"fixing" interview blunders

[philol]

Hi all,

I had a skype interview last night with quite a few professors from a program I'm very interested in. Thing was, I was completely sick (still am) and could hardly speak, let alone think. And so I blacked out on a fairly trivial question that has to do with my research. This morning thanks to antibiotics everything looks clearer, and of course I know exactly what I should have said...

So, how unprofessional would it be to send an apologetic email with a clarification of my answer, explaining my feeble state at the time etc... etc... Or did I just blow this one and can do nothing now but sink back to sickly self-pity?

Did anyone ever try to do a post-interview clean up?

[Gooner]

So, how unprofessional would it be to send an apologetic email with a clarification of my answer

I'm a little torn. I'm not the most well-versed in the matter, but I don't think it's very common to do that. However, at the same time, a program's receptiveness to that kind of issue might be quite revealing about whether you'd want to go there or not. I would like to think that a school that is concerned about its students would welcome such an explanation.

That said, if you do opt to reply, I would keep it very short. "Dear Dr. A -- Thank you for giving me a chance to speak with you. I was very sick yesterday and don't believe i was able to aptly articulate my answer to QUESTION. [A couple of brief sentences clarifying the points you thought you messed up.] Thank you once again for your time and understanding. I look forward to hearing from [sCHOOL]."

Best of luck, mate!

[LJK]

I think sending the email is fine. I like Gooner's template. Perhaps add a question that you didn't think to ask during the interview, something that follows up on something you learned about the program? ("During our conversation, you mentioned {x,y,z} which I think is {unique, interesting, suprising, etc.}. {question about the info}" I think question asking will bring it home that you aren't just obsessing over the interview but are actively considering what their program can offer you. If has the added effect of allowing you to see the prof's email tone when they respond to your question. It should be a good question though, or leave it out.