<p>I never really thought about this before, but enrolling in college has caused me to email more people for some reason. I usually do this:</p>
<p>Dr./Professor/Mr./Ms./Dean So-and-So,</p>
<p><em>message</em></p>
<p>Thank you,
Firstname Lastname</p>
<p>I'm wondering if this seems impolite, because I've recently noticed that a lot of people say "Dear" at the beginning of emails like this. Is "Thank you" all right for the end, or should I say something like "Best regards" or "Sincerely"?</p>
<p>I think thank you is fine. For the beginning, it doesn’t sound rude, but it may sound a bit more friendly if you said “hello,” which wouldn’t be as formal as “dear” but not as informal as “hi.”. I usually use " hello" (and if I reply, I just do “Dr. XXX, …” And I usually sign off with “thank you,” “best,” or “cheers.” (The last usually after they’ve responded and are on a slightly less formal basis.) They’re not going to analyse it so what you have is fine, haha. </p>
<p>I think “cheers” sounds rather unnatural coming from an American.</p>
<p>I like “Dear” as a salutation, followed by title and last name. I actually only go with that formal route or with “Hi” usually. “Hello” is odd for me.
“Thank you” is a common closing, but unless you’re actually thanking someone for something, it doesn’t make much sense. People seem to write it automatically, without a thought to what they’re writing. In the case that I’m asking for a favor, I usually include a line in the body about how I would be grateful if the recipient was able to fulfill my request, but saying “thank you” at the end of such emails seems rudely presumptive. Instead, I generally like “best” or occasionally “regards”. “Sincerely” and all that, I save for if I’m writing about a job or something. “Truly” is a level of formality I don’t reach to.</p>
<p>I usually start emails off with “Hello Dr/Professor/Mr/Mrs _________” etc, then close them with “Thank you, (insert name)”</p>
<p>If it’s an email that turns into a fairly quick series of exchanges, I generally drop the greetings/salutations, and then just end the last email with a “thank you, ___________”</p>
<p>I think people tend to worry about this a little bit too much. On the whole, I don’t think it matters all that much. </p>
<p>I get a LOT of emails from undergrads because I manage a research project. As long as people spell my very common and yet always misspelled name right, I don’t care what they open or close with 
</p>
<p>What I use depends on how well I know the person in question. I use “Dear Professor <strong><em>/Dr. _</em></strong>/whatever’s applicable” with professors and administrators, besides a couple professors that I’ve talked to more and am on a more informal basis with. For those professors that I know on a more informal basis and for grad students that I’m not on an informal basis with, I usually start with “Hello (insert any applicable title and their name)”. For other students and grad students I’m more informal with I usually start with “Hi/Hey (insert whatever else)”, or sometimes drop the salutation altogether depending on the situation.</p>
<p>My usual closings are either “Thank you/Thanks, (name)” if I’m asking for something or “Regards, (name)” if I’m not. Or drop the closing altogether depending on the situation if I know the person well enough.</p>
<p>From what I’ve seen most professors don’t care too much about openings and closings so long as you’re not being rude otherwise. However, I did have one professor my freshman year that sent out a detailed email to the class about how to “properly” email a professor and flat out told us he wouldn’t respond to anything that didn’t meet those guidelines. He’s the only professor I’ve had that’s been anywhere near that picky, and is the main reason I started using salutations as I do.</p>
<p>That professor sounds like a real stickler. I’ve never known a professor that was really concerned with such things.</p>
<p>I’ve seen quite a few threads on this topic here on CC, and on the whole I think it’s something that people spend entirely too much time worrying about. Most professors aren’t scrutinizing your emails for proper etiquette. They’re looking to see what you’re saying/asking and thinking about how to help/respond. </p>
<p>^ Absolutely agree. </p>
<p>Just don’t misspell names! 
</p>
<p>That’s a very good point. </p>
<p>I’ve had the same professor for anthropology the last couple of semesters. His name is Dr. Wright. He was telling us a story last semester about a student he had a few years previously. It was the last day of lecture, and the student came up to him after class and said: “I’ve really enjoyed this class Professor Eichmann. I’m going to be back next semester for another one.”</p>
<p>Professor Eichmann is a history teacher at my school. Apparently this kid had thought that Dr. Wright was in fact Professor Eichmann for the entire semester…lol</p>
<p>The worst e-mail I ever got from a student was the one that addressed me as “Dude.” Particularly funny since I"m female! You’ll be fine provided you don’t call the prof Dude or Bro or something like that.</p>
<p>Usually when I email professors, I’ve met them before and they have some idea of what I’m like independently of whether I look uncultured in my emails. I know these things don’t matter very much in most cases, but there are times when I’m appealing to someone I’ve never met before to let me do something (for example, I emailed a professor last year for “requisites not met” permission to enroll in a course), and I want to make the best impression possible. </p>
<p>Yeah, make sure you get pronouns right, if you’re not using Dr. - I always try do a bit of stalking before I send out emails… search the professor or staff member by typing in “[first name] [last name]” <a href=“with%20the%20quotation%20marks”>college name</a>. I emailed an adcom once, whose first name I had never heard of as being a female name, and I made the mistake of only looking that person up after I sent the email - with the incorrect “Mr.” first line of my email. She didn’t mention anything about it, but I was mortified.</p>
<p>In a situation where you’re trying to get permission to enter a class when you don’t strictly meet the requirements, wording and etiquette are a bit more important. That’s a very good point. </p>
<p>I almost made the Mr./Mrs. mistake once. The teacher was named Stacey Becker, and here in America, Stacey is nearly always a female name. But, I happened to check just to make sure, and it turned out to be a guy. I’m glad I checked.</p>