Asking a faculty member at my university that I have not met(!) about his research, and about courses that deal with his specialty/my career goal? I am an undergraduate student pursuing a double major in Computer Science B.S. and Mathematics B.S.
My dream career is to work in quant. finance. However, my school does not have a dedicated department to this field, resulting in lack of dedicated classes and opportunities for it. The page for &quot;Mathematical Finance&quot; is simply a white page with nothing but a list of three faculty members, linking to their page, two of which are Ph.D students.
I have found an associate professor who I believe can help answer a few of my questions and confusion about going down this path, but I have read a little here and generally, emails like this are frowned upon, and the last thing I want is for him to be offended by my request.
However, I don't really know any other professors or faculty members who would be able to give me insight on this.
My email would start off something like this
&quot;I would just like to start off this email by saying please excuse me and forgive any informalities or unprofessionalism. I hope to not offend you with this sudden email from a student you do not know.
I have found your email and page from MyCollege's &quot;Mathematical Finance&quot; page: mycollege.com/mathematical-finance&quot;
Then I would say something along the lines of &quot;given your expertise, what courses/concepts are important...what steps should I take now...&quot;
And then finally I'd say something like &quot;I know you are incredibly busy with research, school, among other things, so I hope you do not mind this email.&quot;
I will also make sure not to completely bombard him with questions, but ask general, non-pressuring questions.
Is this a bad idea? I am not quite sure where else to get in contact with someone in this field with such close proximity, and aside from LinkedIn with people I will probably never meet, this seems like my best bet.
EDIT: this might be a duplicate of OK to ask a professor at my institution with whom I have no previous relationship some questions relating to hobby-project?
but this is about a community college professor who is not doing research, which may be different from my circumstances, also his is about a hobby, while mine is about career and industry.
It is completely fine to send an email. Your request is totally reasonable. You are a student, at university to learn. The professor is at university to teach. If they get offended by a simple enquiry that shows interest in learning more about their favourite subject then you have a bigger problem on your hands.
It will not be the first or even the hundredth time this professor has received an email from a student they don't know and writing such an email is not going to cause offence in any way, shape or form. The worst that can happen is you get a polite &quot;Sorry, I am too busy&quot; or perhaps no reply. The professor will not be offended by you asking -- in fact, it's more likely they will be annoyed or frustrated that they don't have the time to help you, not at you for asking.
Finally, I would not start off with such a grovelling/self-deprecating tone. There's no need to apologise for sending a perfectly innocuous email. However, please bear in mind that academic cultures do differ, and I'm writing from a UK/Western European perspective, where the culture can be a little more blunt and far less deferential towards authority (i.e. professors) than in the USA (where I assume you are from). To me it would come across as more professional if you write to them as though you are a peer wanting to initiate a scientific discussion, rather than as a lowly student who isn't worthy to interact with an esteemed professor.
In summary, the best thing to do is make sure your email is short, polite and to the point. Briefly introduce yourself, ask your question and thank them in advance for their time.