What is the etiquette in addressing the Grad Advisor who answers applicants calls and emails?

[the_smiley1]

I emailed her once and started off by referring to her as Ms. Last Name, but in the email she replied back with, she used her first name only (no last name). Should I continue addressing her as Ms.Last Name in the emails, OR, should I address her with her first name?

Comments

[seriousmonster]

I am the program assistant to a PhD program (also applying to PhD programs, which is why I am here- have been lurking and just joined). To reassure you, my correspondence with applicants almost never goes into the files unless it changes part of the application (if someone wants to notify us of a problem with supplemental materials for example), so my opinion of an applicant's etiquette has little to no effect on his or her application.

That said, as a 24 year old office assistant, it's really disconcerting to have people persistently call me "Ms. X" when I've replied casually multiple times.