Questions to ask Prospective Profs

[ladyday]

So, I've contacted a few prospective professors in my field (art history) and introduced myself and my current work. They have been kind enough to respond back and are willing to talk more about their program. What types of questions should I be asking them? Any input would greatly help

[JerryLandis]

I didn't really bother asking any questions after the initial contact, when I asked if they'd be taking on students and in some cases what the general language expectations were. I don't really think it's necessary to ask questions unless you have ones you are already particularly eager to ask

[socialcomm]

Do you have questions about their research? What projects they've advised in the past?

[coyabean]

No need to manufacture questions. If you have them, great. If not just periodically check in and keep them abreast of your app's progress or your own research. If you see an article that might be useful, forward it. I have google alerts set for the profs I want to keep tabs on. If I see they've given a talk or published or something I send a little note. Just your normal relationship building kind of stuff, especially if you're really interested in that program and/or think your own work will interact with their's at some point.

[ladyday]

Thanks for the responses. I've thoroughly researched a lot of their work and the programs, so I don't really have questions about that. I also don't want to seem like I didn't research them. I like the idea of sending them little updates. I have a phone call with one of them this week. I hope I don't get nervous and blabber too much :/

[rising_star]

You might want to ask if they are changing directions for their future work. I only say this because my advisor has predominately written on two topics in the past and is now focusing on something different, although he's using the same methodology and theoretical framework that he has been using for the last 15+ years. I mean, I don't care whether he does research on lions or bumblebees (not the actual topics, btw), but someone interested in lions and NOT bumblebees might.

[coyabean]

You might want to ask if they are changing directions for their future work. I only say this because my advisor has predominately written on two topics in the past and is now focusing on something different, although he's using the same methodology and theoretical framework that he has been using for the last 15+ years. I mean, I don't care whether he does research on lions or bumblebees (not the actual topics, btw), but someone interested in lions and NOT bumblebees might.

Anyone NOT interested in bumblebees and lions is not my kind of person nyway!

[socialpsych]

I agree with other people that you shouldn't ask if you're not really interested -- both because it can be a waste of your time and the prof's that way, and because if you aren't willing to engage and follow up, it could make you look bad.

However, it is good to have some open-ended questions in your toolbox in case you really do want to chat but don't know how to initiate it. Asking what they have been working on lately (if that question makes sense in your field) can always be a good conversation-starter. I also had some interesting conversations come out of "What kind of student does well in your program?". On the more concrete side, you could ask where people tend to end up once they graduate -- I know this is something you can find out to a certain extent from some programs' websites, but people don't mind if you ask.

Again, though, once you ask something like this, you will need to be interested enough to follow up, so don't initiate contact if you're not really interested in having a conversation.