Why won't professors respond to my e-mails?

Marian
Fri, 19 Nov 2010 18:15:46 +0000

The math department probably has a faculty member who is in charge of the undergraduate program – a “director of undergraduate studies” or something like that. I suggest going to the department office and making an appointment with this person. Bring a few samples of your e-mails in case you get an appointment immediately.

When you speak to this person, you can express your interest in doing research and you can ask whether there are research opportunities available, whether you should be attempting to find out about them in a different way, whether you should be putting different information in your e-mails, and how long you should expect to wait before receiving replies to your e-mails. It’s part of this person’s job to answer questions of this sort.