Website with review of PhD advisors?

[Benj_C]

How do you find information on an advisor before applying (email current grad students? "Reviews" available somewhere?...)? I mean, besides the basic academic information available on his/her web page.

For example, is there any way to know whether you can expect a positive relationship or you just have to take a gamble? 4 years is a long time to spend with somebody you don't get along very well...

[newms]

How do you find information on an advisor before applying (email current grad students? "Reviews" available somewhere?...)? I mean, besides the basic academic information available on his/her web page.

For example, is there any way to know whether you can expect a positive relationship or you just have to take a gamble? 4 years is a long time to spend with somebody you don't get along very well...

You can email grad students or the advisor. Something I've also found useful is http://videolectures.net - chances are they'll have a few lectures by advisors you're interested in and you can at least get an idea of how that person interacts with an audience.

[herring]

Yeah, email. It would be weird to have a site like that since it's such a close relationship, and some profs only have a number of grad students in the single digits over their whole career