Medical School and Residency Interview Thank You Note Etiquette

See my last blog on the low cost and high potential gain of writing thank you notes after your interviews.

I get asked by clients what the best way to send post-interview thank you notes is - email or snail mail. I strongly advise sending your thank you note by good old USPS. The reasons are:

1) Email may be viewed as lazy. Hand-written notes demonstrate you've put some time into being appreciative.
2) Email can be deleted without much thought. Emotionally, it's harder to throw someone's hand written note in the trash.

Get your handwritten thank you notes in quickly. The night after you've completed your interview or the next day is a good time to write and send.

Medical School and Residency Interview Thank You Notes - So Easy for You to Do

Two years ago a medical school applicant wrote me to say that the dean of the school at which she had recently interviewed called her to tell her that he was impressed with her candidacy and the hand-written thank you note she had sent. The client thanked me for my help and the thank you note tip I had given her. As you might have guessed, she was admitted to that med school.

Writing a thank you note after a medical school or residency interview is so easy for you to do, and it can go a long way. More on thank you notes in future posts.

Online, Free Practice MCAT Questions

For those looking for MCAT practice, Varsity Tutors recently launched a suite of free practice tests, digital flashcards, and questions-of-the-day for standardized tests, including the MCAT. (Disclosure: I am an invited monthly guest blogger for Varsity Tutors, but I have no financial affiliation with them.) The site looks like an interesting addition to your armamentarium of study options.

Residency Match: Ready...Set...Go

Last week was the ERAS MSPE (Medical School Performance Evaluation) release date (October 1). Some programs will not send invitations until the MSPE is out, so residency applicants frequently start to receive interview invitations around this time of the year. Please remember that an invitation should be met with a quick response. Doing so is polite, shows interest, and oftentimes permits you to get a convenient date before it is taken.