Email etiquette

Question

How do you approach writing emails to adcoms (following up on interviews, questions, etc.)? Do you try to inject a little personality or keep them pretty straight-forward?

A lot of times I'll throw in an exclamation point or something just to lighten the tone a little but then feel stupid when I get a dry response.

Not that it's a big deal either way, just thought I'd throw it up for discussion.

kingfalcon · Answer

If I had met the person previously, such as in an interview, I used the tone of that meeting to inform the tone of any follow ups I sent. If I hadn't met with them before, I erred on the side of formality.

Hope that helps.

jwcardinal11 · Answer

I feel like that's a bit of a personal decision, frankly. People will disagree on the level of formality, I'd think. But one thing that people shouldn't/won't disagree on is grammar. Formal or friendly, one of the worst impressions to make on an adcom (or anyone else associated with the admissions process, for that matter) is sloppiness. Mkae suer to duoble-chcek yur spellign.

westsidah408 · Answer

My 2 cents:

If the in-person meeting (e.g. interview) or phone call went well, I might refer to something we talked about outside of the interview (if any). For example, my interviewer at one school was British and we both really love football (soccer), so we talked about that for a bit. I made sure to refer to our conversation (not a rehash). I think it was a nice ending.

Ultimately, just be polite, and try to end positively. Just like when considering what to wear for interviews etc., play it safe. Formal is better than informal. Grammar should be immaculate.

Even if you receive a dry response, that does not mean that the adcom did not register your intent. Maybe it is their policy or something.

Hope this helped.

Email etiquette

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