How to email your professor for the first time ever
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.
What should you say to your professor the first time you email them?
You may be nervous to reach out to your professor, especially since it’s your first time, but just know that it is not nearly as scary as you might think.
I was a professor for a long time, and I received thousands of emails from students over the years.
I am going to tell you exactly how to email your professor for the first time, and give you a little insight on how to stand out.
It would be great to give your professor an awesome first impression so that they remember you. It could help you out later if you wanted to ask them for a favor.
So, you came to the right place because you are going to get REAL advice from someone who was a professor and knows what other professors are thinking.
First time email to professor example
Now, what you say to your professor when you first send them an email will depend on the specific questions you have for them, but I will give you a general template to start with.
You can still email your professor even if you don’t necessarily have a question for them. You may want to start to networking with them, build some professional rapport or simply introduce yourself. This first email to your professor is a great way to start.
Then if you have other questions to ask them, you can do that afterwards. The reason I want to give you a template is because this will help your professor get to know you and make you stand out more.
They are more likely to remember your name, and this could help you out later when you want to network with your professor.
So, let’s get started with this template for a first time email to your professor.
Dear Professor Smith,
I am enrolled in your English 101 class, which I am thoroughly enjoying. Something I have learned that is greatly beneficial to my future is the use of passive voice. This has been an incredible lesson to learn and I am sure I will use this in my future career as a journalist. My overall goal is to become a journalist for a local newspaper so that I can stay near my family but provide services to my community. I was reading your curriclum vitae on the faculty website and reviewed some of your previous research. I was very impressed with your credentials. Is there any insight you can provide me on succeeding in this field? I would love to talk about your professional experience. Sincerely, Your Student.
You can see that I started with a quick reminder to the professor about which class I was enrolled in. The professor likely has hundreds of students so you need to let them know which class you are in because they may not know your name.
Then follow-up with something that you really like about their class. You can make this specific to your course but it lets your professor know that you are engaged and enjoy their course. It is pretty flattering. You can then tie this skill back to your future career to give them an idea of what you are planning on doing after graduation.
And something that is critically important is referring to their own research, credentials, work or professional experience. You can search the college website to see if they provide faculty bios about everyone at their college. Oftentimes colleges will have this information somewhere on their website.
If you can find this information, include something to weave into the conversation as I did above. If they have recent research published, or a new book, I would mention that you read about it and add something that you liked about that publication. You will SCORE some major brownie points.
There you have it. A very simple template to your professor the first time you email them. It is short, but gives them lots of compliments and makes you stand out. And it asks a question that will help you out later.
Now, if you have any other questions to ask them, include those in the email too. I would try and limit your questions in one email though because it could become overwhelming. You can always follow-up later and ask more questions if you need to.
Does your professor care if you email them?
Yes, your professor cares if you email them but it depends on why you are emailing them to begin with.
If you are emailing them to beg for extra credit or a get grade bump, they might not look forward to those emails. But if you are emailing them to talk about your career goals or discuss your future education, they will LOVE getting those emails to help you out.
I would actually tell my students that I prefer that they email me because this was the most convenient method of communication. And as the years pass, it becomes even more convenient.
So, don’t feel like you are bothering your professor by emailing them.
And I need to mention that most professors (full-time) are required to report to their college exactly how they are advising and supporting students. So when you email them about things unrelated to the course material, they should be writing these interactions down to show the university that they are helping students in their education and future careers.
How to email your professor BEFORE classes start
You may be trying to email your professor that you haven’t actually met yet. This email might be a little different, but you can use the same template I used above to introduce yourself.
Except you might just let them know which class you are enrolled in, and you can simply say that you are excited for the semester to start and then LIST one thing that you are most excited to learn.
This is a simple way to introduce yourself to your professor.
So, in an email to your professor BEFORE class starts, let them know which course you are enrolled in, what you are excited to learn, what your goals are, and something you liked about their research or experience.
It is that simply, really!
Keep in mind that your professor may not respond. The beginning of the semester is very busy with meetings and some professors may not officially be back at work if you email them before classes start.
But don’t let that stop you from emailing them.
Is it okay to call your professor by their first name in an email?
When you email your professor, or have any personal interaction with them, you should NEVER call them by their first name. This is typically unprofessional.
Even if you have a good relationship with your professor and feel like old friends, make sure you remain professional at all times.
I have never seen professors request students call them by their first name, but I guess some professors may prefer that. But most won’t like it.
I only had it happen once or twice in my 15 year career. But I rarely saw students call professors by their first name.
You should call your professor by their professional title instead.
Are they doctor? You should refer to them as Dr. X instead.
If you aren’t sure of their occupation or education, you may simply call them Professor X. This is always a safe bet.
There you have it. It’s that easy to email your professor for the first time. Use this template and you will be standing out to your professor in no time.
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