I want to write emails to some places, but I’m nervous and I’ve put it off for at ~2 months since I don’t know what to say.
A couple of general questions:
How long should it be? How soon should I expect responses? How do I stop myself from sounding presumptuous/apathetic/TOO professional? How do I say thanks to close off the chain after a few exchanges/prevent it from dragging on? I’m also worried about saying something unprofessional/ seem extremely inexperienced - it’s happened before and I’ve suffered the consequences. How do I prevent this?
- I live in a college town and an officer in my schools' chapter of National Art Honor Society, and I want to contact a local startup by alumni of the college. The company has artists design card covers and upload them onto kiosks. Customers choose the cover they want and what message is inside. They are not only located in my town, but several other states. The art department at my school has already collaborated with them in a card designing contest (I was one of 6 winners) and I want to use that to emphasize that NAHS already has ties with them. I've already started this e-mail, and here's what I've got:
Subject: National Art Honor Society at (School):
To Whom it May Concern,
Thank you for collaborating with the Art department at (School) The winners of the card cover competition - (winners) - would like to extend their gratitude to you for giving them the opportunity to be artists for the company.
We would be delighted if you would collaborate with us on another project. As co-Secretary of NAHS, I would like for members of this branch to submit cards for review to your company and possible approval for use in your kiosks. The cards will feature both the National Art Honor Society name and the individual artist(s). This provides more awareness to customers of the Honor Society, as well as recognition of the artists themselves, and fosters a sense of community as startups begin to play a part in the lives of students and residents in (town), increasing interest in entrepreneurship and business management.
Sincerely,
(my Name), co-Secretary of the National Art Honor Society at (School)
Should I remove my credentials at the bottom? Is the subject good? I wanted to mention something about a collaboration, but couldn’t think of anything. Is it be odd that I don’t acknowledge that I was a winner? Is the last part about fostering an interest in business too much? Should I add more to try and sell the idea? If so, what?
- I'm interested in interning at a particular department at the college ASAP without interfering with school/ EC's - Thanksgiving Break ends Mon. (ugh) so I'll most likely be doing something (if anything) during Winter and Summer Break, and possibly weekends. Assuming I'm busy weekends, the gap is around 5 months, which makes me nervous - assuming I get to do anything! I've looked on the website, but there seems to be no internships or programs for what I'm interested in. My GC suggested I tell them my situation i.e. in grade 10 at (school) and interested in (subject) and I'd like experience in the field... blah blah... what can I do? From what he said I think I shouldn't mention anything specific like an internship. I'm unsure of wording; should I just do what my GC suggested and ask "Is there anything I can do?" It seems too blunt and open-ended. Should I include my GPA (not good, no pluses or minuses, I had an 88 almost 89 in French II, no honors available, another B in a DE Drafting class last year, and pulling up an 69.5 in French III this year - my teacher has an extremely outdated teaching style that isn't compatible with me - struggling to pull up a B in AP Studio 2D and my very hard Euro class, and a B in Alg II Honors - the only weight is a 1.0 bump for AP/DE), kind of generic EC's, why I'm interested in (subject), etc? Should I list a few, like my reason for interest in (subject), and leave out others? Or wait until they ask/my GPA is higher? I'm applying for summer programs, some of which are a month long, interfering with any work.
- I'm applying for a STEM magnet school, and I have some questions. This is the one I'm most worried about sounding pesky and unprofessional about by pelting questions. Should I list them and hope for the best? Any alternatives? I also have trouble wording a question. You only attend the school for 1/2 the day, and as a senior you have the option of taking semester classes grouped into pairs. I'm interested in 1 relating to my area of interest, and 1 I just want to take for pleasure. They may or may not be offered the same semester, so I need to ask if it's possible to take these classes despite them not being paired up and whether they were offered at the same time. Is there a way to say this more succinctly?
As more of an aside, I’m worried about admissions. I know good recs from teachers are tantamount. In addition to 3 teacher recs in math, science, and anything else, I’m applying to a state sponsored humanities program and I think it’d be weird if I approached a teacher for both - I really am interested in both STEM and the humanities, I’m not trying to get into either only for college. I’ve already picked out who I want to ask for the summer program - my grade 9 English teacher, who loves me and I talk to whenever we cross paths, but doesn’t remember my name, and my current English teacher who’s also the speech coach/official debate coach (our real one stopped because he got a baby). I think she liked me until I got sick and missed 3 practices in a row (every Tues./Thurs.) and had to make up a test and collect make-up work, gave up going to practice and worked on it in the library - so 2 weeks of missed practice… I don’t know if she likes me at this point. She acts like it, but I’m not sure if there are any hard feelings left, and she mentioned that she (personally) didn’t like book I was reading for our big year-long capstone anthology in English, although I’m not quite sure if that means anything at all. Last years History teacher is at another school, this years’ is lukewarm towards me at best, and I don’t have any other humanity teachers. As for the magnet school, I think my current math teacher likes me - she was cold after she saw me doing other homework in class and turning in a form for a community service club (run by the math dept.) minutes before rosters were due at the main office, but is warming up to me now while talking with her and other students before class started, and is pretty friendly. My current science teachers hate me - one because I write in cursive and another instance in which I was walking with my shoe untied (which I promptly tied after returning to my seat - I noticed her look as she heard me walking - I know it sounds ludicrous but I’m dead serious) and I don’t really understand why the other dislikes me. Last years science teacher I’ll ask even though I’m not quite sure of her opinion towards me - I was probably one of her best students, but I was usually burned out since I struggled in my Drafting class the period before. This is her 2nd year here and 5th overall - very disorganized, but truly loves the subject. My Drafting teacher didn’t like me, and I’m a little afraid of him, so I’m not asking him for a rec. My Geometry teacher didn’t seem to care much for me when I showed up after school to get a signature for the aforementioned service club, but I really don’t have anyone else to ask for a rec from. I don’t usually visit old teachers, and I would feel extremely awkward trying now. I’m not going to try and win over any of my teachers unless my science teacher likes me all of a sudden. I also haven’t applied for anything to warrant asking a teacher for a recommendation, so any help on approaching them (especially ones that are apathetic towards me)?
All answers/ general advice that applies to these topics that would help me in the situation I’m in is greatly appreciated!