According to several admissions officials we've spoken to, thank-you notes have become a new frontier in the admissions process. Stories abound
lately of prospective students sending not just a standard 'thank you' message, but M & Ms in school colors with a quirky message, eye-catching stationary, and
even ones from the applicant's parents.
So is the use of a thank-you note – creative or not – going to give you an inside edge and land you an admissions offer from your target school?
A thank you note should still be a routine part of interview follow up and that's why we continue to recommend them for our clients. The thank-you note
shouldn't be elaborate, but it should: remind the addressee of something positive about the interview, express genuine gratitude for the recent interview, show interest
in the possibility of attending the school, communicate how the school is a match made in heaven and, finally, it should arrive within a few days of the meeting so that
it's there when the admissions committee meets to discuss all the interviews of the prior group.
This said, even if it's done properly, it almost certainly will make only a minimal impact. And, obviously, if the applicant did not make a positive
impression during the interview, a follow-up note will make no difference whatsoever.
Conversely, the thank you note can actually be harmful if it is not tactfully written. And this is simply because any time an applicant reveals something
about themselves they are being evaluated in terms of their fitness to be students at that school.
So, by all means, please remember the rules we just covered when crafting your thank you notes, but don't complete this step with an expectation that the
notes are going to make a material difference in your application outcomes.
