How to ask for feedback and get the support you need
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.
How to politely ask for feedback from your professor
As a former professor, I know a lot about giving feedback to students. And I know exactly what you should say to your professor to get that feedback that you so desperately need.
You probably have a lot of questions about getting feedback from your professor and I have answers. And oftentimes, students may rely on this feedback to make better grades.
In this article, I will answer some of students most commonly asked questions about getting feedback, and I will tell you exactly how to ask (with examples).
Don’t worry, I’ll make it quick.
What is feedback from a professor?
Okay, I know this might be so obvious, but there are really a few different types of feedback you could receive.
The first is the most common form of feedback, and it’s comments about your assignments. Let’s say you submitted a research paper and your professor wrote comments all over it to justify the grade you received. They are either praising you or correcting you.
Another type of feedback that you might want is your professor’s thoughts on your rough draft. You could be working on an assignment and you just aren’t quite sure you are on the right path. So, you reach out to your instructor and ask if they could glance over it to make sure you are on the right track.
And finally, another way you could get feedback is on your overall performance. Maybe you want to ask your professor about how they think you are doing in their course or even just in college. This can help you improve in more ways than one.
Why is feedback from a professor necessary?
Look, it may not matter to every college student, but a lot of students will need some type of feedback to improve.
Let’s take comments on a paper or assignment from a professor. And let’s say the professor had nothing but good remarks about your assignment. This lets you know that you are doing everything amazingly, and you should continue completing assignments just like that to keep getting good grades.
But, if the professor ran out of red ink on your paper, you know that you need to improve. And hopefully the professor gave you enough information to know where you messed up and what to do next time to get a better score.
If you are getting general information from your professor on your performance overall, it can help you improve in many different areas.
For example, let’s say that your professor tells you that they have noticed that you are struggling with participation in class, and they’d like to see you be more involved in class discussions. Now you know what you should focus on to get better at participating in class.
As you can tell, feedback has many different forms and they all serve different purposes. But overall, it is meant to help you be the best college student you can be.
The problem with some feedback is that the professor may not give you enough feedback, or it is too vague to be helpful. And maybe you need some clarification on the comments made on your assignment.
Sample email requesting feedback from professor
So how do you ask for feedback then? What if you need feedback on a presentation or a research paper? What should you say to your professor to get the information you need to succeed? Or maybe you need even more help than what you received, and don’t know how to politely ask for it.
You have lots of questions, and I have lots of answers.
Let’s get started. I am going to share with you some examples of how to ask your professor for feedback.
And look, if your professor doesn’t respond to your first email, it’s okay to reach out again.
Email when you aren’t getting any or enough feedback
If you want feedback that you aren’t getting enough of, here is an example of how to ask.
For any of these examples, you need to tailor them to fit your circumstances. These are merely templates of how to ask for feedback, but aren’t specific enough to be copied and pasted for you. But it serves as a starting point.
Dear Professor Smith,
I am in your English 101 course and I have submitted a few assignments now. I do see my grades, and have read the rubric, but I wanted to get some more specific feedback about how to improve. I appreciate you grading the assignments so quickly because I want to learn from my mistakes and get better for the next assignments. While I was reviewing the rubric and your assignment instructions, and analyzing that information in conjunction with the grade I received, it seems like I probably failed to include enough depth to my analysis. Is my assumption correct? Can you provide further analysis on my assignment? I am willing to stop by in person and meet.
Sincerely, Your Student
As you can see, you were specific enough in your email to directly ask for feedback. But you also let your professor know that you did analyze the rubric and your assignment to try and learn where you went wrong independently. Now you leave it up to them to get back to you.
Email template to professor when feedback in vague
Dear Professor Smith,
I am in your English 101 course, and I thoroughly enjoy your class. It has helped me learn an immense amount about the correct use of grammar. What is even more helpful is your feedback for our assignments. When I was reviewing our latest grades for the research paper, I studied your feedback so that I could improve on later assignments. I did have a few questions about that feedback as I might be misunderstanding it. You said that I needed to include more sources and proofread. What errors did you find within my paper that you think are the most glaring problems? And while I used the minimum number of sources, are you suggesting I should go beyond the required amount, or use different sources altogether? Any clarification is helpful because I am truly committed to your class and improving.
Sincerely, Your Student
You can see that you are taking some initiative to decipher their feedback, and you specifically asked where you wanted some clarification. This will likely get you the feedback you need.
How to email your professor about feedback for general purposes
Dear Professor Smith,
I am in your English 101 course and I wanted to send a quick email regarding my performance in your course and college, in general. I am dedicated to college and pursuing a career in this field, and wanted to ask you about ways to achieve those goals. Is there anything advice or feedback that you can give me regarding my overall performance in your course? Also, do you think there is any advice you could give me about ways to become to most competitive candidate in this field? I am looking forward to collaborating with you and learning how to better myself as a college student and a future employee.
Sincerely, Your Student
This email is eloquent and succinct. It includes everything you need to get some general information from your professor about their thoughts on your performance. And you might also snag some career advice too.
Tips to consider when asking for feedback from professor
Send an email promptly and as early as possible
Don’t wait until the end of the semester to learn how to improve because your professor might think that you JUST want a good grade and don’t genuinely care. And there is likely little you can do so late in the game. So, don’t put it off.
Go in person
If you are not getting a response from your professor, go in person. If they are a full-time professor, they probably have office hours on campus. Check their syllabus and stop by.
Do research yourself
Before you ask for additional information about your grades, make sure you have re-read the grading rubric, syllabus and assignment instructions to see if there is anything you missed.
Search for feedback
If your assignments are graded online, it is entirely possible that the feedback is there, but you are missing it. Sometimes students thought I never left them feedback on any assignment, only for it to be a misunderstanding. Check your learning management system (Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle, etc) and find out where feedback is located. It can be in several different places depending on how your professor grades the assignment.
Be open-minded
Make sure you listen to your professor’s feedback and use it to improve. Don’t get defensive to receiving constructive criticism about your work because your professor is trying to help you.
Are professors required to give feedback?
No, professors aren’t generally required to give feedback to their students. However, it is best practices and most universities encourage feedback so that students have plenty of opportunities to improve. So, while there is not a written rule requiring professors to give feedback to their students, it is usually highly encouraged by their superiors to provide quality feedback.
If professors don’t routinely give feedback, this is usually noted in their student evaluations and can reflect negatively on their performance evaluations so it’s in the professor’s best interest to give feedback when necessary.
With these tips, templates and advice, I know you are going to get the feedback you need to be awesome in college.
You got this.
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