Assorted Afflatuses

America is a strange place. Black tie means no tie. "That's hilarious!" has been supplanted by "lol." And college applicants now send formal thank you notes to interviewers and admissions officers. According to an article published today in The New York Times, it has now become common practice for students to send formal thank you cards to interviewers and admissions staff in the hope that gratitude will somehow secure them a position at one of America's top schools.

A thank you note, from what I understand, is meant to communicate one's gratitude to someone who has performed an extraordinary service: something above and beyond the norm. For example, I doubt whether most people send a thank you note to their dental hygienist after a routine dental appointment. On the other hand, I can easily see a delighted couple sending a thank you note to their contractor after he or she exceeded their expectations by completing work ahead of schedule and under budget, a small miracle in the world of remodeling.

I see a college admission officer as doing the former more than the latter. Most colleges charge students anywhere from forty to seventy dollars to put their application into the pool because the people reading the applications — the admissions officers — are paid to look at and evaluate applications. The admissions officers are not going out of their way or doing anything particularly extraordinary by doing their jobs.

Alumni who interview students on a volunteer basis, however, might merit a thank you note. Unlike the admissions officers who are paid to review applications, they take the time out of their schedules to do something more exceptional. At the same time, those people do make the active decision to join their school's alumni association, which is a commitment to do work on behalf of their alma mater. And, of course, college staff or student who conduct interviews fall into the same group as the admissions staff who review applications; they are doing their jobs.

But even if the sending of thank you cards can be justified, the notion that it can make a difference in the application process should alert the public to the need for change. Sending a thank you note is far from the most genuine encapsulation of a person's character and ability.

Test scores or grades can be positively attributed to the applicant. Most application forms force students to vouch for the fact that their essays are indeed their own work, which gives those some degree of provenance. A thank you note, on the other hand, could easily be sent to a school or interviewer in the student's name by a counsellor, a parent or any other party. I hardly think it genuinely differentiates one candidate from another. Just as many extremely intelligent people forget to tie their shoelaces or walk into a shower with their clothes on, some lovely and talented people do not send out thank you notes as diligently as perhaps they should.

If this is not a sign that the system needs help, then I don't know what is.