of year” presents. I know teachers who receive certificates in amounts of $50 and $100 routinely. Since it’s a private school, there is no moratorium on gifts.</p>
<p>I thought the $5 Starbucks card a certain school gave me for sitting on their college night panel was hot stuff.</p>
<p>We DID wait until the recs were written to give the chocolates. And we hadn’t read the recs at that point. The one we finally did read was golden, but we were grateful for just the willingness to do the extra work. High school teachers in VT are NOT overpaid, I must say. A little thank you seems not out of line.</p>
<p>I guess this is OT from the OP about college thank you’s–we only did it for interviewers or coaches who spent extra time with our son.</p>
<p>A thank you card is appropriate, with or without gift, after the letter, recommendation, or evaluation has been written. I think it’s pretty transparent what’s going on, though, when someone gives a gift before the fact.</p>
<p>I think there are many situations where thank you notes make sense. We never considered thanking tour guides. We did “thank” an admissions clerk at one college. She really went out of her way to help my D. We did not send her a thank you. We sent it to the director of admissions. If you are an employee, a letter of appreciation to your boss is a lot more valuable than a letter you receive. </p>
<p>My D always thanked alumni interviewers. Many months later she even followed up with an email to the interviewer for the college she accepted. This is just a courtesy for their time and interest.</p>
<p>Some thank yous were sent as part of an admissions strategy. College tours are the least important part of a college visit. For almost every visit, my D had pre-scheduled interviews setup with admissions and with department heads or faculty members. These were followed up with a brief emailed thank you.</p>
<p>For those of you who still believe in the handwritten thank you, I can only say God bless. What planet are you living on? I throw printed mail in the trash as fast as possible and I am certainly not going to spend much of my time trying to decipher some handwritten note. I keep emails - almost forever. Plus it is very easy to forward an email. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a faculty member forward a copy of such an email to the admission director along with a recommendation for admission? We know this happened for my D. This strategy may not work at the Ivies, but it works almost everywhere else, even for those colleges who officially claim not to consider interviews as part of the admissions decision. Adcoms spend a great deal of time trying to learn about applicants by reading essays and letters of rec. A personal encounter can be even more valuable. Of course, this only works if you kid is reasonably mature, confident and able to communicate with adults when stressed. If not, it might be more valuable to work on those skills instead of spending time to study and take the SATs for the third time.</p>
<p>I see no instance when a gift is appropriate. Even a token bribe sends the wrong message.</p>