Questions for Potential Advisor

[AKJen]

It was a happy surprise yesterday to open my email and see a message from a potential advisor asking if we could set up a time to talk about their program and how I could best put together a strong application. It's at one of my reach schools, but I'm very familiar with the department and faculty since I did an NSF REU at their museum of archaeology and anthropology.

Anybody been in this situation? What are the types of questions I should be asking?

[rising_star]

Ask about advising style, number of students, success of students, research topics advised, etc.

[cyclingsociology]

But, as a caveat to the previous response, I recommend not asking anything that is readily available on the program's website. You should aim to show your familiarness with the program, and thus your desire to get accepted. Avoid asking about the number of students accepted per year, for example, as this information is always posted on program websites.

[rising_star]

Avoid asking about the number of students accepted per year, for example, as this information is always posted on program websites.

Actually, I've never seen this information posted for any program in my discipline. That said, I definitely would NOT ask your potential advisor about that. If anything, that question should be directed at the Graduate Program Assistant or the Director of Graduate Studies. Or, you know, don't worry about that at all, which is the approach I always took.

[fuzzylogician]

I recommend not asking anything that is readily available on the program's website.

I sometimes asked about things that were available on the program's website, usually things to do with the professor's own research. With the exception of one professor, everyone responded kindly and added information that wasn't online, and which I had no way of knowing even existed - like minutiae of funding, course info in a specific year, projects that might close before I'll get a chance to work on them, etc.. I've always found it interesting to hear someone explain their research in their own words and not just read about it in a neatly worded description online. I was, however, always informed about said research and could ask insightful questions. I was also interested in students' involvement in projects and student-student/faculty collaborations, and that was a good way of finding out.