Can I reach out to prof before the semester starts?
Can students contact their professor before classes start?
Yes, college students can absolutely email their professor before classes start, however it depends on how early students email their professor. Professors don’t usually return to the office until a week or two before the semester starts and they might not be checking their email.
You’ve enrolled in classes, and you’re now getting prepared to start the semester.
But you have a few questions for your professor, and you just don’t think they can wait.
Or maybe you want to make a good impression on your professor, and you want to introduce yourself to stand out.
And you are now wondering if you should send a quick email to your professor before classes begin for the semester.
However, is it okay to email your professor before classes start? Or should you just hold off and talk to them after the semester begins?
Well, as a former professor, I am going to tell you everything I know about talking to your professor before classes officially start.
Is it weird to email your professor before classes begin?
It is not necessarily weird to email your professor before classes begin but it is definitely uncommon. Most students do not email their professors before the semester starts so you will be one of the few students who reach out early.
When you reach out to your professor, you really want to make sure that it is important and worthy of early communication. Your professor will likely have hundreds of students and if too many students reach out early, they’d have a hard time responding to all the inquiries.
I am not against students emailing their professor early, but a lot of students’ questions can be answered without having to email their professor. Let me give you some examples of questions that can probably be answered by a little research on the student’s part.
Required textbooks - A lot of universities will have online bookstores where the supplies needed for the course will be listed. You rarely have to reach out to your professor before classes to find this information.
Syllabus - Your professor may still be working on the syllabus and might not have it prepared for distribution yet so if you want an early peek, you’ll have to wait.
Location - The location of the class is probably listed on your schedule so check there first. It could change before classes start so check the day of class too.
Registration - If you want to register for a course, or were dropped for some reason, your professor can’t help. You should reach out to admissions or advising.
Most of your questions will be answered by other departments. And your professor will just direct you to someone else who can help.
So, before you email your professor, try to dig a little deeper, and see if your question should be directed to someone else or if you can find the answer on the college’s website first.
Should you email your professor before classes start?
Most students do not need to email their professor before classes start. You should only email your professor if you have a question that is urgent and only they can answer. Otherwise, wait until the semester begins.
Look, I understand that you want to be prepared for classes but your professor is still diligently working on the course and they will be very busy.
And your professor may not even be working yet. Most professors don’t come back to campus until a week or two before the semester starts. And they’re swamped with meetings and may not be in the office to respond to emails.
However, I am not against students reaching out, but you might not get a quick response. Your professor may change or not even be assigned for your course. Sometimes a class will be without an instructor and assigned right before the official start date.
Why should you contact your professor before classes?
You should contact your professor before classes start if you have disability accommodations, questions that cannot be answered by other departments, or if you have some special circumstances that need to be discussed.
Disability accommodations - Some students will have needs because of their disability, and they might want to reach out to their professor if they want to discuss these in advance.
Questions that weren’t answered by other departments - Occasionally your professor will be the only person who can answer your questions about the course so feel free to reach out to them and discuss.
Special circumstances that need to be discussed - You might be in a situation where you will be missing a few classes because of very important appointments that were already scheduled and you’ll beed to talk to your professor about this.
When I was a professor, students would sometimes reach out to me to discuss their unique situations. For example, a student was in the military and they were going to be doing some training for two weeks during the semester. We worked out a plan in advance for their missed work.
These are some reasons why would would want to contact your professor early.
How do you email your professor at the beginning of the semester?
If you want to email your professor at the beginning of the semester, you can likely locate their email through your registration. You might want to introduce yourself, or you may have questions about the structure of the course.
Before you email your professor, keep in mind that your professor may not be available for communication yet. Most professors don’t return to campus until a week or two before classes.
You will need to email your professor from your college email. Otherwise your professor might not respond or the email will go to their spam folder.
When you email your professor, make sure you let them know what course you are enrolled in. They’ll have lots of students on their rosters and they won’t recognize your name yet.
Then ask your question or introduce yourself. If you have a question, be specific. If you want to introduce yourself, keep it short.
Here is a sample email of a student introducing themselves to their professor.
Dear Professor,
I am enrolled in your English 101 course that meets on Mondays. I wanted to send a quick email letting you know that I am excited for the course because I am really interested in learning about analyzing the literature you’ve selected for this course. My goal is to become a technical writer, and I believe this course will help me reach this goal. Once the semester begins, I would like to have more discussions about the course and my career goals to see if you have any assistance to offer. Thanks for your time.
This email template gives you the important information to include in your email. Obviously it will be specific to your circumstances. But don’t be afraid to reach out to your professor, even if it’s your first time contacting them.
Do professors have to send emails to students before class start?
No, professors are not required to send emails to students before classes start but it is typically customary for professors instructing online classes to send an email with instructions on how to access the course before the semester.
Most colleges do not have a policy that requires professors to reach out before the semester begins. There is not usually any reason for professors to be communicating with students prior to the semester.
Before classes start, professors will see students adding and dropping classes. So, if they reached out to their students early, they might contact students who will drop their class, and they will miss students who add their class later.
So, it’s not something you will typically see professors do. I wouldn’t be looking for your professor’s email before classes start.
Instead, I would login to your college’s learning management system (Blackboard, Moodle, Canvas, etc.) and see if your course is published. This is especially important for students enrolled in online classes.
If you are enrolled in face-to-face classes, you should show up to the first day of class to meet your professor and get acquainted with the course.
Otherwise, you won’t have a reason to talk to your professor early. Most of your questions can wait or will be answered the first day of class anyway.
And if you have more specific questions about reaching out to your professor, I have an entire guide here.
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