How Long After Waiting for a Professor to Email Back

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Unresponsive teacher via email - how long do I wait?

• Thread starter tedbradly
• Start date May 25, 2011

Unresponsive teacher via email -- how long do I wait?

I emailed a professor about an issue, and he replied that he'd check into it. The next day, I emailed him back thanking him and asking if he would email me back with his findings. he sent the first response last Wednesday, and I haven't heard from him since.

How long should I wait, and once I reach that waiting threshold, what should I email him with? I don't want to come off as barking off orders to him or anything else negative.

Answers and Replies

Ah, unresponsive professors Sounds familiar, shouldn't there be a PhD-comic for that?

Usually, I wait two weeks, and if I get no reply then, I send a friendly reminder. If it's really urgent, then you could send something right now. Chances are huge that (s)he just forgot it.

What kind of issue is it? Depending on the complexity, it could take a short time or a long time to resolve. Also, are exams going on at your school, and anything else that would cause him to give a delayed response?

What kind of issue is it? Depending on the complexity, it could take a short time or a long time to resolve. Also, are exams going on at your school, and anything else that would cause him to give a delayed response?

Exams finished a couple of weeks ago, and our silly grading system outputted the grades on the 18th. I saw this A- glaring at me (from senior design) and immediately asked if I could see the grades used to calculate my final letter grade to rule out error in ruining my perfect GPA [We had roughly 50 grades throughout the semester and zero feedback despite the class repeatedly bringing the issue up. He said it was up to the TA to deliver grade reports. I am very fearful that the TA could have accidentally put in a zero where I did an assignment, and if that were the case, all of our assignments are on our websites timestamped, giving me evidence to regain my points].

He then responded asking if I got an A (does this imply he thought I got/deserved an A?) to which I told him about the A-. His last response was a promise to double check my grade.

I then emailed him the next day asking him what's going on and how long it may take (since I have no idea what he plans to do during his 'double check' or how long whatever he plans to do normally takes).

Then the silence up until now has been going on.

Last edited: May 25, 2011

If I were you, I'd wait till the end of this week, and then send him a friendly e-mail on Monday along the lines of "Did you happen to have the time to check out this-and-this in regards to the e-mail I sent you previous Wednesday yet?"

YES! I .. can't STOP THE POWER. I FEEL THE NEED TO TALK IN ALL CAPS! I'M SORRY, BUT HE SAID HE SUBMITTED THE PAPERWORK TO CHANGE THE GRADE!

MY GOD!

So the corollary is how do I thank him without not stopping the power, so to say, and sounding like a maniac? My natural instinct is to thank him and tell him his power is unbounded.

Everybody likes to hear thank you.

Just tell him "Thank you for..." in a respectful manner.

No, tell him his power is unbounded.

Everybody likes to hear thank you.

Just tell him "Thank you for..." in a respectful manner.

So I could say, "Thank you for changing my grade. Your power is unbounded."?

Also, what sort of farewell do you use if you thank someone in the body of your email?

Dr. Doolittle:

Thank you for ...

Thanks,
Ted Bradly

Maybe regards?

No, tell him his power is unbounded.

It's what I'd like to hear from a thankful student. That's for sure.

Minor advice (if things still aren't corrected):
Can you email the TA also, or C.C. the TA, since you think that's where a grade didn't possibly get put in correctly?

Also: (If you're sending a thank you) tell him you enjoyed the class and learned a lot about X and Y. (X and Y being topics in particular that were covered in class.)

I usually go with

Regards,
Quarkcharmer

or

Respectfully,
Quarkcharmer

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How Long After Waiting for a Professor to Email Back

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