Reach out to current graduate students prior to interview??

[Journey2015]

What are your opinions regarding this? I was fortunate enough to land an interview and I was considering emailing a few of the current students in the program to gain insight on the institution's process and, perhaps, establish some comradery prior to meeting. Thoughts???

[CogPsych2015]

I asked the professor I was interviewing with for the contact information for one of his students. I could have found it online, but the profs are more likely to know who is willing to talk to students and which ones are going to give a complete picture. In my case, it went really well. She provided a lot of information that wouldn't have been available anywhere else and was really honest about things like mentoring style. I found it to be really valuable!

[Pencilvannia]

I agree with CogPsych. I too asked my POI for his graduate students' e-mail addresses during our talk on the phone and he was glad to give them to me. I think he also told them I would be e-mailing them, because they were expecting me. I think getting a heads up from their professor made things a little less awkward for them.

But definitely do something to try and speak with them! The grad students for my POI gave me a lot of things to think about, including things that didn't really cross my mind (weather, traffic, living situations, etc.). Good luck!

[Journey2015]

Thanks for the feedback!

[lewin]

As an applicant, grad students were very helpful to me. As a grad student, I was always happy to answer incoming students' questions. So fire away!

[TakeruK]

Agree with all of the above! You can ask the prof about some of their graduate students or you can just cold-email us out of the blue. Just be polite and friendly and those who have time will respond, just don't take it personally if someone does not reply! Personally, I always take time to answer questions.

[rising_star]

If you're going there for an interview in person, you'll get a chance to meet some current grad students. You'll also probably get a chance to ask them questions without the faculty around. Since you'll be meeting them, you'll definitely get the chance to ask them if they would mind if you emailed more questions later. Most of them will probably say that it's no problem at all.