Writing an email to a professor is considered a bit long and more thoughtful process. It is not just a regular email to a friend or sending a message. As you study and pave your way to a brighter professional career, you should start treating this interaction as you would have professionally done in professional life. It includes emailing, messaging, documentation, presentation, etc..
While emailing to your professor, always use the academic account and must start writing your email with a formal salutation or greeting. Treat the interaction as you would be dealing with a future official business document or letter. Remember, to be concise and grammar counts!
Making a Good First Impression
Check the syllabus beforehand to reply. The question you would like to ask might have been already answered in the book or material provided to you by the university. So, it would be best if you went through it thoroughly. Check what the professor has provided at the start of the session. Asked by a professor to go over again will present you as a non-serious student, and it also adds up to the frustration of the professor because in a way, wastes their time too.
Use the academic email account. Professors are overloaded with emails every day. You will survive the spam filter treatment and have a better chance to communicate by using your academic account. Your educational email approach looks more professional, too. It also provides an overview of the professor to know who has been sending the email. The academic emails generally use your name.
Mark a strong subject line. A subject gives a perfect clue to your professor into what the email is all about before even opening it. This is helpful because of the subject help in setting aside an approximate amount of time to deal with the email. Ensure the subject is clear and to the point.
Start with a salutation including the professor’s title or surname. While writing to a professor, you are needed to treat it more like a formal letter, although it may look tempting to plunge into the request mode directly.
Creating the Content of the Email
Remind the professor of your case. As the professors have many students and it is a big task to keep track of every student, so it will be welcoming if you reminded him of who you are.
Stick to the point. Professors are busy individuals and don’t like to drag out long conversations. Say what you wish to say as briefly as possible and concisely and do leave any extraneous details.
Write complete sentences. This email is not a telegram. It is also not one of your Facebook post or a text message to a friend. You are required to use complete sentences while writing to the professor. Anything less won’t do and also does not look professional.
Maintain the right tone. As you’re first contacting a professor, keep the sound down and the language very professional. No emojis allowed! If you wish to develop a pleasant correspondence with the professor in future, you must find a tone that is a bit more relaxed. As the semester goes on, it will help you a lot.
Make your requests politely. Do not try to put forward your demands instead make it feel like a polite request to the professors. This will take you far. Phrase your issue as a request Make the professor give you the grant.
Use excellent punctuation skills. You may skip over periods and commas while emailing to a friend. However, while writing to the professor, ensure to use punctuation where they should be.
Spell out words. As text language and slangs are taking over the internet, our writing is getting affected too. Professional emails are a place where you should not mix up the things. Always run the final email script through spellcheck.
Capitalize words appropriately. Proper nouns and concepts at the beginning of sentences should be fairly capitalized. Don’t get into text speak wherever you selectively choose words.
Finishing Up Your Email
Ensure you’ve said exactly what you want. Specify what action you wish the professor should take to deal with the situation mentioned in the email by you. Repeat it at or near the end of the email.
Check for any grammar mistakes. Read over the email again for grammar mishap. Go through your email as most of the time, and you will be able to catch a mistake or two you happen to make while writing, that you must correct.
Look through the professor’s perspective. Thinking about the content of the email, ensure you aren’t demanding aggressively. Ensure it’s as concise as it can be.
Put a salutation to end the email. Just like the beginning of the letter was formal, you must complete it formally too.
Check back the inbox again in a week. Once the email has been sent, don’t annoy your professor for a reply. However, if there is a delay of more than a week or so, you can try again considering that your email might have been lost in the colossal inbox data of your professor.
Acknowledge a reply. After receiving a response from the professor, ensure to acknowledge the receipt of the answer. A simple “Thank you” can be more than enough. If necessary, write a more extensive email on the same guidelines and keep it as professional as it should be. If the problem or question is inadequately resolved by email, you may ask for a personal appointment and meet the professor in person.
Hoping the above instructions will do good to you to email a professor and wishing you Happy Emailing !!