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I have sent an email to a university staff member but have not received an answer from them. What should I do about it?

First of all, if the waiting period between the sending date and the current date is less than 7 days, you shouldn’t do anything but just wait until the 7 days have passed. Our staff receive hundreds of emails everyday, therefore it is perfectly normal that they cannot get back to you right away. Just be patient! This statement holds even more true if there were public holidays or school holidays in Bavaria since you sent your email. Please inform yourself about those holidays online and deduct them from the 7 day-rule if applicable.

After the 7 regular days (non-holidays) have passed, you can send a friendly reminder to the recipient and ask them whether they already found the time to look into your email.

What else could be the reason you don’t receive an answer?

  • What you are asking about has already been explained elsewhere (on a website, in a StudOn course, in a lecture or at an information event). Therefore, the recipient sees no need to reply to you.
  • You have not selected a helpful subject for your email. A good email subject primes the reader for the topic of the email and helps them to decide if/when to read it or to whom to forward it. “Question”/”inquiry”/”need help” are not good subjects. “Problem with registration for exam 1234567” is.
  • Your email doesn’t address the person with their name and title, you have spelled their name wrong or used a wrong name.
  • You have addressed the person with the wrong gender (for example “Dear Sir” for a female ricipient).
  • Your email was generated with the use of ChatGPT and therefore transmits to the recipient that you are not willing to put any effort in your communication with them.
  • Your email was too long. As a rule of thumb, your email should not be longer than 3 – 5 sentences maximum and you should get to the point right away.
  • You message was not understandable for the ricipient. You can check this by putting yourself in the recipient’s spot: Does somebody who doesn’t know your current situation understand what you are talking about? For example, if you talk about “my exam” without giving any specific information, the recipient will not know which exam you mean. It should be possible for the recipient to understand your request without asking you any questions back for clarification.
  • You have not signed your email with your full name (first name(s) and last name(s)) and student number.
  • You have not added a greating and a thank you to your email.
  • There are a lot of spelling and/or grammar mistakes in your email, which makes it hard to read.
  • Your email contains severe formating errors, which makes it hard to read. A normal font size for emails is 11 or 12, your text should be left-aligned or in a block setting, never right-aligned, when writing in English or German.
  • You have not re-read your email before you sent it.

You can greatly improve your chances of receiving an early answer if you check for the above aspects in any email that you send.