I am so glad you stumbled across this blog post since I know how easily it can be missed to send a med school interview thank you letter.
This is actually an important part of the interview process that many people either don’t know about or forget about in the overwhelming excitement. The thank you letter is to show interviewers that you are appreciative of their time and enjoyed the interview. So let’s find out how you can make the most out of your thank you letters!
This post is all about med school interview thank you letter.
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All About Med School Interview Thank You Letter
Should You Send a Med School Interview Thank You Letter?
YES!! You should 100% send a med school interview thank you letter. If there is still any doubt in you, here is why:
By writing a thank you letter, you are reminding the interviewer of you and your interview. They are interviewing multiple students a day, probably multiple times a month so it is very easy for your interviewer to forget the specifics of the meeting or even your name. Sending a thank you letter will trigger the memory of the interview and hopefully they were impressed.
One of the key factors here is to show your respect for the interviewers and their time. Of course, this not only includes the day of the interview, but applies to all of your encounters with the interviewer. By sending a thank you note, you are appreciative of their time and show that you are well-mannered.
Who Do I Send Thank You Letters To?
Although your interviewer would be the prime person to send a thank you letter to, there are also other people you should consider. For this, remember who you got in contact with during your interview day and how they helped to make this a smooth process for you.
- A student who took you on a campus tour or ate lunch with you
- Any professor you spoke to for more than a introduction
- Your interviewer in a traditional interview (whether blind or open)
- All of your interviewers in a group panel setting
- If you stayed at a current student’s house
- Admissions committee secretary, if you met him/her
Is There Anyone I Should NOT Send Letters To?
Yes. If you did not speak to someone at length but you have their business card, do not send a thank you note. They will be either confused, annoyed or both.
You should also NOT send thank you notes to your MMI interviewers. Most of the time, they want it to be a blind interview. So you should not contact an MMI interviewer as that can be seen as an indiscretion.
How to Get Their Contact Details
This one is pretty easy, just ask right after your interview! You can ask if they have a business card you could have or if they could give you their email address. This is something they will be asked multiple times a day, so don’t feel weird about it.
Plus, most of them are happy to answer any questions you have after interview day is over. The best type of communication to ask for is an email address. If they want you to contact them through another forum, they will tell you.
If you do forget to ask, or don’t feel like there is a good time to ask, you can ask the admissions staff. But make sure you know the interviewer’s first and last name before reaching out to them.
The Million Dollar Question – Email or Hand-written?
At first thought, you might think hand-written is just sooo much more personal, so this is the best choice, right? Well, there are other factors involved that quickly outweigh the old-school version.
The Handwritten Thank You Letter
You might be surprised but here is why a handwritten med school interview thank you letter is NOT the first choice…
Pros
- Is considered more personal, especially to older interviewers who have not had email their entire life
Cons
- Very slow, might take days to be delivered
- Will most likely have to send to the admissions office address firth, which would further delay the delivery
- Doesn’t allow for additional back-and-forth if the interviewer or you want to ask additional questions
- Will cost extra money for postage (granted, a very small con)
Why should I Send an Email?
Here is why email is the best option for your med school interview thank you letter:
Pros
- Fast
- Most common communication type
- Easy to get/ask for this type of contact info
- Best way to ask additional questions afterward
Cons
- Can seem less personal (but keep reading to figure out how to prevent that)
So yes, the winner is email, especially because you want them to receive your thank you letter EARLY after the interview. Let’s talk about timing next!
When is the Best Time to Send Your Interview Thank You Letter?
The best time to send your letter is the morning after your interview, when your conversation is still fresh in their minds. It will let the interviewer receive and read your thank you letter before submitting their final evaluation or notes.
Why not right the minute you get back on your laptop? Waiting till the next morning shows that you didn’t rush your letter or have a generic one pre-written before your interview.
If you are still in the earlier stages of your medical school application, it’s great that you are already planning ahead!
If you don’t want to miss anything to maximize your chances, I share the key strategies I used to earn 10 acceptances in my Free Premed Workshop.
Enter your details here to sign up for the next available dates!
How Long Should Your Letter Be?
This is something most premeds struggle with when writing any type of communication to the admissions staff. If I write too little will they think I don’t care? If I write too much will they be bored and stop reading? Is short and sweet even real?
The best length for your med school interview thank you letter is one paragraph. This is not a lab report or a research seminar so this paragraph should not be 10 sentences. Therefore, 4-5 sentences is a solid length for your letter.
Do not add unnecessary information or “filler” because you think that if you don’t have 10 sentences. Rather aim for an amazing personal, 5-sentence letter than unnecessarily stretching it.
7 Steps to Structure Your Med School Interview Thank You Letter
So, what should it actually look like? I got a step-by-step structure for you:
- Greeting: If sending in the morning “Good Morning” is appropriate, if not “Dear” is always a good option.
- How To Address:
- Mr should be used for non-doctor males
- Ms should be used for non-doctor females
- Dr. should be used for anyone who has a doctorate degree (not just MD/DO)
- If applying to a military medical school make sure to use their correct rank (Captain, Lieutenant, etc)
- Gratitude: I am grateful for your time, I appreciate the opportunity…
- Reference specific part of conversation: Make sure it was a prominent topic in your discussion
- Showing interest in the school
- Offer to reach out for more questions
- Closing: Sincerely is a great closing and make sure to add have a good day/weekend/morning before the closing
If you are now thinking…”How could you possibly fit 7 steps into a 4-5 sentence letter?” True, it can take some serious Tetris skills to keep it short. But once you see an example, it is much easier to put it into practice yourself!
Med School Interview Thank You Letter Example
I know that the best inspiration is real examples, so here is how such a structure could come to life in a letter:
Dear Dr. Smith,
I appreciate you offering your time to interview me for admissions to Johns Hopkins Medical School. I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation about advances in fetal surgery and the need for more doctors to be trained in this field. Since this is one of the specialties I am interested in, I believe this school will provide me the education and experience required for training to become a fetal surgeon. If you are willing to, I would love to discuss this area of medicine more or talk about your research. Have a great day!
Sincerely,
Your name
5 Tips for Your Med School Interview Thank You Letter
Here are some quick pointers to help you get the most out of your thank you letter:
- Make your thank you note unique, based on your conversation topics
- Fill the gap if you forgot to mention a small detail during the interview, but don’t add more than 1-2 sentences.
- Make sure not to miss any grammar mistakes or typos, have it proofread
- This might be obvious but keep it professional, so no “hey” or “whatcha doing”
- Prepare a template before your interview so that you can easily finish the letter in time
If you don’t want to leave anything to chance for your interview, my course The Ultimate Guide on Medical School Interviews guides you through each step of your preparation. So you don’t have to shudder with fear every time you think about that looming date. And once you are walking into your interview room, you feel confident and (even) excited to share your unique story with them.
Pro Tip: To make an email more personal you can also insert it as a card design which gives your thank you letter a much more unique feel. In my interview course, you will not only find more examples but also different ready-to-use templates for such designs!
Quick FAQs
Can you expect an answer to your thank you letter?
It will depend on the person, but generally people do not need to respond to a thank you note. So if you don’t get a response, don’t worry!
What if you can’t find out the contact details?
You can email your thank you note to admission staff and ask them to pass it along to your interviewers(make sure to list all interviewers with their first and last name)
What’s the difference between a letter of intent or update letter and a med school interview thank you letter?
A letter of intent/update letter will be sent to the admissions committee and will include new extracurricular activities, new grades, etc. A thank you letter for a med school interview should not include any of this information. You had your time to make your pitch on why you are a good fit, don’t make your pitch again less than 24 hours later. A thank you note should be short and appreciative, not informative.
What subject line should you use if sending an email?
An obvious option is “Thank You”, you can also do “(Name of School) Admissions Interview”. The key is not to make the subject long and not write a full sentence like “It was so nice to meet you yesterday”.
Next Steps After Your Interview
After you send your thank you note, it is best to be patient when you wait for any news on your acceptance. It may be a few weeks or even a month or two, depending on when you completed your interview, until you get their decision. I know how tough this can be, but if you make it, trust me that the moment of success will be that much sweeter!
If you were waitlisted after an interview, it will require an even bigger chunk of patience. It is best to wait a couple of weeks before sending a letter of intent, and only if they allow one to be sent. Some medical schools do not want to receive update letters, and sending one to them may actually harm your application.
Now, if you were accepted, throw some confetti and grab your favorite food because it is time to celebrate!!
In case you get rejected after an interview, do NOT put yourself down! This doesn’t mean you aren’t medical school material. Focus on the other schools you have applied to and the opportunity to apply again next cycle with an improved application. If you have any upcoming interviews for other schools, it may be best to put extra attention to additional preparation through a more strategic approach and/or mock interviews.
The first time I applied, I landed on the waitlist and never got pulled off. I used the following gap years to improve every aspect in my control and become a much more competitive applicant which paid off a thousand times! At my second attempt, I earned 10 acceptances though and am now a 4th year medical student. Let this be your sign that you can get there as well!
Final Thoughts on Med School Interview Thank Your Letters
To sum it up, they are definitely worth the time and energy to write and send! Appreciation and saying thank you can go a long way when meeting someone new. In the end, keep in mind that a thank you letter may or may not impact their evaluation of you. So don’t get mad if you do not get accepted after all. But if it does…get ready for a big, fat happy dance in front of your inbox!
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