Questions to Ask at Grad School Info Session
Questions for a graduate program information session, whether it is a webinar or an open day. They cover funding and its conditions, advising and attrition, how long people really take to finish, where graduates end up, and the parts of the application that decide it.
The questions
Open any question for the note
How many people apply and how many start each year?
Why ask it
The ratio tells you more about your odds than any statement about selectivity. If the number admitted is much larger than the number who enroll, the program is competing with others for the same students, which is useful leverage.
Is funding guaranteed, for how many years, and what does the package include?
Why ask it
Stipend, tuition remission and health insurance are three separate things and a program can offer one without the others. Ask for the number of guaranteed years, since funding that runs out before people finish is the central problem in many fields.
What is the stipend, and what does rent cost near campus?
Why ask it
A stipend only means something against local housing costs, and programs in expensive cities often pay barely more than cheap ones. Ask whether current students have roommates or second jobs.
What work is attached to the funding, and how many hours a week does it take?
Why ask it
Teaching or research assistantships can consume half a working week and the official hours are frequently optimistic. Ask what a first-year assistantship involves specifically, such as sections taught or labs run.
What happens to funding if I take longer than the expected time?
Why ask it
Most people in research degrees take longer than the advertised length, and what happens in year six is the question nobody raises at an information session. Ask whether extensions exist and what they pay.
How long do people actually take to finish, and what proportion finish at all?
Why ask it
Median time to degree and completion rate are the two numbers most predictive of your experience, and programs often have them but do not publish them. Reluctance to give a figure is itself informative.
How does advisor matching work, and can I change advisors?
Why ask it
Admission to a lab, admission to a department, and rotations in the first year lead to very different levels of risk. Ask what happens when a match does not work, since a program with no answer expects students to endure it.
How many students does a typical faculty member supervise?
Why ask it
A well-known professor with fifteen students may be less available than a junior one with three. Ask how often advisors and students meet, and whether that is scheduled or ad hoc.
Which faculty are taking new students this year, and is anyone leaving or retiring?
Why ask it
Applicants apply for a named professor who then moves institutions, retires, or has no funding. This question is entirely fair and answers are usually given if asked directly.
What does the first year look like week to week?
Why ask it
Coursework load, teaching duties, lab rotations and exam preparation all land in the same year. Hearing the schedule tells you whether this is a full-time job plus study or something more contained.
What are the qualifying or comprehensive exams, and how many people do not pass?
Why ask it
The structure and the failure rate together tell you how the program treats its gatekeeping. Ask what happens after a first failure, since retake policy varies widely.
What do graduates from the last three cohorts do now?
Why ask it
Recent, specific placements are the honest measure of outcomes. Aggregate employment statistics and a list of famous alumni from twenty years ago tell you almost nothing about your prospects.
How does the program support people going into non-academic work?
Why ask it
In many fields most graduates leave academia, but some departments treat that as failure. Ask whether internships are permitted, encouraged, or quietly penalized.
For a professional program, what is the total cost, and what do graduates typically earn to start?
Why ask it
Tuition, fees and living costs against a realistic starting salary is the arithmetic that decides whether a taught degree makes sense. Ask for the median salary of the last graduating class, not the range.
Which parts of the application matter most, and what makes one stand out here?
Why ask it
Admissions committees weight the statement of purpose, the fit with faculty, letters and grades differently, and they will often tell you. This is the most directly useful answer available at an information session.
Are test scores required, and are there minimum thresholds in practice?
Why ask it
Requirements changed at many institutions in recent years, and optional does not always mean unweighted. Ask whether scores help an application that is weak elsewhere.
Should I contact faculty before applying, and how do they prefer to hear from you?
Why ask it
In some fields this is expected and in others it is unwelcome, and getting it wrong is a real cost. Ask what a useful first email looks like.
What are the deadlines, including funding and fellowship deadlines?
Why ask it
Funding deadlines often precede admission deadlines, and missing one can cost you an entire package. Ask which fellowships require a separate application and which are automatic.
Can I speak to current students without faculty present?
Why ask it
Students on an official panel are selected and coached. Getting one email address, and asking that student what they would change about the program, will teach you more than the whole session.
What kind of student struggles here?
Why ask it
This turns a question about the program into a question about fit, and it is usually answered candidly because it sounds like self-reflection. The answer often names the program's real weakness in the form of a student trait.
Getting Real Information From an Info Session
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the Session
Read the program pages first, then bring what they do not say
Curriculum, deadlines and general requirements are published. Funding conditions, time to degree, completion rates and advisor matching usually are not, and those are the questions worth your one turn to speak.
Look up two or three faculty and what they published recently
Naming actual work lets you ask whether that line of research is continuing and whether the person is taking students. It also distinguishes you in a session where most questions are about deadlines.
Decide whether you are evaluating or being evaluated
Large webinars are recruitment and nobody is judging your question. Small open days and lab visits are informal assessment, so pick questions that show you have read something.
Numbers Worth Writing Down
- Applications received and students enrolled, for the most recent year.
- Stipend amount, guaranteed years, and whether tuition and health insurance are included.
- Median time to degree and the completion rate for recent cohorts.
- Hours per week attached to teaching or research funding.
- Placements of the last three graduating cohorts, by name of role rather than category.
- Funding and fellowship deadlines, which are often earlier than the application deadline.
Common Pitfalls
Asking questions the website answers
Course lists, application components and deadlines are published, and spending your question on them signals you did not look. Save the slot for funding conditions and outcomes.
Treating the stipend as the whole funding question
The number of guaranteed years, what happens afterwards, and whether fees and insurance are covered often matter more than the headline figure. Ask about all four.
Only speaking to faculty and admissions staff
The people who know what the program is like are the students two and four years in. Ask for one contact and follow up by email the same week, while the session is a legitimate reason to write.
Not asking about attrition
Programs rarely volunteer how many people leave, yet it is the clearest measure of whether students are supported. Ask directly and note how comfortable the answer is.
Confusing enthusiasm for fit
A polished session and warm faculty are not evidence that the program does the work you want. Check that at least two people there study something close to your interest and are currently supervising.