Questions to Ask About a Graduate Program
Questions for a campus visit, an admitted student day, or an email to a director of graduate studies, aimed at what the program is like to live in rather than what its brochure says.
The questions
Open any question for the note
What does a first-year student's week actually look like here?
Why ask it
Course counts and credit hours hide the shape of the week. You want to know how many days are spoken for, and how much of the rest is teaching or lab duty rather than your own work.
Who would supervise me, and how many students do they already have?
Why ask it
A supervisor with nine advisees offers different attention than one with two. If the department cannot name a likely supervisor, your fit has not been considered closely.
How are advisors assigned, and what happens if the match does not work?
Why ask it
The existence of a switching procedure matters more than how often it is used. Programs that treat the question as unthinkable are the ones where a bad match becomes a lost year.
Is funding guaranteed, for how many years, and what does it cover?
Why ask it
Ask whether tuition, fees, and health insurance are included or deducted. An offer that looks generous can shrink considerably once mandatory fees come out of it.
What work is attached to the funding: teaching, grading, lab hours?
Why ask it
The hours committed to the assistantship are the hours not spent on your own research, and the nominal figure is often well below the real one. Ask a current student to confirm it.
How long do students in this program actually take to finish?
Why ask it
The advertised length is the fastest plausible path. The median, and the spread behind it, is what you should plan your finances and your life around.
Of the students who started five years ago, how many are still here?
Why ask it
Attrition is the single most revealing number a program can give you, and a department that has not counted it is telling you something too.
What do graduates from the last three cohorts do now?
Why ask it
Ask for job titles and employers rather than categories. "Industry" and "further study" can both describe outcomes nobody wanted.
Which courses are required, and how much room is left for my own interests?
Why ask it
Heavy required coursework is not a flaw, but it changes when your own project can start. Find out which year the requirements clear.
What does the qualifying or comprehensive exam involve, and how many pass first time?
Why ask it
Failure rates and retake rules vary enormously between departments, and a low first-time pass rate usually reflects unclear expectations rather than weak students.
What happens when a student fails a milestone?
Why ask it
The answer distinguishes a program that remediates from one that quietly stops funding people. Ask what the last such student was offered.
How do students get onto papers, and whose name goes first?
Why ask it
Authorship conventions differ by field and by lab, and informal ones are where disputes happen. A supervisor who has a clear policy has thought about their students' careers.
What travel or conference budget does each student get?
Why ask it
Conferences are how a graduate student becomes known. A figure per student, or an honest "you apply and often get nothing", is more useful than a list of encouragements.
What equipment, data, or archive access would I have from day one?
Why ask it
Access is often shared, booked weeks ahead, or reserved for senior students. Ask who is at the back of the queue and how long they wait.
How much do students here collaborate, and how much do they work alone?
Why ask it
Some departments run as groups, others as a set of individuals who share a corridor. Neither is wrong, but the mismatch with your working style is felt every day.
What does the department do when a student and a supervisor fall out?
Why ask it
You are asking whether there is anyone with authority who is not the supervisor. If the answer is only the supervisor's own dean, students have little recourse.
What is the cost of living here on the stipend you offer?
Why ask it
Ask what current students pay in rent and how far out they live. A stipend that is competitive nationally can still be unlivable in a specific city.
What health, counseling, and leave provisions cover graduate students?
Why ask it
Graduate students often sit in an awkward category between employee and student. Ask specifically about medical leave, parental leave, and whether funding pauses or expires during it.
What would current students tell me that the brochure does not?
Why ask it
Faculty answers to this reveal how much contact they have with students, and students asked the same question usually name the one structural problem everyone has adapted to.
What kind of applicant does well here, and what kind does not?
Why ask it
A specific answer helps you judge fit and helps you write a better application. A refusal to describe anyone who struggles is itself information.
Evaluating a Graduate Program
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Who to ask what
Admissions staff for rules
Deadlines, funding mechanics, visa paperwork, and formal policies are their job and they answer accurately. They are not the people to ask about a supervisor's temperament.
Current students for reality
Ask third and fourth year students rather than first years, who are still repeating the recruitment pitch. Email a few directly instead of relying on the ones chosen to meet visitors.
Recent graduates for outcomes
People who left in the last two years know how the program is regarded by employers and search committees, and they no longer have any reason to protect it.
Working out the real offer
Reduce every offer to one number
Take the stipend, subtract fees, insurance, and any tuition not covered, then subtract twelve months of local rent. Compare programs on what is left, not on the headline.
Count the years, not the annual figure
Four guaranteed years against a median completion time of six means two years of uncertainty. Ask what students do in that gap.
Get funding terms in writing
Verbal assurances about later-year support change with department budgets. Ask which parts of the offer letter are commitments and which are expectations.
Common mistakes
Choosing a department over a supervisor
Day to day, your experience is shaped by one or two people, not by the institution's name. A strong department with no one working on your problem is a poor fit.
Assuming a famous name will be available
Well-known faculty travel, hold administrative posts, and take on many students. Ask how often they meet advisees and who covers when they are away.
Skipping the visit
The corridor conversations at a visit produce information no email will. If travel is not possible, ask for three separate video calls with students instead of one group session.