Post-interview etiquette - contact beyond thank you?

[arrowtotheknee]

I had a (in my mind, terrible) interview a few days ago with my person of interest / potential advisor. I completely froze up when she asked me about whether I had read her work, what I thought of it. The rest went okay, but I came away feeling I had really bombed it. I sent a thank you e-mail, and she sent me some reading material (papers) as she had promised to do at the end of the interview. I know it's typically ill-advised to e-mail POIs after applying - but could I e-mail back with my thoughts on her research and potentially redeem myself? Or would this be inappropriate? I also sent some requested materials to her - maybe I should wait until she replies?

And does this bad interview mean that I'm totally out now? She had plenty of praise and was very patient with me...but I don't want to get my hopes up. She also mentioned keeping a few dates in March open so that if I'm admitted, I'll be able to attend a prospective student weekend. This was all after my major flub. Thoughts?

[gellert]

Don't worry about it! It may not be as bad as you thought.

I would refrain from sending further (unsolicited) materials. Wait for her to respond and then see. You don't want to be "that annoying person who keeps emailing me trying to redeem an interview that wasn't all THAT bad."

'Course, this is my first time going through this process myself, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

[Sigaba]

@arrowtotheknee

If writing her an additional email in which you retrospectively reply to her papers will make you feel better, and you can write that email very well, it might be worth the effort--if only for your state of mind. (If it sounds like I'm straddling the fence it is because I am.)

It may also be worth your while to do a "lessons learned" exercise for the interview in question. Why did you freeze up? How might you respond in future interviews when you encounter an unexpected question? How does one say intelligently "I've not read it" and/or "I don't know"?

More generally, take gellert's post to heart. Keep a positive view of yourself and all the hard work you've done to get yourself to this point. FWIW, I've had a couple of experiences in which a professor or two bounced me off the walls and come away from the experience absolutely convinced that I'd acquitted myself poorly--only to find that I'd actually done all right. Based upon the comments she offered after the "flub," such may be the case for you.

HTH.

[arrowtotheknee]

Thank you both for your comments. A few people "IRL" had suggested I reply to the POI's e-mail with comments, but I was thinking this was not for the best. I'll wait and hope...

[coonskee]

I think that, should she reply to your emails, you should definitely email her with a comment or two about the reading materials she sent and comments relating them to her own work, if appropriate. Nothing ridiculously long, because then it will seem like you are trying (possibly too hard) to redeem yourself. Rather, take the opportunity to show her you've read what she sent you (so she knows sending you the stuff wasn't a waste of time) and that you can think critically about it (hey, doesn't hurt to try to show how worthy you are of being in the program!) in a few sentences. It should take her less than two, three minutes to read, imho.

I'm in the same boat as Gellert, so do take my advice with a grain of salt as well - I just think that showing you're engaged with what she sent you would be polite and only show you in a good light