thank you card... help?

[Anoushka]

Hey. So I just visited a grad program that flew me there, payed for my food, provided a ton of drinks, payed for my cab, and had me interview with 6 professors. I now need to write a thank you letter, and I dont know what to say! Who should I address it to, and what kinds of things are appropriate to write in a thank you card????

thanks so much for your advice I really appreciate it.

[communications13]

Send the card to the person with whom you worked out all the details of your trip and had the most contact with, if you'd also like to send one to professors who you have particular interest or who took extra time out of their day to meet with you you can do that also. Also if you stayed with or had a "buddy" who is a current student it's nice to send them a note as well.

In the actual card I'd suggest be appreciative, short and sweet and vauge about your decisions until you're ready to make your final decision. A thank you card isn't the place for that. Include several things that impressed you about the program and thank them for inviting you to their wonderful city and campus. No need to go on for more than a few sentences, the card is the sentiment in itself.

Hope this helps.

[dmf]

I don't know if there is one right way to do this, but I'll share what I did. I chose emails because they were faster and easier and I'm horrible at getting things into the mail. Also, who knows if thank you's play a role in decisions, but I wanted to make sure mine got there before the committee met. Here's a list of the ones I sent:

• Program administrator- She did the most to organize the visit and help me with all my arrangements. I kept this one short and sweet. Thanked her for her help, said it was good to finally meet her, mentioned a few of my favorite things about the program, and confirmed my continuing interest
• Program chair- I didn't meet with her directly but she led an info and question and answer session. Very brief- I really enjoyed visit, very interested in program, look forward to hearing from you
• Professors with whom I interviewed- Sent each a personalized thank you and mentioned at least one thing from our conversation/about their research. Put more effort into the ones for the POIs I'd really hit it off with but was friendly and polite in all of them.

One good thing about emails directly to POIs is they might reply and drop a hint! I wouldn't expect it, but I got really nice replies from all the people I wrote to with varying degrees of hints. One even included a "I was talking to Dr. X and you're right at the top of our list ; )"

Good luck!