The Essential College Student Guide to Writing Better Emails

One of the most important skills of any job, regardless of industry, experience level, technicality, or location, is the ability to write a clear email. There are many aids out there to help you with this vital task, such as Grammarly, ChatGPT, Gemini, and others, but it’s highly valuable to know how to compose an email without any assistance. This is not a skill that you first encounter once you start a full-time job; you are writing and interacting with emails all the time, whether it’s reaching out to professors or forwarding information to your parents that the school sent you.

While email may be ubiquitous, that does not mean anything goes when writing professional correspondence. You need to follow a consistent format, with appropriate introductions and signatures, for your emails to be taken seriously. Don’t fret; I will walk you through multiple good and bad examples, and by the end of this blog, you will be an email expert.

Let’s start with a bad example.

Unfortunately, professors and employers are flooded with these and have plenty of horror stories. 

Subject Line: yo whats up bro

Email: sup,
give me hw answers plz
 

While I have fabricated this email for this blog, it isn’t too far off from how students, on average, communicate with their professors. First, there’s no grammar to speak of. No capitalization, punctuation, anything — it reads like a text exchange. Emails are not texts. They are formal electronic mail sent between you and an intended recipient(s).

Next, the subject line is irrelevant. Professors receive hundreds of emails a day, as do managers, and the only thing they have to go off before reading your email is the subject line. If your subject line is not descriptive of what your email is about, you need to rewrite it. In an academic setting, ensure it includes the class number you’re in, along with a brief title, no longer than 100 characters. This shows the recipient where you’re from and what you’re emailing about, two things that will initiate a quicker response. 

Thirdly, there are no greetings or signatures in the bad example. Opening with “sup” is fine in a texting context, but certainly not here. A classic greeting I use is “Good morning/afternoon/evening Professor,” with the time of day selected based on when I sent it. You can replace professor with the last name of whoever you’re emailing, along with the appropriate honorific. If honorifics confuse you, you can leave the address out here and stick with “Good morning/afternoon/evening.” It works nearly as well.

Adding a signature may seem like an unnecessary formality, but it serves an important purpose. Depending on the email system and network you’re a part of, the sender may only be listed as your email address and not have a name attached to it. The signature allows you to add your name to the email, along with concluding your email in a cordial manner.

Lastly, the body of the email is an inappropriate request for a professor. Don’t ask a professor outright for homework questions, but they would be more than willing to help you solve a problem you’re struggling with. Rephrase this request to something along the lines of “I’m struggling with this specific problem, any tips?” Not only does this establish a specific question that makes it easier for your professor to answer, but you’re also developing a friendly relationship with the professor who will be more than willing to help you.    

Using what we’ve learned, here’s a good example from my sent mail that incorporates everything I’ve mentioned.

Subject Line: CONM-661 Assignment 1 Due Date

Email: Good afternoon [name],

Hope you had a great long weekend! For the first assignment about creating a work breakdown structure for a 2-story house, I see that it's due during Week 3. Should be finished for Monday (9/8) or Wednesday (9/10) next week?

Thanks,

[Your name]

Starting with the subject, it’s concise and relevant. The greeting is standard, and I even added the long weekend part so the rest of the email didn’t feel sterile. I asked a specific question about the due date of the assignment and explained my thought process for why I was confused about it. It concludes with a standard signature that can be changed depending on the audience. 

While my example is a solid start, emails only get more complex from there. You’ll have to carbon copy (cc) other people onto the chain, add attachments, links, or anything else your desired audience may need. Always check that you’ve actually attached the thing you’re referencing in the email. Google even provides a warning now if you have the word attached or attachment anywhere in your email, but don’t attach anything before sending. Outlook doesn’t, though, so you have to be careful. It’s not the end of the world if you forget, and don’t worry, everyone has made that mistake before.

You’re never going to be asked in an interview if you know how to write emails because that’s a basic expectation any employer will have. However, being punctual with your replies, concise, and well-formatted will help you stand out from everyone else who doesn't bother to put any effort into their correspondence. It genuinely doesn’t require much effort and yet has such an outsized effect on how professors, clients, and other people treat you and communicate with you.

Don’t completely outsource writing emails to the AI platform of your choice. It’s important to continue exercising the skill of communicating clearly. I understand that it can be the most boring part of your day and that you want to spend your time doing more important things. Unfortunately, if you stop exercising a muscle or a skill, you will eventually lose it. Keep yourself fresh and professional, and the art of crafting a professional email will become second nature.