Sample Email To Professor Asking For Syllabus
Most professors and educational institutions ensure that students have easy access to the course syllabus. Professors send out emails containing the course syllabus, recommended course materials, and what they expect students to know before coming to class.
In the case of educational institutions that provide lessons through a learning management system, the course syllabus will be posted on the individual course information pages where students can easily access them.
Students who are unable to find this information can easily reach out to their peers through course forums or even email the professor, who would be able to direct them to the appropriate page for the information or even send the course syllabus directly via email.
In other cases, students from different schools or even in the same school who may be thinking about taking the course can also send the professor an email. To simplify such emails to professors, this article will provide tips and templates for the purpose.
Tips For Writing To Professors
To increase your chances of getting a positive response from the professor, it’s essential to keep these tips in mind.
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Use School Email
If you’re a student in the same school, it’s advisable to use the school-issued email address to ensure that your email lands in the professor’s inbox. You should also ensure that you email the professor on their school email as most educational institutions recommend that their students communicate with their professors via school email.
If you’re from a different school, it’s advisable to visit the school’s profile to identify the professor’s official contact email address. If you have a school-issued email address, it’s advisable to contact a professor from a different school through your school email.
This provides some credibility and decreases the possibility of the email bypassing spam filters.
Clear Subject Line
Professors receive loads of emails daily and may skip over an email without a subject. Ensure that you include a clear subject to the email to easily convey its purpose. A typical example includes:
Requesting Syllabus For {{Course Title}}
Formal Address
Use the instructor’s appropriate title when addressing them. It may seem like a simple mistake when you address a professor as a Dr., but academics can be quite keen about their titles.
Avoid addressing professors as doctors as the title means a lot to them. Recognize their position and make sure you are familiar with their official titles. Use their official titles (Dr., Professor) when addressing them to avoid making a bad impression.
If you’re unsure of their official title, simply visit the school’s website and the instructor’s page. Alternatively, you could also visit the course page on your learning management system to view the details of the professor associated with the course.
Formal Tone
Regardless of your relationship with the professor, don’t use colloquial language while communicating via professional email. In your email, stay away from acronyms, emoticons, and other slang terms. Avoid bringing up personal details that are unrelated to the conversation or subject.
Identify Yourself
Professors may teach more than one class and interact with multiple students daily. Simply sending an email with your name isn’t enough for them to identify you, and the class you’re in.
Don’t give them extra work to go through their list of students to identify which class you may be in. The worse part would be going through their list only to later realize you’re not even in their class or the same school. They’d most likely ignore your email and focus on other pressing matters.
Make it easy for them to recognize you by providing your full name, and the class you’re in which they teach. If you’re not in their class or even the same school, it’s advisable to make it known to them.
Correct Grammar
The role of a professor is to educate their students and they expect students at that level of education to have good grammatical skills. Writing an email that’s difficult to read will lead to the professor ignoring your email.
If you aren’t confident in your writing, let a third party read carefully read through the email before submission. Additionally, you can leverage tools like Grammarly to help identify errors in your writing. Keep in mind that these tools aren’t perfect so it’s advisable to go through your writing to identify any errors.
Clear And Brief
Refrain from writing an entire essay when emailing a professor. They receive multiple emails from students, parents, colleagues, and other sources daily. So, it’s advisable to keep your email clear and brief to avoid taking too much of their time.
Be Polite
Being polite in your email can go a long way toward scoring points in your favor. Ensure that the tone of your email is polite and the necessary respect is being conveyed. Irrespective of any negative impressions you might have of the professor, it’s advisable to show them respect in your communication.
End Formally
At this point, you need to show appreciation to the professor for taking the time to read up to the end of the email. Simply thank them for their time and sign off your email with “Sincerely” or “Best regards” followed by your full name.
How To Find A Professor’s Email
The first step to emailing a professor is finding their email address. If you don’t know their email, how do you find it?
School Website
The first approach would be to try looking for the professor’s email address on the school’s website or their website. If you’re a student and the school has a learning management system, you’ll find the professor’s official contact details on the overview page of their course.
For schools with simple websites, you’ll find the professor’s email on the relevant faculty pages. Each professor’s official title, name, picture, and email address would be available on those pages.
Ask Other Students
If the above option fails to yield the expected results, you can reach out to other students individually or on school forums and other dedicated student community pages. A typical example is asking on your student WhatsApp or Telegram groups.
You’ll most likely receive a response from another student or at the very least receive a tip from a student on where they may have seen the professor’s email address.
Sample Email To Professor Asking For Syllabus
Template 1 – Not The Professor’s Student
Email Subject
Course Outline For {{Course Title}}
Body
Dear Professor {{last name}},
I am {{Your name}} from {{Your school (if different school) or class (if same school)}}. I am interested in {{Topic of interest}}, and came across your course which caught my attention.
I would love to learn more about it and was wondering if I could perhaps see a course outline to get a better understanding of topics that will be covered, should I enroll.
Thank you and hope to hear from you.
Sincerely
{{Your name}}
Template 2 – Asking Professor For Syllabus
Email Subject
Requesting Syllabus For {{Course Title}}
Body
Dear Professor {{last name}},
My name is {{Your name}}, and I am starting as a graduate student in the fall. I am interested in possibly taking your {{Course title}} class, and would appreciate a copy of your course outline to get a better understanding of the topics that will be covered.
Thanks very much for your help.
Sincerely
{{Your name}}
Template 3 – Asking Professor For Syllabus
Email Subject
Requesting Syllabus For {{Course Title}}
Body
Dear Professor {{last name}},
My name is {{Your name}}, from {{Class name}}. Please, I’m unable to locate the course outline and all attempts to locate it on the school’s learning management system have proven futile.
I would appreciate your assistance in locating a copy to help me better prepare for upcoming topics. Thank you so much for your assistance.
Sincerely
{{Your name}}
