Show No Fear: How to Email Your Professor Without Freaking Out
Photo by Kaitlyn Baker
Picture this: it’s 3:00 p.m., and you have a paper due in seven hours that you haven’t started. You desperately need an extension until tomorrow. If only writing that email to that professor wasn’t harder than writing that paper. We’ve all been there. Sometimes emailing a professor can seem like the scariest thing in the world. I have good news though! Emailing your professor without freaking out is possible! Here are a few tips and tricks to make it easier until you get the hang of it.
Have a standard template.
If you have a template for emails, it makes it easier to be able complete the Herculean task of asking for what you need or turning in that late assignment. By doing this, you only have to fill in the blanks rather than coming up with a whole new structure each time. Mine looks something like this: “Hello! Ask how they are here. Say what you need/want here. Wish them well here. Best, Arden M.” I like this template because it keeps things simplistic and to the point.
Be mindful of the time.
Sometimes you don’t realize you need to email your professor until it’s hours into that late-night study session. Sometimes emailing them at 3:00 a.m. is unavoidable. However, your anxiety could be much higher the later you email them. I know mine is. They aren’t going to see your email at that hour, so why cause yourself the anxiety and instead send the email the next morning?
Schedule your email to send.
This trick has saved my life. If you go through the “Students” tab on the Centenary website and access Outlook that way, you can schedule emails to send out. Sometimes, pressing that send button is the scariest thing in the world. Scheduling the email to send five minutes later is the perfect solution. It also works well for when you want to email your professor at 3:00 a.m. but feel like you should wait until 8:00 a.m.
Those are my tips on emailing a professor, but let’s hear from a staff member themself. I was able to speak to Dr. Ragan about his tips on emails. He recalled his very first faculty meeting. The provost at the time gave the faculty the best advice Dr. Ragan could think of: show no fear. “Sometimes you have to just do it,” Dr. Ragan says. I agree. Sometimes it’s best to rip off the band-aid and do what scares you. I have a saying that practice makes progress. The more you email a professor, the less scary it’ll be, especially as you begin to build that relationship.
When I asked Prof. Don Hooper for his advice, he was astounded that students were afraid to email professors. I’ve known Don for almost three years now, and he couldn’t believe that I still get nervous every time I have to press that send button, which is quite often I might add. The best advice he could give me was to “assume that your professor wants to help you until they prove otherwise.” Your professors want you to succeed and if that means emailing them, even at ungodly hours, then do that.
You might now be wondering what things that you should be emailing your professor about. In no particular order, here are a few reasons you might be emailing your professor.
You need an extension. It would be a good idea to check the syllabus prior to this to make sure of the professor’s rules regarding extensions. Some professors don’t allow them at all while others are more lenient.
1. You will be missing class. It might be good to give them a reason, but sometimes it’s just best to say that you need a personal day. If it’s for a school event or another excused absence, mention that so it won’t be marked against you!
2. You have a question about the homework.
3. You have a question about something that was talked about in class.
4. You’re having problems getting your textbook.
5. You need to set up a meeting. Some professors prefer that you just stop by their office, but it never hurts to set up a specified time.
These are just a few of the many reasons why you might need to send an email.
So, what does all of this look like in practice? Here is an email I sent towards the beginning of my sophomore year.
Hello [redacted]!
I hope all is going well! I was wondering if I could ask for an extension on my paper for Intro to Lit to Saturday at 5:00 p.m.? I've been working really hard on it, but I just don't think I'll be able to finish it before 5 tomorrow.
Best,
Arden M.
(they/them)
For privacy’s sake, I didn’t include the name of the professor that I emailed, but everything else is the same. I start with a simple greeting then move into the meat of the email. I was really nervous that the professor would think I was being lazy, so I included the part where I was working hard to show that I was making progress. I also have a reasonable solution to my problem. The email is also professionally written. Something that both Dr.
Ragan and Don mentioned that the only emails that annoyed them were the ones that were written like text messages. Your emails don’t have to be the epitome of professionalism, but you should try to maintain some of that.
Now, go forth and write emails without freaking out!
