Hi everyone.
So I recently received an email from a cornell alumna asking me if I wanted to take part in an informational meeting.
(I’m applying to the engineering school btw)
In the email, she was like “hi my name is first name”
In my reply should i say “Dear first name,” blah blah blah??? or should I say “Dear full name,”???
Thank you in advance!!!
Reply Dear _first name.
You are now an adult. Address people as they present themselves to you. You will have different professors who have a doctorate who go by Dr., Prof., and by their first name. Take their lead.
Or Dear Ms. is appropriate as well.
I would go with Dear Ms. . If, when you meet, she says “Call me Tara” then that’s fine, but since you are not peers but she is a representative of the University and you are an applicant I would lean towards a more formal approach in your 1st email.
I would definitely say Ms. ______
That is professional and polite! 
Thus far I’ve had 7 (I know, a lot!) alumni interviews, and for the emails I always do Ms. ____ or Mr. _____.
Only one woman emailed back saying you can call me “(first name)”.
No need to use first and last name