Questions to Ask About a PhD Program
Questions to ask faculty and current students before accepting a doctoral offer, covering funding years, supervision, milestones, attrition, and what happens when something goes wrong.
The questions
Open any question for the note
How many years does funding actually cover, and what happens after that?
Why ask it
Guaranteed years and median completion time rarely match. The gap is the period students spend teaching extra sections or working outside the department to finish.
What does the stipend come to after tuition, fees, and health insurance?
Why ask it
Mandatory fees are often deducted from the stipend rather than waived, which can remove a noticeable share of it. Ask for the net monthly figure a current student receives.
Can students live here on that without a second job?
Why ask it
Ask what students pay in rent and how far they commute. A stipend that looks reasonable nationally can be unlivable in one particular city.
How is a supervisor chosen, and when is that decision locked in?
Why ask it
Some programs admit you to a lab, others give you a year to choose. The first means the match is decided before you know the department; the second means a year of uncertainty.
How many students does each faculty member in my area currently supervise?
Why ask it
Advising capacity is the resource you will compete for most. A supervisor with eight students and a heavy administrative load will not be reading drafts quickly.
What happens if my supervisor leaves, retires, or loses funding?
Why ask it
This is common enough that a department should have a ready answer. If there is only one person working on your topic, ask directly who would take you on.
What is the teaching load, and which years does it fall in?
Why ask it
Teaching is valuable experience and a serious time cost. The question is whether it is concentrated in the coursework years or continues through the writing years.
What do the qualifying exams involve, and how many pass first time?
Why ask it
A low first-time pass rate usually reflects unclear expectations rather than weak students. Ask what students are given to prepare and what a retake costs in time.
How long do students in this department take from entry to defense?
Why ask it
Ask for the median for the last several cohorts. Departmental averages are often quoted from a good year or from the fastest subfield.
Of the students who started six years ago, how many finished?
Why ask it
The most informative number in any doctoral conversation, and one that many departments have never assembled. Reluctance to produce it is itself an answer.
Why did the students who left leave?
Why ask it
Leaving with a master's for a good job is a different story from leaving after losing funding or falling out with a supervisor. Ask a current student the same question separately.
When do students here publish, and with whom?
Why ask it
Norms vary by field and by lab. What matters is whether students are brought onto papers as collaborators or expected to produce their own without support.
What is the conference travel budget, and who decides who goes?
Why ask it
Conferences are how a doctoral student becomes known to the people who will later review their work. A named amount is worth more than encouragement to apply for funds.
What data, archives, lab time, or computing would I have access to?
Why ask it
Access is usually shared and queued. Ask where a first-year student sits in that queue and how long the wait typically is.
Where did the last five graduates end up, by job title?
Why ask it
Titles and employers, not categories. "Postdoctoral position" covers both a step toward a faculty job and a holding pattern, and only the specifics distinguish them.
How does the department support students aiming outside academia?
Why ask it
Most doctoral graduates do not become professors. A department that treats non-academic work as failure will give you no help and may cost you your supervisor's goodwill.
What happens when a student reports a problem with a supervisor?
Why ask it
You are asking whether there is anyone with real authority who is not the supervisor. Ask who currently holds that role and whether students actually use it.
What mental health, medical, and parental leave provisions apply to doctoral students?
Why ask it
Doctoral students often sit between employee and student status, which affects everything. Ask specifically whether funding pauses or expires during a leave of absence.
What would you change about this program if you could?
Why ask it
Asked of faculty it shows how closely they follow student experience; asked of students it produces the structural problem everyone has quietly adapted to.
What should I be asking that applicants usually do not?
Why ask it
Best kept for last. People often use it to raise the thing they have been waiting to be asked about, which is rarely the department's strength.
Evaluating a Doctoral Offer
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Who to ask what
Students in years three and beyond
First-year students are still repeating the recruitment pitch. Students who have passed their exams know what the milestones cost and which promises did not hold.
Your prospective supervisor, about their practice
Ask how often they meet advisees, how long they take on a chapter draft, and how many students they have graduated. These are answerable facts, not opinions.
The graduate coordinator, about rules
Funding mechanics, leave policy, milestone deadlines, and what happens after guaranteed years are administrative facts. Get them from the person who administers them.
Weighing the commitment
Plan for the median, not the minimum
Base your finances and your personal decisions on how long students actually take in that department, not on the program's stated length.
Compare offers on the net figure
Take the stipend, subtract fees and insurance, subtract local rent, and compare what is left. Multiply by the number of guaranteed years.
Count the fallback
Ask what a student leaves with if they stop after three years, whether that is a master's degree, and whether it is awarded automatically or on request.
Common mistakes
Choosing the institution over the supervisor
Your years will be shaped by one or two people. A strong department with nobody working on your problem is a weaker choice than a modest one with the right advisor.
Assuming a well-known name will be available
Senior faculty travel, hold administrative posts, and take many students. Ask how often they meet advisees and who supervises when they are on leave.
Not asking about the exit
Most conversations cover admission and nothing after it. The provisions for leaving, pausing, or changing supervisor are the ones you will be glad to know about later.