After he applied to colleges, Natan Magid, a graduate of the Boston University Academy, emailed each of his interviewers just to say thanks.

Now a University Professors Program sophomore, Magid said he was acting on the advice of his school guidance counselor at the Academy.

“I think the [thank-you] letter only comes in handy as an evaluation tool if it is a particularly small or selective school that wants evidence that the applicant is serious about the school and excited about it,” Magid said in an email. “It shows the student paid a little more attention just like paying schools a visit or attending information sessions does.”

Although an Oct. 9 New York Times article suggested thank-you notes are becoming popular among high school students and their guidance counselors during the college application process, at BU, these extra letters are an unnecessary addition to an already large number of papers, said university spokesman Colin Riley.

“There’s no time for that and it doesn’t add any value to an application,” Riley said. “Someone may write to individual counselors saying they are looking forward to coming here, but by and large not.”

BU reads and reviews applications individually, but personal notes do not increase chances of admission, Riley said.

“We’re quite capable of reviewing the applications to look at transcripts, recommendation letters and standardized-test results to get a sense of whether the student would be a good fix for the university,” he said.

With the exception of students applying to certain programs in the College of Fine Arts, BU does not interview students because it receives about 34,000 applications each year.

Even in CFA, where auditions are required, assistant dean Patricia Mitro said thank-you notes are not common after auditions or portfolio reviews.

BU Academy College Counseling Director Robert Andrews said sending the letters is simply a matter of being polite. He said he does not believe colleges place much weight on them.

“We focus our students on far more substantive parts of the application process, like finding a good match, writing a good essay and helping them with teachers to ask for recommendation letters,” Andrews said.

Andrews said some students write courteous letters on return forms to their colleges of choice along with their deposits as another way of showing appreciation.

“Generally students have done their homework and turn in what is required,” Riley said. “Some things like videos are received from time to time, but generally, they are not helpful.”