Comments on: I sent a thank-you note when I was nominated for a scholarship. Should I send another thank-you note after being awarded?

Question: I sent a thank-you note when I was nominated for a scholarship. Should I send another thank-you note after being awarded?

turtlegg — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:36:04 -0800

I sent a thank-you note when I was nominated for a scholarship. Should I send another thank-you note after being awarded?

I was nominated for a scholarship by my department and I immediately sent thank-you notes to the members of the committee that recommended me, feeling grateful for the consideration whether I actually ended up getting the award or not.

Now that I did get it, should I send a second thank-you note? Except for one of the professors who I do not know in person, I see the members of the committee often; I got the news about the award from one of them. So it feels somewhat awkward to be very formal again about saying "yes, I got it," yet still awkward not to.

Thank you for commenting.

By: jayder

jayder — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:40:55 -0800

It is better to err on the side of thanking someone too much rather than not enough. I think the committee would appreciate your letting them know that you got the scholarship.

By: grouse

grouse — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:49:25 -0800

Yes, definitely do this. You can send a quick informal group e-mail if you want.

By: R. Mutt

R. Mutt — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:54:19 -0800

Yes.

By: cjorgensen

cjorgensen — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:04:29 -0800

I'd send a formal one. Let's them have something for their files and something to show to the people who ponied up the cash in the first place.

By: desuetude

desuetude — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:10:13 -0800

It would be really, really classy to do this.

By: KAS

KAS — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:23:16 -0800

I think it's a great idea - yes, thank them.

By: pised

pised — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:45:06 -0800

Absolutely.

By: JustKeepSwimming

JustKeepSwimming — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:57:26 -0800

I thanked the sponsor of my scholarship with a really nice letter and an invitation to my play. They ended up not only coming to the play, but donating more money to the scholarship for next year's students. I was the development directors' favorite student.

Good things can happen from thank you letters.

By: HotPatatta

HotPatatta — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 15:06:18 -0800

Of course you should. I always sent two thank-yous and I ended up getting more nominations and extremely generous letters of recommendation.

By: Gerard Sorme

Gerard Sorme — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:21:06 -0800

Definitely. But do it right - no email.

By: bricoleur

bricoleur — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 18:59:52 -0800

Yes, unless you want them to think the first thank-you was just sucking up.