What questions should i ask

[shai]

I'm flying out to see a school I've been accepted to. Would appreciate question ideas to profs/current students

Thx

[geichat]

I'm flying out to see a school I've been accepted to. Would appreciate question ideas to profs/current students

Thx

im visiting a school in about two weeks too. i haven't thought too much about what i'll ask, but i suppose questions about opportunities for collaboration in research, course load, TA/RA load, lectures/talks/colloquium, etc. would be appropriate to ask both faculty and students.

would appreciate other input on this as well !

[rogue]

This thread isn't so much questions as things to consider, but I think there are a lot of things listed that you might want to ask about, or at least investigate on your own.

[katalytik]

make sure you avoid asking anything that you can find elsewhere (like the department website etc.). They are looking for students to ask non-superficial questions. For example, you can ask how a student can work with other departments (if you are doing more interdisciplinary work). This is not going to be listed anywhere and it may show to faculty that you are considering important issues in your education.

[The Knife]

One of my professors suggested that I also ask how women are treated in the department. This might be less of a concern in humanities fields, but in science (and especially physics) women are often outnumbered and can occasionally be subjected to severe sexism. If you are female, this is a very important point. Also, you should ask the grad students how they feel about the department: How reliable is the funding (i.e. do students often get kicked out after a Masters degree)? Is there a lot of conflict between professors in the department or different departments? Are they overall happy with the environment of the department, university, and city? This would also be a good time to find out which professors are easy to work with/get along with.

[06aculot]

I'm flying out to visit a few schools in 2 weeks as well. This would be a great place to conjure up some nice questions to have in store.

I feel like for engineering fields, what type of research experience will you be subjected to first year. Also, I often like to ask if research often involves traveling to other areas, etc.

More input on this would be awesome.

[jeanne]

Since you've been accepted, you don't have to work so hard to impress them. Obviously you don't want to come off as unprepared or unprofessional, but just think about what really matters to you.

I'm visiting a school this weekend and I asked two potential advisors for some papers so I'd be better acquainted with their researched. They happily responded and I was able to arm myself with some questions about their actual research.

I'm also asking much less academic questions such as: what's the rent, can you really live off a TA stipend, is the city dog-friendly, how's transportation, etc. These will probably be aimed more at the grad student I'm staying with than the professor, but I figured I'd be spending way more time with the student anyway. And she's actually living the life and will tell it how it is (hopefully).

[sapling]

On 2/8/2010 at 12:35 PM, katalytik said:

make sure you avoid asking anything that you can find elsewhere (like the department website etc.). They are looking for students to ask non-superficial questions. For example, you can ask how a student can work with other departments (if you are doing more interdisciplinary work). This is not going to be listed anywhere and it may show to faculty that you are considering important issues in your education.

Good advice! Thanks very much. I will have an interview with WashU tonight, and your advice is very useful

[fuzzylogician]

make sure you avoid asking anything that you can find elsewhere (like the department website etc.). They are looking for students to ask non-superficial questions. For example, you can ask how a student can work with other departments (if you are doing more interdisciplinary work). This is not going to be listed anywhere and it may show to faculty that you are considering important issues in your education.

I oftentimes asked questions whose answers were on the department website and what I've learned is that in most (if not all) cases, you will learn more if you ask yourself. Sometimes the website is outdated, sometimes practice is simply different than what the regulations say it should be. I didn't ask "so do you have to take Intro to Syntax in the first year?" (duh), but I did ask about what are acceptable topics for generals papers, when committees form and meet, when papers are due, how to get 5th year funding, how to apply for travel funding, when students usually TA -- all things the website mentions but in some departments work differently than the website says. I also asked about current projects and grants, opportunities for summer funding, how long students take to graduate, how many drop out, alumni placement, etc. These things were mentioned in the website at least in part, but never in full detail.

I asked the grad students most of my non-academics questions; the professors didn't really know - what kind of lifestyle the stipend affords, how's the transportation, what are good neighborhoods to live in and which I should avoid, how safe is it to walk home late at night, how's the night life, etc.