questions to ask current students

[withjoy]

I will be visiting two of the programs I've been accepted to next week. (Columbia and NYU) Does anyone have a list of good questions to ask current students? I hope to have a lunch with a few students and get a feel for the program. Thoughts on what to ask?

[fortiesgirl]

Here are some I found on the AHA (American Historical Association) website:

Is there any formal process for representing grad student concerns to the department

[dherres]

Is the environment among students fairly competitive, or does a lot of collaborative work take place?

Is there any sort of support network or program for those students who are struggling in the program? (At another school where I had applied, a student had receiving private tutoring lessons from within the department after failing the comp exam the first time around.)

What level of independence do students have in working on their own projects? Are they pushed to explore ideas not currently being studied by their advisor? (I realize this could differ case-by-case depending on a faculty member.)

[withjoy]

Thanks for your input! I'm compiling a list (and hope I can remember most of them in conversation!)

Does anyone have good questions to ask about life outside the program? Questions to ask about the city and community. (Obviously, I'm thinking of New York, but what general questions should we be asking about any city?)

[fortiesgirl]

Thanks for your input! I'm compiling a list (and hope I can remember most of them in conversation!)

Does anyone have good questions to ask about life outside the program? Questions to ask about the city and community. (Obviously, I'm thinking of New York, but what general questions should we be asking about any city?)

You might want to ask about cheap places to eat, hangouts, subletting ore renting (if you plan to do this), subway routes, etc. There were particular subway routes in NYC that I learned to avoid for eh hem certain reasons. Locals will know why.

[jasper.milvain]

I found asking "What problems are the most common / what do people usually complain about?" to be helpful. I got some great tips on how to avoid common problems that way.

[engguy]

here's a suggestion:

in addition to asking questions -- all the above suggestions are good, by the way, though you might find that people will start avoiding your company if you start to look like too much of a pesky nerd -- keep your eyes open and be observant.

watch for the following things: do the grad students have access to a decent number of computers / printers (ask to see the grad lounge and/or some offices)? does the printer/computer look like it's a million years old? what about access to office supplies / copy machine etc., just the general accessibility and up-to-datedness of things you'd want to have available?

library: bring a short list of books that might be standard to your field and important to your studies. look them up at the library. see if they have them. if they're checked out, ask what the borrowing policy is and how requests are handled.

if you are able to visit a class or two, pay attention to how actively the students engage in the discussion, and the general aptitude / insightfulness of their questions. you may catch some class on a bad day, but by and large this might be a good gauge of the overall level of the students, who will soon be your colleagues. don't mistake silence for wisdom. and don't be afraid to jump in yourself and ask a question or two.

all of these things might seem very minor -- esp. the supplies stuff -- but, believe me, the little things will come to mean a lot when you're in there and having to dig up a stapler or print out a paper or a syllabus for your class. and it really will give you a good clue as to how organized and well-funded and basically happy the current students are.

best of all, you don't have to rely on unreliable narratives or overly rosy pictures. use your eyes and ears -- picture yourself there, working and learning.