How NOT to Ask Your Professor on a Date

Accidentally sent out to all of Princeton’s ECO 100:

uwe reinhardtDearest Prof Reinhardt,

I’m your fan from ECO 100! I heard you’re going on OPRAH some time soon~ if you’re not too busy, perhaps you can inform me of the time it’s gonna be on air so that I can catch the show? Also, can I know if I can invite you for a meal, *like*, a date, in the hope that you would be glad to advise me on major stuffs? Feel free to reject me though.. understand you’re busy prof! Thanks for your time~ and err, I hope you haven’t been offended by the way I’ve written my email. I thought I need to devise a cool way to talk to cool professors.

Regards,

[name redacted]

  • I found your site while searching the web for information on social skills.Even though what you write about is a littledifferent from exactly what I was searching for, I enjoyed reading your post. Would it be alright with you if I use a part of your writing and link back to your site?
  • i saw the original, the sender was an asian male
  • freshman
    These ppl aren't really being racist; I am in this class and I also have another class with this kid and he really IS an Asian int'l student.
  • Textbook
    Aaron,

    "ignore the fact that the supply curve in this model will not be strictly linear; since after a point, more toolishness will have a detrimental effect on Prof. Reinhardt's supply of time."

    "Strictly linear" should be replaced by "strictly increasing."
  • TW
    You should have politely rejected the student instead of publishing his/her email on the internet. It is unprofessional and frankly cruel. As anyone who's ever been infatuated knows, a person is not always rational when under the influence of such emotions. The individual may otherwise be an intelligent and respect worthy individual.
  • hey
    definitely a bunch of fuckin racists in the room, enjoy your stays in hell you crackers
  • hey
    definitely a bunch of fuckin racists in the room, enjoy your stays in hell you crackers
  • Chris
    Dear Professor,

    Do you want to be my boyfriend?

    Yes No

    _________ __________


    Love, Savannah
  • asfd
    defintely was a douche thing to reply to the email and try to humiliate him as if it wasn't already embarrassing enough
  • REB
    To Aaron Schneider:
    I'm in econ100 with you and a fellow 09'er, and while I've heard from lots of people that they thought your email was "totally hilarious", I didn't crack a smile once when I read it. You obviously spent a lame amount of time on it, just to publicly humiliate a freshman that in all likelihood, is lacking in social skills and the way we do things here in the US. It's ironic that you accuse that boy of being toolish, when you response had to be the most toolish, douche-baggy thing I've ever read. Seriously though, it was really lame.
  • ;08
    That wedding ring doesn't necessarily mean anything ;)
  • DD
    Having attended a Uwe Reinhardt talk or three, I can attest to his total charisma and gender-crossing appeal. After one Capitol Hill session, we waited around in the adoring throngs and got him to sign our Health Affairs...if we'd had the blind courage of a Princeton freshman, maybe we would've asked him to a meal, *like*, a date, too.
  • C'10
    the professor is wearing a wedding ring in that picture too... smart kid.
  • anon10
    i saw the original, the sender was an asian male
  • lol
    the observation/comment from @anon87 is hilarious!
  • @anon87
    nobody said sending the letter was something an asian girl would do. people commented on the odd diction, grammar and punctuation as seeming asian (i.e. not asian-american). most assumed it was a woman (or girl, if you prefer) because the professor is male.

    maybe you didn't notice these oddities - since only the first sentence of your post is grammatically correct.
  • anon87
    Why stereotype asian girls like that? How many asian girls do you know do this? You forget the blondes.
  • tiger11
    the reply plus the original letter together has been forwarded so many times throughout the system now... It's probably going to be one of those Princeton legends soon.
  • Nice Judgement, IG
    With no sarcasm I admit redacting the name was a good choice. The story is just as funny but not nearly as harmful.

    Who hasn't had a crush on a dorky professor, of either gender, at college? Given this one is a bit extreme, but it's all part of the experience!
  • aaron schneider
    sincerely,
    me
  • hal parker
    by popular request:

    Dear [redacted],

    While the students of ECO 100 surely appreciate and echo your heartfelt sentiments regarding our professor, we feel it is our duty to inform you that such obeisance is best reserved for the ears of Prof. Reinhardt alone.

    Regretfully, the probability that Professor Reinhardt will consider going on a date with you is rather low, considering that he is married, heterosexual, and more than 40 years older than you. Furthermore, as you will no doubt discover during the course of your subsequent romantic forays at Princeton, public mailing lists are perhaps the only medium which is not commonly used for hooking up. More appropriate procedures might include helping him with his homework, walking with him after class, or simply taking him to the Street and getting him drunk.


    Since this is one of the most important lessons you will learn at Princeton, perhaps it would be best if I illustrated this with an economics example:

    Consider, if you will, the demand curve of Professor Reinhardt's time, graphed between toolishness T and the quantity of students Q who are willing to engage in said toolishness. Thus, at the low end of the curve, we have the students who barely attend class, much less raise questions or come to office hours. At the high end of the curve, we have the Woody-Woo majors.

    For the moment, ignore the fact that the supply curve in this model will not be strictly linear; since after a point, more toolishness will have a detrimental effect on Prof. Reinhardt's supply of time.

    Now consider what you have done by broadcasting this message to the entire class: now the students who used to be tools will be afraid to continue as such for fear of being compared to you. You have effectively placed a toolishness ceiling on our professor's available time market! As we covered in today's class, this will result in a shortage of Prof. Reinhardt's time, and consequently our classmates will be unprepared for the final.

    Reflect on this, and think carefully the next time you reply to a mailing list.
  • h'09
    could someone post the reply? if you remove the author's name it should be no problem. thanks!
  • ry
    Name redacted?? Aww c'mon, that's no fun. I mean, after all, it IS sort of in the public domain.
  • P'08
    He's from Singapore, and as P'10 said the response was very funny.
    wonder if prof. Reinhardt will reply-all...
  • princeton
    it was definitely a joke, it followed directly after a girl sent a really toolish email to the whole class
  • P'10
    Yes, it was a guy.

    And a '09er sent a hilarious response to the e-mail...IvyGate should post that too.
  • princeton11
    yes, i am in the class and received the email as well...it is most definitely an asian male....no matter how much more creepy that makes it, its true.
  • LF
    "Dearest", "I'm your major fan from...", "major stuffs", and the overall tone make me also think this was written by an asian international student. Nobody who grew up speaking English would use such stilted language combined with a fawning respect for authority and trying to be hip.

    Whoever it is, they would WORSHIP Casper the Great Dane!
  • b11
    Was it actually a guy?
  • pton10
    d09, without divulging sensitive information, i can guarantee that this was not a joke that one of the sender's friends played on him, and that just makes it all the more better
  • ex cap
    "Dearest Prof"??? Seriously? This has to be a joke. The only things that are missing are the hearts dotting his Is, unicorn stickers and two boxes (do you like me? check one).
  • yale '10
    yeah, definitely an asian. the tell tale ~ mark is all there. ha.
  • jojodancer
    "major stuffs"
  • d09
    at dartmouth, this is what we'd call a blitzjack.

    that must have intentionally been sent to the class by a friend of the sender as a joke. i just cannot believe that someone at princeton would write an email like that to a professor.
  • dopeyman
    another tipoff that it's an asian sender is the incessant use of smilies like -_-;; and ^_^ and the omission of articles
  • aznspotter
    "Thanks for your time~"
    The ~ is primarily used by Asians. That plus the tone of the e-mail is reason enough to believe the sender is Asian.
  • classy
    check out that nice wedding ring, lovingly displayed on those loooong fingers...and with his ferocious come-hither pose leaned back in the chair like that...now come on, who can resist a piece of that action??
  • columbia
    i think the girl is asian too. can't quite put my finger on why i think that.
  • ben
    i'm very saddened to see that a princeton student writes so attrociously...to a professor, no less!
  • the hill
    big AS IF to Harvard. $100 says shes a caucasian eating club sorostitute
  • jacob savage
    though we redacted the name, we also accidentally redacted the sex. it's a boy!
  • Harvard
    $50 says the girl's Asian
  • yaaaylie
    Wow. I didn't know that Princeton recently converted its facilities to a middle school.
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