Questions to help make final decision.

[eaboo316]

Since we are nearing to the end of the application cycle with some of us fortunate enough to hold multiple offers, I thought it would be helpful to start a thread on some questions to ask faculty and graduate students to help you make that final decision.  Right now, I am deciding between two programs and it's a really, really tough decision.  But, I find myself asking more, in-depth questions than I did for the interview.  Here are some questions I came up with, and please feel free to reply to this thread and add your input.  I'm sure it will help a lot of people out since there are many who are still waiting for responses!  The questions I put here are in the frame of a doctoral program, so masters people, please add your input as well!

 

Questions to ask faculty

• What do you suggest is most important for a student to focus on during their first year?  (I think this is important to ask because many programs require a lot of coursework during the first year, so it will be a way to find out if your adviser will be understanding of the coursework you have if you are having trouble balancing coursework and research assistantships)
• What responsibilities will I have as a research assistant for the first year?  (You can also ask for second year and beyond).  What projects will I be working on?
• (If this is important to you) What mentorship opportunities are available for graduate students?   Will I be supervising undergraduates for research projects or assigned as an undergraduate adviser?
• What positions have your recently graduated students received?  On average, how long does it take one to complete the program?
• What opportunities are available for summer work? (also can ask graduate students of what their summers have been like).  
• When do your students usually start working on articles to publish?

 

Questions to ask graduate students

• How supportive is your adviser and faculty in your success?  Are advisers flexible based on the student's needs (like a hand-on or a hands-off approach).
• Did you find yourself pursuing the same research interests you came in with, or did you end up finding new interests to pursue? (Great question to ask for schools where you may not have the perfect research fit)
• How many articles have you published in your time in the program?
• (For advanced students) Do you feel that the training you received has prepared you to obtain a career in [insert whatever career they are pursuing]?
• Does your department encourage collaboration?  If so, how did you go about collaborating with faculty outside your department?
• (If this is important to you), are there opportunities for students to design their own study and collect and analyze their own data? 
• Are there resources on campus that support fellowship and grant proposals?  Is there a writing center to give feedback on writing?
• Are you able to live comfortably with your stipend without taking out any loans?
• How is the culture of [city your university is located?]  What do people usually do for fun (if one has time for that, that is haha).  
• What do you wish you knew before you started the program?

 

I feel like I can add more and more, but I will stop.  Also ask more specific questions if you are interested in a certain part of the program like methodology training or getting involved with different centers.  Feel free to add more!

 

[JungWild&Free]

I agree that post-interview questions can be the most helpful in terms of the information you glean.  I think there are a few reasons for that: 1) Everyone's job during the visit is to woo you so all answers are usually pleasant, that seems to change slightly afterwards and 2) You don't really know what you care to know until you are comparing different schools.  Because of that, I also asked different questions of Faculty and Students, but I contacted others too.  For instance, I contacted a post-doc, past students and professors and friends I knew with ties to the school.  I was concerned about certain things based on the comparison the programs I was choosing between.  Those questions were along these lines:

 

-How productive are you able to be?  Does your adviser push you toward publication?  Are you able to be first author?  How does your adviser help you move from conceptualization to publication?  Is he/she very involved or do you so most of it on your own with approval from him/her?  (For faculty: how important is it for your students to publish?  About how many articles would you expect from a graduating student? What are the opportunities for collaboration and when can I expect that to begin?)

-What is the culture of the department like?  Are people close or do they just see each other at work?  What aspects of the department help you be successful in your program?  How much do they help prepare you for the job market?  How much networking do they help you do?  How much opportunity is there to practice public speaking and presenting research (i.e. brown bags, teaching, break-out sessions, lab, conferences...) (For faculty: what is your idea of the ideal student?  What is your mentorship style?  Would you call it hands on or off?  I am interested specifically in X, are you interested in combining our interests to pursue research about Y?)

-Are there teaching resources on campus?  What is the participant pool like?  How easy is it to get data? How many classes do you typically take? How is your work/life balance?  Is your adviser understanding of outside commitments like family?  (For faculty: is the small pool a barrier for productivity?  Are there other resources to help you gather data?  How much time would I spend on research as opposed to class?  How often would we meet?  Would there be a lab meeting with other students and undergrads?  How did he/she see my relationship with other grad students going? What is the competition for lab resources?)

 

These are all fairly specific to questions I wanted to ask.  My advice is to focus on the pros and cons of the schools and then formulate a question list to address those cons AND pros.  You don't want to convince yourself that school B is better because of an opportunity that you may not even really have or you may not have for a few years.  Also, no one acted like I was being rude or pushy, even when I asked questions about academic reputation so people are very much willing to help.  But, obviously, be tactful.