Need Advice-Is this appropriate?

mantori.suzuki
Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:49:54 +0000

BobbyCT:

Would an e-mail to the professor work or would you go with a formal letter?



Since he has, as you say, a very casual demeanor, I would think a nicely-worded email would be fine. I wouldn’t Twitter it. :)

She might also consider not making it the main subject of the email, i.e., write under some other pretext, with the request appended. (“Oh, by the way, would you mind…?”) Again, this would be to avoid making such a point of it that a denial would be awkward. Of course, she would never say, “I don’t really care if you recommend me or not,” but that’s almost the tone I think she should strive for, in as respectful manner as possible. Again, the point is to make the request without making it seem as though any part of their relationship is contingent upon it.

I hope this doesn’t seem too contrived. I’m trying to put into words something that I would normally do but wouldn’t really analyze, so my explanation may sound a bit stilted.

Anyway, good luck to her!