A CASUAL CHAT WITH POI- what should I talk about

[MinervasOwl]

My POI at one of the programs I applied to wants to chat "casually" on Skype this week, he says this will be an opportunity for me to ask any questions I might have about the program. I don't but now I feel I should have at least one or two. What do I do? What kind of questions do people have about programs? YIKES- I'm so nervousssssss- please help.

[Spriteling]

When I had these chats, I asked a bit about graduate student life, the supervision style of my potential supervisor, the dynamics of the department (collaboration between groups and whatnot).

[fuzzylogician]

Ask about things that are not clearly stated in the program's website.

Advising style: how many students does the POI currently have? how often does he meet with them? how hands-on is he - e.g. does he want to read and approve your abstracts before you submit them to conferences, will he help edit your papers, will he comment on drafts or prefer to see a final version?

Professional opportunities: are there opportunities to present work within the department, e.g. in reading groups or lab meetings? Are there travel-funding sources for student presentations? Are students encouraged to present/publish early on? on average, how many conferences did the POI's students attend last year?

Dynamics: do students often collaborate with each other? do they collaborate with professors? do students get their own desk in a shared space or office? how many people share a space? how many students usually take seminars in X (how large is an incoming cohort usually?)

[artlove]

I asked things that were not on the website... such as how many people are in the program, how many apply, how many matriculate every year, etc. I also asked things that were more specific to the program's curriculum. For instance this one has a large internship component so I asked where people intern, how is it supervised, etc. As long as you have at least a few questions you'll be fine!

[socihealth]

Also consider asking about future research directions, teaching opportunities, and major milestones of the program.

[Cosmos]

Ask about things that are not clearly stated in the program's website.

Advising style: how many students does the POI currently have? how often does he meet with them? how hands-on is he - e.g. does he want to read and approve your abstracts before you submit them to conferences, will he help edit your papers, will he comment on drafts or prefer to see a final version?

Professional opportunities: are there opportunities to present work within the department, e.g. in reading groups or lab meetings? Are there travel-funding sources for student presentations? Are students encouraged to present/publish early on? on average, how many conferences did the POI's students attend last year?

Dynamics: do students often collaborate with each other? do they collaborate with professors? do students get their own desk in a shared space or office? how many people share a space? how many students usually take seminars in X (how large is an incoming cohort usually?)

Brilliant, thank you!