Anyone ever get 1 word answers to emails from Professors?

[axp107]

lol.. I emailed my Bio professor earlier today with a pretty complex question, asking if my logic was correct. All I got was a "Yes."

What does this mean?... I'm in his class right now.. and I am planning to go to office hours and hopefully get a recommendation letter from him... kinda intimidated by the "Yes."

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[mordounhas]

If you asked if your logic was correct and he responded "yes", I'd assume that you got it right and that the professor felt that would be a sufficient response. I don't think there's anything particular ominous in that.

 

[brsboarder]

depends on the professor, I've had some two word answers "**** Off" etc, but only is jest. I think the relationship one has with a professor dictates how they might respond

 

[DrMT]

reminds me of when me and a friend (mainly him) made this baller orgo sn2/sn1/e1/e2 chart...... we took it to our professor and she was like "that's way to complicated" and basically said we wasted our time. we were expecting something more like "oh you two are so clever... let me write you a sweet LOR on the spot"

 

[senseiturtle]

Yes.

 

[Catalystik]

If you had 30+ e-mails per day to wade through, you would be succinct also.

 

[Law2Doc]

lol.. I emailed my Bio professor earlier today with a pretty complex question, asking if my logic was correct. All I got was a "Yes."

What does this mean?... I'm in his class right now.. and I am planning to go to office hours and hopefully get a recommendation letter from him... kinda intimidated by the "Yes."

If you are going to get a LOR from him, you are better off asking your complex questions in person. That way he will know who you are. Email should be used sparingly with professors who you'd like to remember your name.

 

[AMmd]

it's better than a NO 😉

 

[armybound]

Yes.

ding ding ding.

 

[nick_carraway]

You're taking this too personally. Some of my professors don't reply at all to questions or reply to only one of two questions I asked. It's just a consequence of how many other emails need their attention and how much of a priority yours is in comparison.

Who knows! Maybe he read your email on his blackberry and he only had the time to type three letters.

Keep in mind that as a med student/resident/fellow, you'll hear a lot of terse responses. If you ask the surgeon if he wants his headlamp off and he says "fine" without looking at you, you shouldn't sit there and think about whether or not he likes you or wonder what "fine" means. You should be spending your time taking off his headlamp.

 

[MNIkid87]

One of my profs explained to us that we should "Come to my office hours! If you write me an email I will either answer >>yes<< or >>nope<< . I am challenged at typing and any answer longer than that would take me just way too long"

 

[soull]

lol. no offense to op, but if you already answered the question you asked and then asked if your logic was correct, what did you expect?

 

[xpinchx]

What really bothers me is when I triple check all my spelling, make sure all the grammar is perfect and the flow of the e-mail reads like Shakespearean ****ing sonnet, then I get back an e-mail that looks like it was written by a 13-year-old talking to her BFF on AIM.

"no, but come c me in my office hours and ill get u everything u need for tmrw."

I'm not mad at them because they didn't take the time to spell check or use grammar, I'm just mad at myself for wasting my time.

 

[barto123]

lol.. I emailed my Bio professor earlier today with a pretty complex question, asking if my logic was correct. All I got was a "Yes."

What does this mean?... I'm in his class right now.. and I am planning to go to office hours and hopefully get a recommendation letter from him... kinda intimidated by the "Yes."

i hated that, people have no email etiquette these days. i understand that some people read many emails per day, but a response like, "please come to my office hours to discuss," doesn't take too much longer to write than "yes" or "no." as long as we are on the topic, people also should be more courteous when using their cell phones. the worst is loud talking people who burst out into uproarious laughter on their phones on trains or buses while everyone else around them is silent, i cringe.

 

[MWK]

reminds me of when me and a friend (mainly him) made this baller orgo sn2/sn1/e1/e2 chart...... we took it to our professor and she was like "that's way to complicated" and basically said we wasted our time. we were expecting something more like "oh you two are so clever... let me write you a sweet LOR on the spot"

A lot of Bio/chem profs I know dont like pre-meds...I think honestly because many of the bright students that go through their classes don't consider grad school in the prof's department.

 

[Blade28]

What's wrong with this response again?

 

[nick_carraway]

i hated that, people have no email etiquette these days. i understand that some people read many emails per day, but a response like, "please come to my office hours to discuss," doesn't take too much longer to write than "yes" or "no." as long as we are on the topic, people also should be more courteous when using their cell phones. the worst is loud talking people who burst out into uproarious laughter on their phones on trains or buses while everyone else around them is silent, i cringe.

Well I think the problem with that example is that meeting with a student to discuss a yes/no question takes up more time than the professor would spend to type "yes" or "no."

The important concept to remember in this age of bloated email inboxes is that you need to get through them with the least amount of action needed per message. You need to decide which messages you can read & delete, which ones need replies, which ones need extensive replies, and which ones you need to devote more time to (like meeting with the student, going down to someone else's office, delegating someone else to take care of it).

Like I said, it should be good enough that the professor responded at all. If the kid wants to meet with him to discuss, he can go to office hours or request an appt.

 

[alwaysaangel]

reminds me of when me and a friend (mainly him) made this baller orgo sn2/sn1/e1/e2 chart...... we took it to our professor and she was like "that's way to complicated" and basically said we wasted our time. we were expecting something more like "oh you two are so clever... let me write you a sweet LOR on the spot"

Yeah no offense but totally not surprised there. I don't know why you thought she would give you some great response. If I were the prof I would have thought "oh good annoying try to hard pre-meds."


And to the OP - office hours aren't the BEST way to get an LOR. If you can possibly take a small science class before you apply to medical school and get an LOR from a professor that actually taught you and worked with you. Those kinds of letters are almost always better than one you got from a professor who you just went to OH and sucked up to. Also, I've heard more than one professor bitch about how much they hate it when students do that, so be careful you may spend lots of time in OHs expecting an LOR and find they won't write you one.