Times when you should NOT email your professor (written by one)
About the author
Hi there. I am the prolific professor with 15 years of experience teaching online and in-person. I have a graduate degree. I have a passion for education. But I’ve also worked in the professional world (outside of education) too. Thanks for visiting.
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Hi there! I am the Prolific Professor and I have some things I have to share with you about emailing your professor. These are all things that you should NOT do when you email your professor. And there are specific times when you should not send an email to your professor, like late at night, on the weekend or during the summer.
And then I will give you a few tips to follow when you finally do email your professor.
When I was a professor, I received thousands of emails from students. Some emails came at 2:30am while others were sent at the very last minute, before an assignment was due.
I’ll give you the best email practices to follow when you reach out to your professor. You want to leave a good impression.
The most important thing that you should remember is your professor’s work schedule. Check your professor’s syllabus to see their office hours and preferred communication methods to find out what their usual schedule is.
When you shouldn’t email your professor
I am NOT saying that these are rules that you must follow, but it is suggested.
Why?
Because your professor may feel obligated to respond late at night or you could leave a bad impression.
You don’t want to bother your professor with an email alert on their phone because it could disrupt their personal time with their family.
Also, emailing them at odd times can shed some light on your lifestyle. Not that there is anything wrong with being up all hours of the night because some people do work night shifts, but this could send a bad impression. Maybe your professor assumes you are irresponsible and working on your paper at the last minute, or they think you have bad time management.
However, your professor may not even notice the time stamp on the email.
I say all this because there are some email etiquette rules that could make you look a little more professional.
However, I highly doubt you are going to bother your professor with your emails regardless of when or why you send them.
But let me give you some secrets to try and avoid it anyway.
Is it okay to email a professor on the weekend?
While you can email your professor on a weekend, don’t expect a response. It is not customary to respond to emails during the weekend as it’s usually considered non-business days. If you do send an email on the weekend, please make sure you let your professor know that you realize they won’t respond until the next business day.
I would avoid sending an email on the weekend because when your professor returns to the office on Monday, your email will get sorted to the bottom of their email list and it might get overlooked.
I like to stick to sending emails during work hours so that I know the person is going to see it before it gets covered by dozens of other emails.
Is it okay to email a professor late at night?
You can definitely email your professors at 2:34am, but it is recommend that you wait until business hours. However, if you do need to email them during the middle of the night because you don’t want to forget later, make sure you let them know that you understand they will respond during regular business hours.
You may be asking what time is too late to email your professor and I would say that you should always try to send emails before the close of business (5pm) but anything before 8pm should be okay.
Is it okay to email your professor during class?
No. I would not recommend that you email your professor during class because they are going to assume that you aren’t paying attention to the lecture. Instead, wait until after class. It’s not like they can respond anyway. If you are not in class, you could go ahead and email them to notify them of your absence, but other than that, I would wait.
Is it okay to email your professor during the summer?
Yes, it is okay to email your professor during the summer. But remember that some professors won’t be working during the summer because those are typically non-contract days and unless they are teaching summer classes, they don’t have to respond.
While most professors I worked with taught during the summer, some don’t. You can always send an email and hope for a response. If you don’t get one, follow-up. And if you want to know if they are teaching a class, look up the class schedule and see if they are teaching.
Is it okay to email my professor during the holidays?
While you can email your professor during the holidays, it is not ideal. Most profesors are not obligated to work when campuses are closed. And most professors will be off and spending time with their families.
The vast majority of professors are either working a 9-month contact or are adjunct professors, and they will be off when you are off from school too. So, if you are off school for the holidays, they will be too. It is not the best time to email them. I still recommend you reach out because you never know when they will respond.
Is it okay to email your professor when you are going to be late to class?
While you can send an email to your professor if you are going to be late to class, your professor cannot respond and won’t see the email until after class anyway. Instead, I would recommend that you politely talk to them after class and let them know why you were late and apologize for any disruptions.
Other than that, it’s not typically necessary to send your professor an email if you are going to be late.
See the end of this article to check out my detailed templates for emails to your professor to customize.
Is it okay to email my professor if I missed an assignment?
It is not usually recommended to send an email to your professor if you missed an assignment. You could send an email if you need to ask for an extension or wanted to let them know that you didn’t intentionally miss the assignment. But unless your professor has a makeup policy that applies to you, it is not necessary to send them an email about a missed assignment.
Your professor likely had hundreds of students and they couldn’t possibly respond to every email from their students about each missed assignment.
Exceptions to these email etiquette rules
There are some situations where you could ignore my suggestions altogether and email your professor any ways. I am not saying anything bad is going to happen if you do email your professor when I said you shouldn’t.
Your professor may not care when you email them. These are general rules and don’t always apply.
Keep your personal circumstances in mind before you follow my rules for emailing your professor.
Here are some reasons why you should ignore my tips.
If you have an emergency and want to make sure your professor knows about your circumstances immediately. For example, if you are trying to submit an assignment online and there is some technical difficulty, don’t wait to email them.
Another situation that warrants an email is if you have an exam in class and are running late, go ahead an email your professor. There is a chance they will leave the classroom early if all the other students finish their exam before class time is over. So send a quick email letting them know you are on your way.
Other times you should send an email to your professor on the weekends is if your class falls on a weekend. I once took a course on a Saturday and it was completely logical to assume that your professor is answering emails on the weekend because that’s their work schedule.
Lastly, if your professor has their email policies outlined in their syllabus, check there first and make sure you are following all of their rules. They may want emails at specific times and in certain situations and you need to be sure you are making the right call.
Tips when emails your professor (Email etiquette)
Use professional and polite language
Send the email from your official college email
Include your course and section number in the subject line
Make your questions specific and clear
Thank your professor for their time
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Do professors check their emails on the weekend?
Most professors likely check their emails on the weekend because most will have smartphones and it’s unavoidable. As a former professor, I had an app on my phone for my work email, and I would get a notification anytime I received an email.
Just because I received the emails, doesn’t mean I always responded. But if it were an emergency, I could respond. So it’s likely your professor will see your email but they may not respond until they return to work.
When is the BEST time to email your professor?
The best time to email your professor is during business hours, and I would prefer emails sent earlier in the day so I had time to respond that same day. If you email your professor at 5pm, then your professor may wait until the next day to respond.
Also, if you email your professor when they are out of the office, your email is going to be at the bottom of their email inbox, and it might take them longer to respond. So try emailing them during regular business hours and email them as early as possible.
Is it rude to email professors late at night?
No, it is not necessarily rude to email professors late at night, but it might look unprofessional. However, as a former professor, I understood that students may not have the same lifestyle that I did, and I never frowned upon a late night email.
One way to make your late night email better is to tell your professor that you wanted to email them while you had some time, and that you understand that they won’t respond until business hours.
Is is okay to email my professor directly?
Yes, it is acceptable to email your professor directly. However, your professor may recommend that you email their teaching or graduate assistant first. But more likely than not, you are welcome to email your professor directly with any of your concerns or questions.
Before you email them, make sure you are emailing them with a question that they can answer. If it is a question about financial aid, it might be best to email that department directly. This way you can get your answer faster.
Email templates and examples below
Unlike these reasons above, I have lots of reasons why you should email your professor below. Check out my detailed articles that will help you craft the perfect email to your professor for every situation.
And if you want to learn more about other ways to contact your professor, like telephone, you should read that article next.
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