Visit coming up-HELP!

[FutureEdPHD]

I’m about to start visiting schools that I’ve been accepted to, starting this week. I’m looking at the agendas for each visit and see lots of time reserved for one on one meetings with faculty. I’m not as nervous since I’ve already been accepted to the programs, but can anyone share some advice on the questions that I NEED to ask? I only applied to one school when I got my masters a few years ago, so I’m still trying to figure out how to navigate this PhD landscape.

[AllAboutThatChem]

How is your lab organized?

• Do you like to work one-on-one with your students, or do you guide their work as they work individually?

• Do incoming students work on projects that have already been developed, or do they create an individual project?

• How many hours of lab work do you expect per week of your students? Is there a system in place to track lab hours?

• How long does it seem to take students in your lab to graduate (masters and Ph.D.)?

• What are the students who graduated from your lab doing now? Did they go into academia, or are they pursuing other careers?

• What is the academic community like at this university? Is there much collaboration between the faculty?

• What kind of funding opportunities are there for a master’s student? For a Ph.D. student?

• Do many of your students work in addition to taking classes and working on research?