So for the past six months, I’ve found myself emailing a lot of professors asking about whether or not they’ll be taking first years in the fall. I did this before I applied to grad school and when I was deciding on which offer to choose. 

However, the worst part of this whole process wasn’t the pacing while waiting for their responses. It was actually starting the email!

Is it too boring? Is it too long? Will they ignore it? Does it even make sense? Ahhhh! *runs in circles*

After hours spent on google looking up how to write a good email, I have finally compiled a few tips on how to write the perfect email

The subject line: 

• This must be short and too the point, and never left blank. Something easy like “Prospective Graduate Student Inquiry” or “Interested Student Researcher.” It’s eye-catching and less likely to get picked up by the dreaded spam filter..

The Introduction: 

• These next few sentences should summarize both an overview of your qualifications and what department you are applying for at your desired grad school. No need for excessive details here. Just be short and too the point. For example: 
  

Professor ____, 
My name is __________ and I am a graduating senior at the [University] and will be receiving [degree] this [graduating month]. I (am interested in applying)/(have applied to) [Grad School’s] Department of [Discipline]  next fall with a focus on [something specific about the research you want to pursue].

Selling yourself

• The next paragraph or two of your email should include how you became familiar with your work (if it was in a way other than “I came across your website”) and summarize your qualifications be it through an internship or undergraduate research and explain how this qualifies you/got you interested in this subdiscipline. For example: 
  

During my internship at ____, I became familiar with [specific research tidbit]. The project that I worked with [describe your project]. This got me interested in continuing pursuing [topic] because [reason].   

The Finale!

• Now you drive home how the professor’s research topics greatly match your own and ask whether there are any open positions available. It should look a little something like: 
  

After reading the description of your research on your group’s website, I believe that the work in your lab greatly matches both my research experiences and interestes. I would be interested in knowing if your group currently has any open positions for incoming graduate students. 

Thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing from you at your convenience. 

Sincerely, 
[Name]

And that should be it! Remember, not every professor answers emails sent by prospectives, so don’t get discouraged if you don’t get a reply. Also, make sure that before you send your email you double check their research website and make sure that they haven’t already stated they are not accepting students or will not be responding to these emails. It’ll save you time an a lot of heartache this way. :)

Good luck, everyone! Hope this was helpful!

Let me know if you have any questions!