This is a line that recognizes our common humanity [4].<\/em><\/p>\n I\u2019m in your Class Name, Section Number that meets on This Day [5]. This is the question I have or the help I need [6]. I\u2019ve looked in the syllabus and at my notes from class and online and I asked someone else from the class [7], and I think This Is The Answer [8], but I\u2019m still not sure. This is the action I would like you to take [9].<\/em><\/p>\n Signing off with a Thank You is always a good idea [10], Right off the bat, here\u2019s where you can establish that you view your relationship with your professor as a professional one. Use \u201cDear,\u201d or if that feels horrifically formal to you, you can use \u201cHello\u201d or \u201cHi.\u201d (\u201cHi\u201d is pushing it. See note about exceptions below.)<\/p>\n This is the where a lot of students unwittingly poke right at their professor\u2019s sensitive ego and sense of justice in the world. You didn\u2019t think this little word was a super big deal, but it actually is to them. An honorific is a title used to communicate respect for a person\u2019s position. Whether or not you, as a student, actually<\/em> respect your professor\u2019s authority or position, it\u2019s a good idea to act like you do. The simplest way to do this is to address them as \u201cProfessor.\u201d If they have a PhD, you can technically call them \u201cDr.\u201d but you\u2019re safer with \u201cProfessor.\u201d Not all instructors have PhDs (and many won\u2019t even have the word professor in their official job title), but if they are teaching a college class they are inhabiting the role of Professor and can be addressed as such. The bonus of \u201cProfessor\u201d and \u201cDr.\u201d is that they don\u2019t require you to know anything about your professor\u2019s gender identity or marital status. If you call your prof \u201cMrs.\u201d or \u201cMiss,\u201d lord help you.<\/p>\n You might be surprised at how frequently students get their professor\u2019s name wrong. This is not difficult information to look up, people. It\u2019s on your syllabus, it\u2019s on the department website, it\u2019s probably Google-able too. Use their last name. Spell out the whole thing. Spell it correctly. If there\u2019s a hyphen in it, use both names and<\/em> the hyphen (this really falls under spelling out the whole thing and spelling it correctly, but I get it, it\u2019s a special case and it causes a lot of confusion for some reason even though it is 2016).<\/p>\n You may use a less formal salutation, and address your professor by something other than Professor Last-Name in your email, if, and only if, you have received an email from them where they use an informal salutation and sign it with something other than Professor Last-Name<\/strong>. For example, when I was a college professor, I would often sign off on my emails \u201cProf. P-S\u201d because I knew my last name was long and confusing for people. I then rather liked it when people sent me emails addressed to \u201cProf. P-S.\u201d But don\u2019t deviate from what they call themselves. NEVER try to use a first name unless you have been given explicit permission to do so. If the prof cryptically signs their emails with only initials, best to stick to Professor Last-Name. Do not under any circumstances begin an email with \u201cHey\u201d because some people get real huffy about that.<\/p>\n It never hurts to say something like \u201cI hope you\u2019re enjoying the beautiful weather today,\u201d or \u201cI hope you had a relaxing weekend,\u201d to start off. It shows that you see your professor as a person who has some kind of life. Professors like it when you see them as people who have lives outside of their classroom (however remotely this may resemble the truth). It doesn\u2019t really matter what you say here, it\u2019s more the ritual of polite interest that counts. If you can make it come off like you genuinely mean it, bonus points for you.<\/p>\n This one is key, especially if it\u2019s the first time you are contacting your professor. You can\u2019t count on them to remember your name from their rosters or to be able to put your face with your name. If there\u2019s something distinctive about you that would jog their memory and make them look upon you fondly, include that. For instance, \u201cI stayed after class to ask you about the reading that one time,\u201d or \u201cI sit in the front row and have blue hair,\u201d whatever. If you haven\u2019t met them yet, explain your desired relationship to them, such as \u201cI am interested in enrolling in your class next semester.\u201d If you\u2019re fairly certain they will know you by name, you can leave this out. But some profs are very bad at remembering names, so you might as well throw them a bone here.<\/p>\n This is the whole reason you\u2019re sending the email, so make it good. The important thing here is to get in and get out, while remaining courteous. Concisely state what it is you need from the professor without offering a bunch of excuses or going into excessive detail or sounding like you are making demands. If you can\u2019t explain why you\u2019re emailing in a sentence or two, consider making an appointment to meet with the professor in person, in which case your line here will be \u201cI was hoping we could meet to talk about X. What would be a good time for that?\u201d If they can\u2019t meet and just want to discuss it over email, they\u2019ll let you know.<\/p>\n There is a t-shirt<\/a> for sale on the internet<\/a> that says, \u201cIt\u2019s in the syllabus.\u201d Think for a second about why there is a market for this product. A vast number of emails sent to professors by students are seeking information that has already been communicated by the professor<\/em>. Before even sending the email, you should actually check the syllabus and your notes (and the class website if there is one) to see if your question has indeed been answered there. It doesn\u2019t hurt to ask someone else from the class too\u200a\u2014\u200athis is why you should try to get a least one classmate\u2019s phone number or email address during the first week. If you\u2019ve actually done all these things and you still have a question, then your contacting the professor will actually provide helpful information to them that they might not have been clear about something.<\/p>\n If you can try to answer your own question, and you turn out to be right, that saves them a little bit of time in their response. For instance, if you are writing to set up a meeting, you could say, \u201cIt says on the syllabus that your office hours are Tuesdays at 3pm. Could I come this Tuesday at 3:15?\u201d This also shows that you thought about the whole thing for more than two seconds before deciding to take up their email-reading time.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re asking a question you need an answer to, you can say something like \u201cIf you could let me know at your earliest convenience, I\u2019d really appreciate it.\u201d If you need them to fill out a form, or contact someone on your behalf, or do something that requires more action than just answering your email, state that very clearly here. This helps them put it on their to-do list and get it done.<\/a><\/p>\n If you\u2019re not sure how to sign off an email, \u201cThank you\u201d is nearly always appropriate. You can do \u201cBest,\u201d or \u201cAll the best,\u201d or \u201cSincerely,\u201d or whatever, but some form of thanks here does double duty as both sign-off and expression of gratitude.<\/p>\n If your professor hasn\u2019t responded to your email, and social cues tell you they probably meant to by now<\/em>, you can send a gentle follow-up. You can format the follow-up using all the elements here, but you can add in \u201cJust following up on my previous email,\u201d right before you get to Element #6. You don\u2019t have to rub it in that they forgot to email you back, they will get the point (and if they genuinely forgot, they might feel bad). If they were not emailing you back on purpose, you probably already annoyed them the first time around, and you might as well be as polite as possible with the follow-up. When is it safe to send a follow-up reminder? You have to gauge this based on how quickly they usually respond to things and how dire your need for a response truly is. If it can wait a week, let it wait a week (or until you see them in person).<\/p>\n Learning how to craft professional emails is a skill you can take with you into the so-called real world. A courteous and thoughtfully constructed request is much more likely to receive the kind of response you want. And, let\u2019s face it, professors are humans with feelings who just want to be treated as such.<\/p>\n You might think professors who are annoyed by student emails are over-sensitive and lazy (it\u2019s their job to handle this shit, right?). And you might be right. But consider that while you only have a few professors at any one time, they might have hundreds of students. They are possibly getting the same question from ten different people. They might be an adjunct professor who is actually only paid for the hours they spend in the classroom (and they\u2019re not paid very much for that even). They might have experienced a pattern of receiving less respect from people based on their gender or race. Make your email the one they don\u2019t gripe to their friends about. Now you know how.<\/p>\n
\nFavorite Student<\/em><\/p>\nElement #1: Salutation<\/h4>\n
Element #2: Honorific<\/h4>\n
Element #3: Name<\/h4>\n
Exceptions to #1\u20133 (do not attempt until you have leveled up to pro emailer status)<\/h4>\n
Element #4: Meaningless Nicety<\/h4>\n
Element #5: Reminder of how they know you<\/h4>\n
Element #6: The real reason for your email<\/h4>\n
Elements #7 and 8: This is where you prove you\u2019re a wonderful person
![\"shopping\"](\"https:\/\/prof.chicanas.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/shopping.jpg\")
<\/a><\/h4>\nElement #9: Super polite restatement of your request<\/h4>\n
Element #10: Sign-off<\/h4>\n
The hidden Element #11: The follow-up<\/h4>\n
Why any of this matters<\/h3>\n