Questions to ask during interviews?

[ppp1r1b]

When confronted with the question "do you have any questions for me?" during interviews, what are some good questions to ask?
I generally dislike asking questions such as "what's your research about?" or "tell me about the program" because I feel like the applicants should know the answer to those questions before they applied by simply searching on google/department websites. 

Any good general questions that applicants should be asking during the interviews?

[elanorci]

This is a good question. Thanks for asking!

 

Things that I would like to ask are: 

 

- what is the attrition rate from the program? 

- what is the average time to completion of PhD? 

 

but I don't know if asking these questions would come across as overly negative or whiny (I'm certainly willing to put in a good amount of time to get my PhD -- but if the average is something totally bizarre like 8 years, then I want to know that asap). Anyone have any thoughts? Are these things usually available somewhere online?

[darwingirl]

If I'm talking to faculty members, especially potential PIs, I always like to ask how many graduate students they've had and where they ended up. I also usually ask about collaborations within the department and how much interaction there is between labs. I don't know if this is as common in other areas (I'm in EEB).

[obaka]

elanorci: I think those kinds of "factual" questions are usually most appropriately asked/answered during the presentations by the program heads. In one on one interviews with professors, I think it's better to talk about research, their personal opinion on the program, and get their advice on choosing or doing well in grad school.

[elanorci]

elanorci: I think those kinds of "factual" questions are usually most appropriately asked/answered during the presentations by the program heads. In one on one interviews with professors, I think it's better to talk about research, their personal opinion on the program, and get their advice on choosing or doing well in grad school.

That makes a lot of sense. Thanks! 

[persimmony]

This is a good question. Thanks for asking!

 

Things that I would like to ask are: 

 

- what is the attrition rate from the program? 

- what is the average time to completion of PhD? 

 

but I don't know if asking these questions would come across as overly negative or whiny (I'm certainly willing to put in a good amount of time to get my PhD -- but if the average is something totally bizarre like 8 years, then I want to know that asap). Anyone have any thoughts? Are these things usually available somewhere online?

 

These are questions I plan to ask as well.

 

Other questions: "What characteristics distinguish this program from programs at other schools?"

"Where do your alumni end up?"

"Is there a teaching requirement?"

"What research projects are available in your lab?"

 

etc..

[BeakerBreaker]

If you picked the people interviewing you (because of research interest), the interview is a good opportunity to ask them about what work they are doing at the moment -- projects that they either recently started, or plan to start in the near future, that you could work on.  This will give you a good idea if you want to work with them for rotations, and will eat up a lot of time (productively).

 

Those other questions like how many students they've had and where they end up are important, too.

[aba1984]

I'm gonna ask them:

• How many dissertation proposals end up getting grants and how well they prepare students for grant writing,
• How active the PI is in the lab during the summer vs. the rest of the year,
• How PI approaches training for new students - who is responsible,
• How PI feels about students traveling frequently to present (some don't like this believe it or not, they consider it an absence/extra cost),
• The work schedule - do you have to show up at 9 am sharp or whenever works for you,
• How I go about filling out paperwork to transfer classes from my MS so I don't retake them,
• etc. etc. etc.

Edited January 15, 2014 by aba1984

[liddy]

elanorci: I think those kinds of "factual" questions are usually most appropriately asked/answered during the presentations by the program heads. In one on one interviews with professors, I think it's better to talk about research, their personal opinion on the program, and get their advice on choosing or doing well in grad school.

I would absolutely ask the time-to-finishing and number of students quitting to PIs. There are labs everywhere that are known for keeping students forever, and less frequently, students quitting.

 

I also asked PIs what aspects of their program they thought were strongest and weakest, and got surprisingly helpful responses. Also, ask about approach to training new students, and resolving conflicts between lab members - not that there is any one wrong or right way for these things, but a surprising number of PIs seem to have absolutely no plan whatsoever...

[ppp1r1b]

I would absolutely ask the time-to-finishing and number of students quitting to PIs. There are labs everywhere that are known for keeping students forever, and less frequently, students quitting.

 

I also asked PIs what aspects of their program they thought were strongest and weakest, and got surprisingly helpful responses. Also, ask about approach to training new students, and resolving conflicts between lab members - not that there is any one wrong or right way for these things, but a surprising number of PIs seem to have absolutely no plan whatsoever...

If it is the case that the labs keep students forever, wouldn't the PI try to avoid the subject or misrepresent the facts? 

[ERR_Alpha]

When confronted with the question "do you have any questions for me?" during interviews, what are some good questions to ask?

I generally dislike asking questions such as "what's your research about?" or "tell me about the program" because I feel like the applicants should know the answer to those questions before they applied by simply searching on google/department websites. 

Any good general questions that applicants should be asking during the interviews?

Questions for a PI:

- What is a typical day in the lab like for you / or a grad student?

- What instruments / protocols do you most frequently use in your lab?

- What do you find to be the strengths of this program?

- How would you describe the atmosphere in your lab?

I try to feel out the PI on this one. When I met with a woman at Penn State, we went on a side tangent of things to do in State College and how her son played rugby etc. This may not be appropriate for some "strictly business" interviews.

 

Questions for a student:

- What is a typical day like for you?

- What is your favorite / least favorite thing about graduate school?

- Why did you choose school X? (This is incredibly telling - if they say "they gave me the most money" - RED FLAG)

- What opportunities have you had to go to conferences, etc?

- Is there a lot of tension/animosity between the students here? (BE CAREFUL HERE- I asked this at Penn State only at the grad student dinner and the student literally said "Ask me anything. Ask me that question they tell you not to ask." But his answer was really helpful.)

- Where do you live, what are good places to live, do you have a car, etc (Logistics questions)

 

I ask A LOT of questions Hope this helps!

[liddy]

If it is the case that the labs keep students forever, wouldn't the PI try to avoid the subject or misrepresent the facts? 

Well not actually forever, just significantly longer than average for their dept. I doubt such PIs bring it up when recruiting, but I also really doubt they would lie if specifically asked- so ask. After all, you can always ask students how long people take, and PIs realize this.

[ppp1r1b]

Questions for a PI:

- What is a typical day in the lab like for you / or a grad student?

- What instruments / protocols do you most frequently use in your lab?

- What do you find to be the strengths of this program?

- How would you describe the atmosphere in your lab?

I try to feel out the PI on this one. When I met with a woman at Penn State, we went on a side tangent of things to do in State College and how her son played rugby etc. This may not be appropriate for some "strictly business" interviews.

 

Questions for a student:

- What is a typical day like for you?

- What is your favorite / least favorite thing about graduate school?

- Why did you choose school X? (This is incredibly telling - if they say "they gave me the most money" - RED FLAG)

- What opportunities have you had to go to conferences, etc?

- Is there a lot of tension/animosity between the students here? (BE CAREFUL HERE- I asked this at Penn State only at the grad student dinner and the student literally said "Ask me anything. Ask me that question they tell you not to ask." But his answer was really helpful.)

- Where do you live, what are good places to live, do you have a car, etc (Logistics questions)

 

I ask A LOT of questions Hope this helps!

Yup this definitely helps, thanks!

Why is it a red flag if "they gave me the most money"? isn't that a good thing?

[threading_the_neidl]

A lot of these answers are great - when you're in a 1-on-1, do avoid the more program oriented fact questions like attrition, time to grad, etc.

 

A great question would be to ask what they have coming up. Almost all PIs are thinking way ahead and will have 1 or 2 grant proposals that may be related to their current work or may be pie in the sky ideas. They like to talk about those, because they're still excited about the prospect of money and new data and happiness, and aren't yet jaded by the actual work part. Try to bring those up and be a really active listener. If you can add an interesting perspective or experiment, it will leave a great impression.

[ERR_Alpha]

Yup this definitely helps, thanks!

Why is it a red flag if "they gave me the most money"? isn't that a good thing?

The school I did my REU at, this was always the grad students first answer. It puts me off a bit because a) funding is usually dependent on cost of living in the area and b. I'd hope they could at least make up something else positive about the program. Edited January 16, 2014 by ERR_Alpha

[ppp1r1b]

I don't suppose "What kind of questions should I be asking?" would be a good question to ask..?

[Justin123]

This is a good question. Thanks for asking!

 

Things that I would like to ask are: 

 

- what is the attrition rate from the program? 

- what is the average time to completion of PhD? 

 

but I don't know if asking these questions would come across as overly negative or whiny (I'm certainly willing to put in a good amount of time to get my PhD -- but if the average is something totally bizarre like 8 years, then I want to know that asap). Anyone have any thoughts? Are these things usually available somewhere online?

 

Hey! Sorry if I sound a little dumb, but what does "attrition rate" mean?

[username1824]

Hey! Sorry if I sound a little dumb, but what does "attrition rate" mean?

I believe it refers to the rate of students dropping out of the PhD program for whatever reason

[longwayhome]

I always try to ask questions about the culture/atmosphere of the school and lab. My goal is to find out how well I would fit in the program. 

 

Some ideas:

Why did you choose the program?

Who do you regularly collaborate with at this school?

What is the atmosphere like among students? (need to know if they're all cut throat and super competitive or work happily with one another)

What would you change about the program?

What groups/seminars should I participate in once I enroll?

[devneuro18]

A question for the current grad students would be:

 

- What is the qualification/candidacy examination process? Difficulty?

- Number of grad students that get external funding, and resources for grant writing?

- Expectations to graduate, many programs have unwritten rules about number of publications, etc?

- Structure of thesis committee? In some programs, the PI isn't in your committee so he/she can't hold onto you forever, as long as the other committee members think you're done, you can leave. etc.