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I'm emailing a graduate STEM admissions department in the UK, and don't know the modern preferred way to begin the email.

Many authors suggest "Dear Sir/Madam," but of course this implies a problematic gender binary. A common, gender-neutral option, "To whom it may concern" is often criticized as too formal or impersonal.

There is enough advice on this topic to suggest that the recipient will (for reasons that are beyond me) actually care about whether an inherently impersonal email has an opening line at all.

What's a modern, etiquette-conscious applicant to do?

(Feel free to answer for other countries besides the UK too.)

ASDFQWERTY
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    Just don’t go with ‘Yo, dudes’... – Jon Custer Apr 02 '20 at 21:49
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    @JonCuster, or even 'Yo, dudes and dudettes'. Unless you happen to be THE dude. – Buffy Apr 02 '20 at 22:06
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    I recommend going with the gender-neutral version of dudes: doods – GrayLiterature Apr 03 '20 at 03:41
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it is a "boat programming" question that has nothing specific to Academia. Maybe it could be asked on [elu.se]? – Federico Poloni Apr 03 '20 at 07:04
  • What's the purpose of the e-mail? Inquire about some admission info? Is it personal e-mail? Do you consider it a formal inquiry? – Nobody Apr 03 '20 at 10:06
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    '"To whom it may concern" is often criticized as too formal or impersonal.' - I personally haven't seen such criticism. Usually, communication is either formal or informal. If it's formal, then use a formal greeting like "To whom it may concern". If it's informal, then use an informal greeting like "Hi" or "Hello". – Aaron F Apr 03 '20 at 11:27
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    @FedericoPoloni - The etiquette question is specific to academia because etiquette is inherently specific to its cultural context, and academia certainly has its own culture. Non-academic realms, e.g. the corporate world, have different etiquettes. Academia tends to be more sensitive to issues such as unnecessary gender binaries and how honorifics (e.g. "Dr" and "Prof") are used, such as in a letter or email openings, and I'm looking specifically for how an academic admissions department would view the issue. Brian Krause's answer is a perfect example of an answer specific to academia. – ASDFQWERTY Apr 03 '20 at 20:17
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    @FedericoPoloni - would it be appropriate to edit the title by appending "when contacting admissions"? – ASDFQWERTY Apr 03 '20 at 20:24
  • @MPJ That would not make this question on-topic in my opinion. – Federico Poloni Apr 03 '20 at 20:27

5 Answers5

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I would suggest something along the lines of:

Dear Admissions Committee,

or

Dear Department of (STEM),

etc. You can usually find what a particular department/program/etc is called from their website. Avoid addressing the "Department of Chemical Engineering" as the "Engineering Department"; it would be most polite to use their own phrasing because it shows you've paid some attention and aren't sending out a copy-pasted letter to everyone.

For another example, I just randomly looked at a particular department, the "Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology" at the University of Cambridge; for their "MBE" program they have a "contact" page that says to "please send an email to the MBE Office": in that case I'd simply address the email:

Dear MBE Office,

For any of the above, you can also omit the "Dear".

In a comment, @DanRomik suggests modifying the salutations to refer to particular groups of people (like "committee" does) rather than abstract departments: examples include: “Dear MBE program administrators”, “Dear MBE office team”. I think that's perfectly fine, too, if you find that more logical.

Bryan Krause
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    Addressing a department or office seems illogical, as those words refer to abstract concepts rather groups of people. “Committee” is better. Another useful word to use is “team”. In general, in situations when I must address an organizational unit, I usually add one or those words explicitly referring to a group of people associated with the unit. E.g., “Dear MBE program administrators”, “Dear MBE office team”, etc. – Dan Romik Apr 02 '20 at 22:43
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    @DanRomik Added your comment to my answer as an addendum. I think that it's not particularly illogical to address to a department (and it would not be unusual to get an email signed " - MBE Office"), but indeed it may humanize the address a bit more to add on 'team' or similar, so it's a good suggestion. – Bryan Krause Apr 02 '20 at 22:53
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    I've looked quite hard for a better answer to this question over the years, and never come up with a better solution than this. – Ian Sudbery Apr 03 '20 at 12:41
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    Personally I like this approach for writing to internal email addresses that don’t belong to a team I know . E.G Hi help desk, – dothyphendot Apr 03 '20 at 13:10
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    I followed this answer's advice, and received a response signed "Department of [X]". It seemed to be fine. – ASDFQWERTY Apr 08 '20 at 23:04
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    I always start with "Dear committee members". – JeffE Aug 17 '20 at 01:57
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One that is traditional is

To Whom it may concern:

That has been around for decades, at least, and is generally used when the recipient is unknown or may be more than one person.

In my opinion, actually, anything with "Dear..." is a bit trite if you don't actually know the person.

Buffy
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    That is already considered and rejected by the OP – James K Apr 03 '20 at 06:55
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    @JamesK, my interpretation of "often criticized" is that it isn't the same as "considered and rejected". It is traditional and often used - even today. But I doubt that many people have ever loved it as a solution. – Buffy Apr 03 '20 at 10:58
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    I agree with this answer. I feel OP is wrong to discard it. Personally, I've always (since the 1990s) used "To whom it may concern" in formal communication, and a simple "Hi " in informal communication. – Aaron F Apr 03 '20 at 11:24
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    I would also use this option in the OP's situation. It seems strange to consider it as "too impersonal" for a situation in which you literally do not know what person you are writing to! – Rococo Aug 14 '20 at 18:44
  • It is also worth noting, that To Whom it may concern is also one of the best tracks created by Ghostemane – Maciej Bledkowski Mar 12 '23 at 06:16
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A useful option, although I guess some people would consider it a step less formal than 'Dear Sir/Madam', is

Good morning,

or

Good afternoon,

as appropriate to the time you're sending the email.

dbmag9
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Avoid salutations entirely. There's no need in most emails. They waste both the sender's and receiver's time.

user2768
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    As far as I can tell, in my region it is still expected to have a salutation when writing emails, posting in forums (exept S. Exchange), meeting people etc, especially if you write/post/meet the first time! Could you please write your locale where it would not be strange to have no salutation? – user111388 Apr 03 '20 at 09:21
  • @user111388 US and Europe, for example. Of course, my advice isn't universal, some emails require salutations – user2768 Apr 03 '20 at 09:29
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    @uaer2768: Interesting! I know the Germany-Austria-France-Italy region and my feeling is that people there would not be okay with a general rule that most emails don't require salutations. I would guess that most people would say that OP's email definitely requires one. – user111388 Apr 03 '20 at 09:36
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    I don't think this answer deserves the downvotes. Much of the formalities used in letters, like a name an address at the top, and a sign-off (and possibly one or more post-scripta beneath that) have been long obsoleted by emails, which show you exactly who and whom sent and received the communication. – Aaron F Apr 03 '20 at 11:32
  • @Aaron F I don't subscribe to it at all. You might say that it has been obsoleted for some people, but to make a sweeping statement that it has been obsoleted by emails is hardly justifiable. I'd be very hard pressed to find an e-mail in my mailbox that doesn't have at least a name both for salutation and for signature. – Gábor Apr 03 '20 at 11:55
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    I agree there's not a strict need for repeated salutations in an email chain, but I don't think I've ever received an conversation-initiating email that didn't start with some form of greeting. – Nuclear Hoagie Apr 03 '20 at 12:42
  • @Gábor that's true, my inbox is the same, and even my sent items folder also has some examples! But I'm a relic of times gone by ;-D I still feel those things are redundant and have been obsoleted (maybe deprecated is a better word?) Obsolete doesn't mean unused, though. And old habits are hard to break. I continue to do many unnecessary things simply because I feel like it :-) – Aaron F Apr 03 '20 at 13:37
  • @Gábor I've found omitting salutations is more common amongst busy, typically more senior people. I presume they don't want to waste their time and don't want others to waste their. Sure, only tiny amounts of time are wasted, but they add up. – user2768 Apr 03 '20 at 18:00
  • Though I disagree with the advice, I'm upvoting this answer for boldness, and for adding an interesting perspective. – Ben Aug 15 '20 at 23:13
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When I was taught how to write formal letters in the 80s/90s, the answer to how you deal with the unknown gender of the recipient is "Don't".

We were taught that formal letters always start "Dear Sir" if you don't know who will be receiving it. Not "Dear Sir/Madam", not "To whom it may concern", not "Hello". Always "Dear Sir". Our teachers acknowledged that this was not correct if the person receiving the letter was female (non-binary wasn't on anyone's radar then) but taught us that it was the standard convention because English does not have a way of making the greeting for letters non-gender-specific. Whilst the person receiving the letter could well be female (or non-binary, sure), they would also know that this was the convention and would not be offended by it.

Many people still follow this convention. I'm only 45, so it's not like it's your grandfather talking about "when I was a boy"! With that in mind, it would not be unreasonable to simply start your letter "Dear Sir". (Unless you know the name of the person, of course.)

Graham
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    I think this is one of those conventions that would fly if everyone subscribed to it, but for British academia in 2020 definitely would not pass without causing offence. – dbmag9 Apr 03 '20 at 08:16
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    "Dear Sir" is not used any longer in the UK, with very few exceptions (there always are), though I can't think of one right now. The 80/90ies are now 30/40 years away and things have changed. Don't do this. – Marianne013 Apr 03 '20 at 08:16
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    I feel like the spirit of the question is precisely to avoid such a thing. Why use Sir instead of Madam or whatever else? – user347489 Apr 03 '20 at 08:51
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    What is your point? Do you recommend to greet with "Dear Sir" now, in the present time? – user111388 Apr 03 '20 at 09:16
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    @user111388 Editted to make that clear. – Graham Apr 03 '20 at 09:31
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    @Marianne013 From https://www.skillsyouneed.com/write/letter-writing.html, "‘Dear Sir’ is technically the correct form when you do not know the name of the person, but many people prefer ‘Dear Sir or Madam’." You may prefer the alternative, sure, but your assertion that it is not used and should not be done is incorrect. – Graham Apr 03 '20 at 09:34
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    @Graham even that page, which is a guide to rather dated formal conventions, says "'Dear Sir' is technically the correct form". Technically "he" can be used in a gender-neutral sense and it historically has been. That doesn't mean it's anything other than a stupidly bad idea to do so in modern writing. I'm a few years younger than you, and dimly recall the convention, but it wouldn't be my first thought on reading a letter addressed to "Dear Sir" from someone who didn't know my gender. Most companies have ducked the issue by using "Dear Customer" or similar – Chris H Apr 03 '20 at 10:03
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    There's a possibility this won't cause offence. But why take the risk? Please don't do this! – Dawood ibn Kareem Apr 03 '20 at 10:05
  • Emails and letters are not the same. I wouldn't use letter-writing conventions in emails, neither would I use email-writing conventions in letters. Also I would never use an antiquated 20th-century form of address meant for another medium of communication in a 21st-century email. (I'm of a similar age to you, by the way) – Aaron F Apr 03 '20 at 11:30
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    @AaronF Agreed - for myself, I wouldn't lead off with "Dear Sir" or "Dear Sir/Madam" or anything that formal in an email. But if the OP is considering that level of formality, then I'd say formal letter writing rules would apply. – Graham Apr 03 '20 at 11:40
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    At 45, you are old enough to be that grandfather talking to a 5-year-old grandson about conventions "when you were a boy". My condolences. – gerrit Apr 03 '20 at 12:20
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    You suggest that this option "doesn't deal with the unknown gender of the recipient", but that's entirely untrue - you just assume they're a man. To me, this seems a bit like addressing every letter "Dear Steve" - maybe the recipient's name is Steve, and if it's not, they can figure it out. I don't see why you'd regularly use a salutation that you know will be inapplicable roughly half the time. – Nuclear Hoagie Apr 03 '20 at 13:10
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    The British newspaper The Economist, whom no one would accuse of being disrespectful to tradition or to English grammatical or stylistic conventions, had a long-standing tradition since its founding of having all letters to the editor begin with “Sir —“. Well, guess what? They changed it a few years ago. Letters nowadays do not start with a salutation. Moral: we’re not in the 80s/90s anymore. – Dan Romik Apr 03 '20 at 19:16
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    If someone wrote to me and got my gender wrong, I would ignore the email because they obviously haven't done the most basic homework. Same way it's easy to detect spam journal emails who address me as "Dr." even though I've just started a PhD – Azor Ahai -him- Apr 03 '20 at 19:23
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    I was taught this convention too and I'm a few years younger than you. Whilst the convention may not be regarded as appropriate anymore, I think it is pretty harsh for people to downvote the answer. Mass downvoting of non-PC answers really shows the ugliness of Academia.SE. – Ben Aug 15 '20 at 23:17
  • @Ben the question asks for "the modern preferred way to begin an email". A salutation that is regarded by many people as inappropriate and is not politically correct should be downvoted because it is a bad answer to this question. Maybe take your soapbox to a question which is not explicitly asking for current-day inoffensive language. – Merlijn Sebrechts Apr 09 '21 at 11:05
  • @MerlijnSebrechts: This post shares the writer's own experience on the matter, and is relevant information to the question. It demonstrates the fact that there are a substantial number of people (not even particularly old) who abide the traditional salutation and do not find that salutation offensive. That is helpful information for the OP, even though it is tangential to his specific request. Downvotes should accrue if the answer itself is unhelpful, which is not the case here. Your pretentions to the contrary notwithstanding, I think I'll keep my soapbox right here thanks. – Ben Apr 09 '21 at 22:02
  • Let me add to that by noting that there are people who find "modern" alternatives to "Dear Sir" offensive (for a variety of reasons). So if we are just playing offensiveness bingo, that is a game two teams can play. – Ben Apr 09 '21 at 22:09