Sending an email to a professor can be nerve-wracking. You might get stuck on delivery and draw a blank, unsure of what to say. First of all, don’t panic, and think of what you need to say. Did you miss a class? Are you concerned about your grade? Need some extra help? All of these are acceptable reasons for a quick email but, what do you say? You might be able to find help from places like Write Essay For Me Online for your essays, but what about emails? After reading this, you’ll know just what to say and be ready to drop any professor a line for anything you might need.
1. Do You Really Need to Send it?
Have you ever asked your professor a question only to get the answer, “it’s on the syllabus”? If you’re like us, you might get a little worked up by the question, getting off to a bad start with the prof. That’s why, before you construct a perfectly-worded email, make sure you actually need to send one. Not that you should avoid your professor but, think of it this way. If they’re busy with hundreds of students, they don’t have time to answer the same questions repeatedly.
2. Use Your Official University Email
Professors are ordinary people, whether you like to believe it or not. Just like others, they don’t like junk and will likely delete anything they don’t recognize. That also means student emails that come from their personal, non-school-related accounts. For example, if you’re the creative kind and have an email that shows it, your professor could look the other way. Take [email protected], for example. It looks sketchy and unprofessional. However, [email protected] looks much more academic-related and less like junk.
3. Add a Subject Line
The subject line is just as important as your email, giving your professor an idea of what you need. For instance, if you need extra help about a topic introduced in your lecture, you’ll need to spell that out in your topic. Instead of just adding “Help” to the subject line, go in-depth with more information like: “Help with lecture 3 Course101.” In the latter subject line, you have given your professor the reason for your email, the class you’re in, and the lecture your doubts, all in one sentence. Talk about three birds and one stone!
4. Keep it Formal
With friends, it might be typical to add just their name or a quick “what’s up” as a greeting. However, with your professor, you want to keep it formal. A formal email greeting is something like: “Dear Professor X.” The greeting is just the beginning and sets the tone for the rest of the email. If you’re drawing a blank and unsure what to say for an email of high importance, check with the professionals and pay for programming assignment.
5. Tell Them Who you Are
As we mentioned, professors see a lot of students. Some classes have hundreds of students, making it challenging to keep up with every single one. Therefore, you’d do well to let them know who you are so that they have a clear idea. Give then your name and the title and hour of your lecture. The last thing you want to do is keep them guessing; they already have enough of that to do.
6. Don’t Beat Around the Bush
Keep your email short and sweet, and get to the point as soon as you can. For example, let’s say you need help with a topic introduced in the lecture. You’d want to write something like: “I’d like to schedule a meeting with you during your office hours to discuss a doubt I had with topic X from a lecture on DATE.” In this example, you got to the point and told them what your question concerns, so they know what to expect.
7. Give a Good Ending
It would be best if you put some thought into the ending of an email to your professor. Remember, this is considered a formal email, so you should use formal salutations like “sincerely” or “best regards.” After you have finished your email, try ending it with something like this:
I look forward to meeting with you.
Sincerely,
Your Name
8. Proofread
Last but not least, you need to proofread your email. The last thing you want to do is send an email to your professor full of grammar and spelling errors. Use a free online tool, or just read it over yourself before pressing send.
Samples for Top Email Topics
Sending your professor an email can be intimidating, but it’s not as bad as it sounds. For a few samples, check out those below or, if you just can’t find the right words.
Missed Class
Dear Professor X,
This is YOUR NAME from COURSE, SECTION. I missed class yesterday and was wondering if I could come to office hours and clear up a doubt I had after overlooking a classmate’s notes.
Thank you for your time.
Best regards,
YOUR NAME
Grades
Dear Professor X,
My name is YOUR NAME, from COURSE, SECTION. I’d like to schedule a time to discuss my grade on ASSIGNMENT at your earliest convenience.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
YOUR NAME