college class. first day we argued about my “overly” free market view. This is my email:
Subject: I very much enjoyed your class
I hope you don’t mind me emailing you to add on to what we talked about in class. I was thinking about the things we talked about and have been doing some research on them. I think it is pretty safe to say that you made great points and the class is probably in complete agreement with you. Many of my views aren’t mainstream (Austrian school) but aren’t completely without merit. I found a well sourced relatively short article that further dissects what we were discussing in regards to “public utilities” and “natural monopolies.” I hope you enjoy the article if you’re at all interested in glancing at it. If you do I would enjoy your thoughts in general and if you think my points are still completely invalid.
Thanks!
Best Regards,
(my name)
forgot link: http://mises.org/journals/rae/pdf/rae9_2_3.pdf
Sounds very polite
but i think you should drop that last two scentences and go with somthing like
I hope that you will read the article, so that we can continue this discussion at a later time
looks good to me, but it depends on the teacher. A lot of the times they are NOT around to educate but to indoctrinate with whatever wacko policies and things they believe in. I had a teacher tell me to shut up, afterwards I left the class. But the whole argument was her continuing to insist that I was wrong, when I got home I promptly sent her an email with about 5 or 6 articles all verifying what I was saying. She did an about face and called me into her office to apologize, but still was unwilling to admit that she was wrong to the class. Some what satisfying, but in the end she was clearly all about indoctrination.
I, unfortunately, have a lot of expertise in this. One psych professor was kind enough to say after class, “it’s important to talk.”
E-Mail to Professors should be one to two sentences. It should include a question as to when he/she might be free to meet with you during his office hours, or some short explanation for why you wish to meet with him during a time outside of that, perhaps over the phone if he would prefer. After he confirms, thank him (two words, not pages) and repeat the time and date in a reply.
If you wouldn’t say an entire E-Mail directly to him/her verbatim in his/her office, don’t send it. If, on the other hand, you would say the entire E-Mail verbatim, don’t send it, either. Say it to his face. Professors often consider office visits participation.
Important side note: It doesn’t matter how thoughtful, articulate, or well-intended a message to anyone is via E-Mail. Expect people will interpret anything with malicious intent. Is the tone polite? All the more reason someone might infer snarky sarcasm. Always keep E-Mail down to 1-3 sentences. The longer it is, the more open for interpretation. Can’t do it? That’s a sign it’s time to pick up the phone.
E-Mail to professors should be about arranging face time, or supplementing it. If you do not have a rapport with one yet to supplement, use E-Mail to ask for a meeting.
E-Mail should never, ever ever be anyone’s first impression of you, if you can avoid it.