So you’ve decided to embark on a new and exciting journey in your education by applying to a graduate school program. You join the ranks of many other scholars who seek to advance their education.
Low and behold, with an exceptional grad school application, you have moved forward in the process of completing an interview with the university. What comes next? You may think that all that is left is to wait and see if you are accepted into your chosen program. However, you may be missing the extra step of sending a grad school interview thank you email.
Why You Should Send a Thank You Email After Your Grad School Interview
Many prospective students do not follow up with the university they interview with either because they don’t believe it is necessary or because they don’t know to. With this extra step of sending a friendly thank you letter after your graduate school interview, you will be on the interviewer’s radar as an enthusiastic candidate. Also, the interviewer will see that you are genuinely interested in their graduate school and take the process seriously. Going that extra mile might mean the difference between acceptance and denial.
Best Time To Send Your Post-grad School Interview Thank You Email
The best time to email your grad school interview thank you is within 24–48 hours after completing your interview.
A grad school interviewer will often interview several candidates in anticipation for the upcoming semester. Email them any later and your email may be out of context from the interview haze. Or worse, the interviewer may get the impression that you are inconsiderate or forgetful.
The clock starts ticking as soon as you leave the interview, but don’t let this timeframe rush you to send a poorly written email. Take some time to evaluate your performance, and make notes on interesting talking points. The following list is a good starting point for compiling ideas.
- What interested you about the degree program
- Some of the strongest answers you had given
- Any information the interviewer provided that stuck with you
This isn’t all of the information that you should put in your thank you email. Keep reading to learn about essential thank you email components.
Information to Include in Your Thank You Email
The point of your post-grad school interview email is to thank the interviewer.
A generic thank you email is inauthentic and won’t cut it, here. Grad school interviewers will often interview several candidates in a small period of time. You must insert unique identifiers that’ll make your interview memorable.
In addition to the notes that you took post-interview, consider adding the following notes to your grad school interview thank you email.
- Elaborate on why you are thankful for the interview
- Show appreciation for the interviewer’s time
- Restate your interest in their grad school program
- Give one fact about why you would make a good candidate
You’re well on your way to writing a thank you email. Review the samples below to guide your writing process.
Winning Grad School Interview Thank You Email Samples
Once you’ve compiled a few talking points, you’re ready to write your thank you email. Don’t be overwhelmed by the task! The email doesn’t have to be a thesis—a few short paragraphs will do. Below we have listed some examples that you can personalize instead of simply copy and pasting.
Sample Grad School Interview Thank You Email #1
Dear Dr. LaCroix,
I wanted to reach out and thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to interview me for the Creative Writing Program at Northwestern Arizona University. I appreciate that you were able to go over some of the aspects of the program which make it unique. The most appealing part of the Creative Writing Program that you shared with me is working with publishing houses based in NYC.
Your advice on having me submit more of my creative writing to larger publications helped motivate me to get my work to a wider audience. I enjoyed your feedback on my writing style, and I believe that I would be an ideal candidate for Northwestern Arizona University’s program due to my dedication to the art of storytelling.
I look forward to hearing from you once final decisions are made. Once again, thank you for the opportunity to interview with you.
Sincerely,
John Doe
The beginning of this letter starts with thanking the interviewer, then explains specifically what the student was thankful for. The student also touched on specific aspects of the interview so that the recipient would remember the student. The email ends with a call to action and restates the thank you.
Sample Grad School Interview Thank You Email #2
Dear Dr. Scheibel,
I wanted to thank you for generously considering me for the Masters of Biology program at MIT. I know that you have a busy schedule, and I appreciate your time interviewing me and sharing some of what makes MIT unique.
The interview with you shed some light on what I can expect in the program. I especially like how MIT has biology research labs on-site and opportunities for internships. I believe that my background in working in a biomedical research lab for the past two years has prepared me for the next step in my career, which is obtaining my graduate degree to study microbial diseases.
Again, thank you for your consideration, and I look forward to hearing from you on your final decision.
Sincerely,
Jane Doe
Again, the sample grad school thank you email opens with a thank you. The opening also acknowledges that the interviewer has a busy schedule and is doing you a favor by taking the time to interview you. The email further mentions a specific program detail that the interviewee likes and why. The letter ends with why they would be a good candidate and thanking the interviewer. The call to action motivates the interviewer to maintain contact with the writer.
Sample Grad School Interview Thank You Email #3
Dear Dr. Roderick,
I hoped to reach out and thank you for talking with me about the opportunity to study mathematics at UCLA’s Mathematics Graduate Program. Your dedication to interviewing me with your busy schedule shows me how concerned UCLA is with considering candidates for their graduate programs.
Thank you for explaining how the library at UCLA has its own collection of mathematic resources that I could use while studying. Because of my experience in tutoring math at the undergraduate level, I think that I would be able to accomplish my dream of teaching mathematics at a university.
I am happy to have learned more about the program and hope to hear from you when final decisions are made.
Sincerely,
John Doe
The opening paragraph is focused on thanking the interviewer and why the writer is thankful. The second paragraph details a few of the interviewer’s talking points to show that the writer was paying attention during the interview. The author then writes a background sentence on why they should be admitted to the graduate program. The last paragraph summarizes the grad school interview thank you in just one sentence.
Connect with the Best Resources for Grad School Interviews
Whether you are at the point of sending out that professional thank you letter after your grad school interview or still going through the process of interviewing, InterviewFocus has the tools you need to make the best impression possible.
Future graduate students already know the definition of hard work and dedication. This also translates to how much effort and preparation you put into an upcoming grad school interview. With InterviewFocus, you can take advantage of their mock interviews, which give you personalized feedback on your eye contact, filler words and even facial expressions.
Get interview ready for graduate school with InterviewFocus!