How NOT to e-mail professors =D

College Life
1

<p><a href="http://crookedtimber.org/2006/11/13/a-correspondent-with-a-future-in-management%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://crookedtimber.org/2006/11/13/a-correspondent-with-a-future-in-management&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://istherenosininit.wordpress.com/2007/05/07/most-outrageous-note-evar/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://istherenosininit.wordpress.com/2007/05/07/most-outrageous-note-evar/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://crookedtimber.org/2007/04/19/just-a-few-questions-on-sen-please/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://crookedtimber.org/2007/04/19/just-a-few-questions-on-sen-please/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://cosmicvariance.com/2007/04/23/how-nice-should-we-be-to-students/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://cosmicvariance.com/2007/04/23/how-nice-should-we-be-to-students/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

2

<p>dEar ProfeEssOr, </p>

<p>LOL, I juSt goT baCk froM a party... uR so AWESOMME!!!!</p>

<ul>
<li>l8tr,
ur fave student</li>
</ul>

3

<p>l0l</p>

<p>I want to see more of these.</p>

<p>I personally am very intimidated by e-mailing professors :p</p>

4

<p><a href="http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,29894.0.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,29894.0.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

5

<p>l0l... truly astounding.</p>

6

<p>Emailing a professor is no big deal at my school. The professors start to not response when you are asking for a LOR.</p>

7

<p>I never thought professors would be so bitter. I'm glad none of my professors have taken on this pompous attitude. Making fun of undergraduates is kind of ridiculous even if the work deserves some criticism.</p>

8

<p>
[quote]
Some years ago, I received this email from a student:</p>

<p>"I'd like to kill you." [Insert a smiley face like the one above.]</p>

<p>When I met with the student (these days, would I?), he said that he was just kidding--after all, didn't I see the smiley face? I pointed out that the emoticon just kicked the creepiness level up a notch or two. He seemed utterly mystified.

[/quote]

LOL!!!!!!!!!</p>

9

<p><a href="http://www.freakonomics.com/blog/2005/10/26/cite-freakonomics-get-kicked-out-of-class/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.freakonomics.com/blog/2005/10/26/cite-freakonomics-get-kicked-out-of-class/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

10

<p>I don't think anyone is above making fun of someone. In highschool I would ask tons of questions that appeared dumb to college students, and now I scoff when I hear the same questions coming from high school students seeking advice from me. It's a very hard habit to break out of, and so far I have been successful in not asking these kind of dumb questions to graduate students.</p>

11

<p>"Dear Professor Smith/Jones/Brown/etc.,</p>

<p>You are totally dreamy.</p>

<p>Love forever, kiss kiss,
The girl who sits in the front row of your smallest class three days a week."</p>

<p>Admittedly, there are some pretty hot professors/teachers. But this - just no.</p>

12

<p>My instructors regularly e-mail me in a very informal matter. Why not do the same with them?</p>

13

<p>Amusing comments:
<a href="http://www.phdcomics.com/proceedings/viewtopic.php?t=113%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.phdcomics.com/proceedings/viewtopic.php?t=113&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>and 55 pages of it!</p>

14

<p>Whatever you do, don't write a letter to a prof like that girl Beth Anne on the Verizon commercial with a "BFF" named Jill would...</p>

15

<p>I once had a professor chastise me for being too polite in an email! I wrote something like:
"ProfessorName,
I realize you are probably very busy and so I apologize for bothering you, but... [insert question here]... Once again, thank you for your time, and I'm sorry for bugging you!</p>

<p>Sincerely,
MyName"</p>

<p>The professor wrote me back and said they were glad to hear from me, but that I "simply have to (emphasis in the original) stop apologizing for emailing" them.</p>

<p>It kind of threw me for a loop, I'll admit!</p>