Do I write a letter now or later?

Write it ASAP and mail it to her in her office. She will appreciate it even if she sees you all the time.

Yes, and do it sooner than later. But email is also acceptable, and may be preferred by some.

Totally agree with @janbb. Whatever the outcome of the application, your prof deserves your thanks right away. Seeing her every day has nothing to do with this.

My suggestion is to mail or hand-deliver a hand-written note. Being more personal than an email, it shows how much you appreciate her time and effort in your bahalf.

I agree. Send it now. As in 1:01pm EST. But I take issue with the hand-written note. I know many people who have ethical and practical objections to written notes on paper. It seems a bit risky. Honest, kind words of appreciation via email seem like a safe bet.

Yeah, it used to be that a physical note was more highly valued, specifically because it showed that you were using time and resources to show gratitude. Now it appears to be less valued, specifically because the time and resources could be better spent.

As a rule of thumb… if this is an older prof, they might value a physical letter more. Might.

Hmm – guess I’m an older prof…

Definitely sooner than later.

I’d be quite surprised if the prof didn’t appreciate the note more, or at least as much, as an email… unless she’s 15-years old.

@Pachy: “unless she’s 15-years old.”

Or in her 40s.

@hominid “Or in her 40s.”
Exactly. This isn’t 1985!

@janbb, @Buttonstc I’ve seen profs react both ways to paper letters – with pleasure and with irritation. I’m not kidding.

@dxs My point is that there isn’t really a way to guess how a specific prof will respond; nor should you be trying too hard to ingratiate yourself with them (no, I am not saying you are doing that). Just do whatever is natural to you.

It’s beyond me how good manners and common courtesy have become “iffy” and suspect.

If someone took the time and made the effort to write a recommendation letter, send a thank-you note. The note doesn’t need to be long or flowery – a few appreciative sentences are fine – but it should be sent. It’s not ingratiating to express thanks. To the contrary, you’ve already received a kindness, so you’re not looking for any favors or special treatment. You’re simply being grateful for what’s been done.

@dappled_leaves, any professor who reacts with irritation is a real jerk.

@SadieMartinPaul: “It’s beyond me how good manners and common courtesy have become “iffy” and suspect.”

I don’t wish to derail this thread. But there are those who feel that receiving a piece of paper rather than an email is work. Thanks. Now, rather than reading anytime, anywhere, at my convenience, I have to find some place to carry around something. I then have to decide if I need to scan this and OCR it. Correspondence is permanent and stored in email, so to receive this in paper means that you need to scan it in and store it as though it came from the person via email so that you are able to refer back to it. You’ve also been given the “gift” of having to recycle this. And then there is the chin-scratching “why” that may haunt you and call into question the person who may have chosen to burden you rather than to thank you. I would certainly resent a piece of paper, but would really appreciate thoughts of gratitude via the appropriate format: email.

^^^ “Burden”? Yes, a sheet of paper takes up enormous amounts of space and is staggeringly heavy to carry around. And, the fact that someone took the time to put a pen to paper, address an envelope, and lick a stamp is truly offensive.

It takes a few seconds to read a brief thank-you note. (As I mentioned, above, nobody should send his/her life story on multiple pages, but just a few lines of appreciation.) Then, the recipient can choose to file the physical letter, scan it, recycle it, use the reverse side for a grocery list before tossing it, frame it and hang it on the wall, use it to wipe his/her @$$; all options are viable.

Yeah – I am not quite ready to consign hand-written mail to the proverbial dustbin yet even though its demise is near. I think either is fine to do but a handwritten letter should not be seen as a burden.

@SadieMartinPaul – I’m not sure you read my response. If it’s not the preferred method for receiving professional correspondence (this is what we have here), then handing someone a piece of paper is handing them a task (“Here. Add this to your todo list!”). It’s giving them the gift of deciding that you should take more of their time. It’s inconsiderate. This may not have always been the case, but it is now.

@hominid But would you agree that this might be seen differently in academia than it is in the corporate world? I think in this instance, a student writing to a prof, it is quite different than a software developer being sent a piece of snail mail.

^ Quite possible. Although, I do have friends and family in academia and they manage their lives via technology. I can’t imagine they would want to choose to have to scan, OCR, and tag this letter. They have very little extra time, so it seems respectful for people to not provide more work for them.

They might not feel the need to keep a record at all; if they are tenured, they might just enjoy the receipt of it. But I think we’ve flogged this horse as far it needs to be done.

@janbb – But it isn’t only for them necessarily that they would need to have this in email. Five years from now, @dxs may contact this professor for some recommendation or even contact her for some other reason. Having a record of their correspondence at her finger tips is essential. Receiving a piece of paper and just dumping it in a recycle bin erases the event from history.

@janbb I’m writing from the point of view of academia, and what @hominid says is right. We all conduct our business via email. Actual mail will take longer to reach us, and will probably be thrown out if not deemed vitally important. If deemed important, then it’s just more work to scan and OCR it.

As I said, there is not one uniform opinion on the matter; it will vary from person to person. But it’s just not fair to come down on anyone for writing a thank-you email rather than a thank-you letter anymore. An email is not a text message, it’s a professional communication. And for most academics, it is the preferred form of professional communication.

And I agree with you about the flogging.

I didn’t know the medium I use to write the letter was so controversial! I thought the answer was easy—handwritten. I was planning on just taping it to her door, so no mail limbo. I have already thanked her via e-mail and various times in person, so that’s why I felt a note was redundant (I mean what else would I write about?).
I’m going with a handwritten note. I hope she is not offended, but I feel so much more comfortable writing that way. I’ll start it write right now and put it on her door by tomorrow.
Thanks for the responses!
P.S.: Nothing is derailing because I asked for any thoughts on anything!

^ “Nothing is derailing because I asked for any thoughts on anything!”

You found a loophole! Well done! ;) And, yes, uh – do what everyone said.

Someone just sent me an email to thank me for a letter of recommendation I wrote a while ago. They wrote to tell me about their positive outcome. If you’ve left it a while, perhaps you can do that too. Tell the person the outcome and thank them for their help. That takes away any embarrassment if there’s been a delay. I think the personal letter is a lovely touch and I’m sure your thoughtfulness will be appreciated.

@Earthbound_Misfit That’s exactly another reason why I was going to wait! It should take a little less than a month for me to get my results.

@dxs Well, the one thing you can take away from this is that there is no standard, haha.

I’ve written thank-you letters sometimes before, sometimes after knowing the outcome. Sometimes, the profs reply, sometimes not, but if the outcome was positive, that gives them something to talk about. I’ve never received a reply to a handwritten note, though. ;)

Being the procrastinator that I am, I’ve decided to wait until I hear from them. Then I’ll talk about my future or something.

Oh wait, after thinking about it further I actually ended up writing it immediately. I wrote “I’ll let you know as soon as I get the results”, etc. on it, so it was a good filler alternative for writing about my results.