Visiting--What questions should I ask?

[MerlotMonday]

I applied to studio art MFA programs, which generally don't offer the greatest funding.

 

 

I am visiting my second choice grad school on Thursday (driving, it is in the same state where I live). They have offered me tuition remission+$9,500 for stipend for 9 months (TA), no mention of benefits like health insurance.

 

The letter stated that they want to know by March 17 if I will accept their offer, but they belong to the Council of Graduate Schools, so I would like to politely ask them to let me decide by April 15. I will be meeting the chair of the department and person I will be working with. It is a pretty small department and I'm not sure if there are any other professors that really do similar work as mine (4-D, mostly video and social practice, some installation). The professor I'll be meeting said she would try to arrange a couple of current students for me to talk with as well.

 

I want to be prepared with some good questions for both the professor I'll be meeting and the students she'll introduce me to.

 

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During my spring break, I will be visiting my top choice school (flying) March 12-15. I have appointments scheduled with two professors I am interested in working with, the chair of the department, and three current graduate students (a third year and two first years). I am going out for drinks with a group of first years that Wednesday, and sitting in on a class on Thursday. I pretty much have stuff scheduled every day I'll be there.

 

I will have submitted my TA and project assistant applications by the time I'll be there, and my portfolio will have been reviewed, but they won't announce who gets interviews until the last day I'm there and the interviews aren't scheduled until April. They don't inform people whether or not they get funding until May. Their positions have varying pay scales, but even the lowest amount is as much as I was offered by my second choice school and it includes health insurance and tuition remission. I'd like to use my second choice school as a bargaining chip on the whole funding thing. When is a good time to bring that up? I applied for project assistant positions with the two professors I'm interested in meeting. I've thoroughly looked through their websites. What questions should I ask them about their work? About other things? Should I talk to them about the project assistantship?

 

What should I say to the department chair?

 

I was given contact info for students doing similar work, so I set up meetings with a few of them. I'll ask them if the program is what they expected. I'm not sure what else.

 

 

Thanks!

[MerlotMonday]

Probably all that back story is unnecessary and sort of led to a To Long, Didn't Read sort of scenario.