phd interview follow up email

Writing a Grad School Interview Thank You Email

• Early Career

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.

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.

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.

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 !

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Questions or Comments

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, grad school interview thank you email tips.

Hey there, even though I'm still in high school, I'm already thinking about grad school interviews (planning ahead, haha). I've heard about sending a thank you email after a grad school interview, but I'm not sure what it should include. Could you guys share some tips or examples? Thanks!

It's good to see that you're planning ahead for your graduate school interviews! Sending thank you emails after your interviews is a professional and courteous way to show your appreciation for the opportunity and to solidify a positive impression. Here are some tips to help you craft an effective and memorable thank you email:

1. Be prompt: Aim to send your thank you email within 24-48 hours after the interview. This timely follow-up shows that you are proactive and genuinely interested in the program.

2. Be concise and clear: Keep your email brief and to the point. Use proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Remember, this is a formal communication, not a casual text message. Aim for a message of about 3-6 sentences in length, broken up into short paragraphs for clarity.

3. Personalize the email: Address the email specifically to the person or people who interviewed you. Use their name(s) and title(s) to show respect and acknowledge their time and effort.

4. Express your gratitude: Start the email by expressing your gratitude for their time and the opportunity to learn more about the program. Be specific about what you enjoyed most about the interview.

5. Reinforce your interest and fit: Briefly remind the interviewer of your interest in the program and how you could potentially contribute to the academic community. Be careful not to rehash your entire resume—instead, focus on one or two key points that showcase your enthusiasm.

6. Mention a relevant takeaway: If there was something insightful or particularly memorable from the interview, mention it as a positive takeaway. This demonstrates active listening and can create a connection between you and the interviewer.

7. Close professionally: End the email with a courteous closing, such as "Sincerely" or "Best regards," followed by your full name.

Here's an example thank you email for a graduate school interview:

Subject: [Your Name] – Thank you for the [Program Name] Interview

Dear Dr. [Interviewer's Last Name],

I wanted to express my sincerest gratitude for the opportunity to interview for the [Program Name] at [University Name] yesterday. I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation about [specific topic or question from the interview], and it has further solidified my interest in pursuing my graduate studies in this program.

After hearing about the [unique aspect of the program], I am more convinced than ever that [University Name]'s [Program Name] aligns perfectly with my academic and professional goals. I believe my background in [relevant experience or skills] will enable me to contribute positively to the program and its community.

I appreciated the opportunity to learn more about [a memorable takeaway from the interview], and I am excited about the possibilities that the [Program Name] may hold for me.

Thank you once again for your time and consideration. I look forward to the opportunity to join the [Program Name] at [University Name].

[Your Full Name]

Remember, the key to an effective thank you email is to be sincere, concise, and personalized. Best of luck with your future grad school endeavors!

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CollegeVine’s Q&A seeks to offer informed perspectives on commonly asked admissions questions. Every answer is refined and validated by our team of admissions experts to ensure it resonates with trusted knowledge in the field.

How to Write a Thank You Email After an Academic Interview

In this blog post, we will look at how to draft a thank you email after an academic interview with the help of some best practices, hacks and a ready to use template that you can just copy paste. So let us get started.

Shiva Prabhakaran

It is considered good practice to send a thank you email after an academic interview given that it takes a lot of effort to conduct one. You can also use this opportunity to express your interest in the role and effectively pitch your profile.

Tips to Remember

Timing is very important when sending a thank you email, especially so when it is after an academic interview. So send out that email 18-36 hours after the interview.

Personalize the email to indicate to the recipient that this is not a mass email but rather a well thought out one. Include specifics around the questions and the responses by that particular interviewer.

Express gratitude to the interviewer for taking the time and effort to not just host the interview but also the ways the questions in that interview have helped you refine your understanding of the subject.

Subtly highlight your qualifications that make you an ideal fit for the role. Do not make it sound like an over the top pitch. It is understood that you are interested in the job, but the goal here is for them to imagine you succeeding in it.

Show alignment of your skills, qualification and experience with the goals the institute or the department. Most teams hire to push harder & faster towards a goal and showing alignment improves your chances of getting hired.

Best Practices

Draft a professional subject line that is simple and straightforward enough to indicate to the recipients on what you are trying to convey in the email.

Share context around why you are writing that email and this context can be anything from the questions that you appreciated the most, parts of the interview you enjoyed and the alignment of your profile to the overall goal.

Ensure that you share multiple communication channels so that you can reached on at least one of them if others were not very feasible or accessible for whatever reason.

Proofread the body of the email thoroughly before hitting the “Send” button, the last thing you need when interviewing for a position is give an impression that you are hasty.

Sample Thank You Email Template After an Academic Interview

Subject Line: Thank you for your timeHello [Recipient’s Name],

Hope you are doing well. I just wanted to thank you for the opportunity to interview with you and the incredible experience during it.

The interview was rich with great questions from you and your fellow panelists. I especially appreciate interviews on the [ Name of the Topic]. Since the interview, I have explored a bit more about [Topic Name] and it was a great refresher.

Questions around [Topic Name] also helped me address a few blind spots that I had and this is a great opportunity for me to plug those gaps and become a better [Profession or Subject Matter Expertise].

I am super excited to hear from you guys and I feel [Explain Your Experience and Alignment with the Group’s Goal].

If you have any updates or advice for me, please feel free to reply back to this email, alternatively you can also reach out to me on my [Your Mobile Number] or on my [Hyper-linked LinkedIn Profile].

Once again, thanks for the opportunity and the fruitful interview experience. I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,[Your Name][Your Designation/Role]

Writing a thank you email after attending an academic interview is a great idea for making a good impression with potential employers. By following the tips, best practices and most importantly the sample template shared, you are now well equipped to communicate in this scenario.

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