How To Email Your College Professor

So its 1:30 am and that you are at the computer trying to refresh the email inbox . The big test is tomorrow and your Professor still hasnt replied back, but why? In contrast to popular belief, that your Professor wants you to fail, the problem could result from the fact your email never reached him/her. Hence, this guide’s intent is to show students how to write an effective email to their Professors.

The From Field

Always work with your University or College email address when sending an email. This not only guarantees the professor that you’re really a student but avoids your email from getting put in the spam box. Many Universities and Colleges now use a system of only allowing emails to be received from specific domains anything else (hotmail, yahoo. . .etc) is automatically put in the spam box or is merged to the Professor as a possible spam.
Case in Point:

Astudent@university.edu

The To Field

Here is the single most important field, in case you wake up in here you can kiss your good bye. Avoid placing the Professors name with the email (A Prof ), since not all of emailing system can handle this format. It’s always best to send your email to the Professors University or College account, since that is the account your Professor if assess, or checks, the maximum. And before sending the email twice test to verify that email address has been typed correctly.
Case in Point:

Aprof@universtiy.edu

The Subject Field

The subject area should be of the following format:

CollegeName-CourceCode-Title-Subject

CollegeName: Is the title of the post secondary institution (America Learning College, Boston Universityetc). Yes I do understand this may seem somewhat redundant but it’s vital. Many Professors (Normally new Professors) instruct at a couple of Faculties and Colleges at any given period, and also the email from these institutions gets merged to one primary speech, usually their ISP email address. To keep things organized its very best to write the title of University or their College in the Subject Field.

CourseCode- is that the code name of the class (MTH140, CPS124, GEF345etc). Its best to maintain the letters Capital and no distances between the number and letter.

Title: On here you type into your subject’s name. (Evaluation 1, Midterm, Exam, Assignment 5etc)

Subject: On here you type in what concern or problem you might have (Due Date Issue, Missed Evaluation Issue, HW Problem #45etc). Don’t forget to keep it brief, no more then 5 words.

Case in Point:

Boston College-MTH140-Assignment 4-HW Problem #45

The Text Body Field

Try to keep things clean and to the point. By that I mean not any two page emails or fonts and colour, recall your first priority would be to convey your message to not show off your email editing skills. Start off using composing the Professors title (Prof C.Mcgill,” Prof U.Stanetc). Move on to the topic of your email, as a reminder restate the Course Code and Title Field (Through the Mondays MTH140 class you mentioned for Assignment 4). The next line should say the problem or concern. Don’t forget to supply details and avoid repetitions. Its best to end the email using a salutatory announcement (Thank You, Yours Truly..etc) and utilize your name, student number and College or University name as touch.

Case in Point:

Prof C. Mcgill,
For Assignment 4 question # 41 to use the 2nd theorem Throughout the Mondays MTH140 class you mentioned. I am having trouble as to how to discover the X? In particular Y is 0. Is Y set by us and solve from there?

Thank You
_________________
Any Student
#:0101010101
Boston University

Things to Keep In Mind

– Give prior to sending another email, a minimum of one weekday for Professors to reply back.
– Avoid sending multiple emails at any given time.
– Try to send when possible during the Professors office and during weekdays hours.
– Strive to be both respectful and Professional (i.e. no offensive language( spell checketc).
– Avoid taking out frustration by simply spamming the Professors email box.