Questions to Ask My Advisor
Questions to ask your advisor, whether that is the academic advisor who clears you to register or the graduate advisor you meet every week about a thesis. Start with the five at the top, which suit either kind. The next three groups are for any student planning a degree: requirements and credits, courses and grades, and research, internships, letters and what comes after. Grad School and Thesis is the group to take to a grad school advisor, and most of it serves an undergraduate writing an honors thesis too: the plan of study, qualifying exams, time limits, milestones, drafts, committees, authorship and funding. The last group is about working with the advisor: what to bring, what they do not handle, and how to say a term is going badly.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Start Here
Am I on track to graduate when I expect to, and if not, what is in the way?
Why ask it
Everything else in the meeting hangs on this answer, so get it before the talk turns to next term. If the term they name is later than the one in your head, ask which single requirement moved it.
Can we pull up my degree audit and go through what is still outstanding?
Why ask it
The audit is usually the record you will be cleared against at the end, so it outranks the list in your head. Wherever the two disagree, ask on the spot who can correct it. If your school has no report by that name, ask what its official checklist of remaining requirements is called.
What classes should I take next semester, given what I have left?
Why ask it
Bring your own draft schedule and have them edit it, which is quicker than building one together from nothing. Then ask what to swap in if your first choice is full, so you are not emailing them at midnight on registration day.
What do students at my stage most often get wrong?
Why ask it
An advisor has watched many people go through the stretch you are going through once, so the repeat mistakes are familiar to them. Expect something dull and specific, such as a form filed late or a prerequisite left to the final year, and find out at what point it usually goes wrong.
How often should we meet, and how do I reach you with a quick question in between?
Why ask it
A standing slot every week or two is a different arrangement from 'come and find me when you need something'. If it is the second, suggest a rhythm yourself, even once a term, and ask how far ahead their appointments fill so you know when to book.
Requirements
Which requirement am I closest to missing, and by when does it have to be done?
Why ask it
Asking for one makes the advisor rank the risks instead of reading the list out evenly. Whatever they name first probably belongs in your next registration, so check which term it runs in before you leave.
Is anything I have already taken not counting toward my degree?
Why ask it
Credits go astray for dull reasons: a course changed catalog numbers, a substitution was never filed, a transfer came in as elective. Many can be put right once someone notices, and it is far easier a year out than in your last term.
Can any single course count toward two requirements at once?
Why ask it
Schools usually cap how many courses a major, a minor and general education may share, so ask for the cap as well as the candidates. A course that does double duty frees a slot for something you would take by choice.
Can transfer, summer, or exam credit from elsewhere substitute for anything I still need?
Why ask it
A summer course somewhere cheaper or closer to home can clear a bottleneck, but whether it lands as the requirement or as a loose elective is your school's call. Find out what has to be approved before you enroll and who signs it, and keep the answer in an email.
Could I add a minor or a second major without adding a term, and what would I give up for it?
Why ask it
Have them count the extra courses and lay them against your major's fixed sequence, because one clash in a single term can be what adds the semester. The other half of the price is the electives you would lose: a language, a methods course, a lighter final year.
If I switched majors now, what would it cost me in time and credits?
Why ask it
You want two numbers: how many of your credits would carry over, and how many terms the switch would add. If the other major has its own application or grade cutoff, get that date as well, since it may decide when you can move more than the credit count does.
When do I apply to graduate, and is there paperwork I should file now and not in my final term?
Why ask it
Graduation applications, course substitutions and petitions each run on their own deadline, and some close a full term before you finish. Leave with the name of each form and the office that takes it. A missing signature can hold up a degree that is otherwise complete.
Courses and Grades
Which of these courses runs only once a year, so I have to plan around it?
Why ask it
A required course that runs in only one term sets the order for everything that depends on it. Check too whether any are offered every other year, because missing one of those costs more than a semester.
Which of these courses should I not take in the same term?
Why ask it
No catalog prints this. An advisor may know the pair of labs whose reports fall due in the same weeks, or the two courses that each assign a long paper. A useful follow-up is what students usually put beside the heavy one.
If a class I need is full, what actually gets me in?
Why ask it
There is often a real mechanism behind the waitlist: emailing the instructor, showing up to the first session, a departmental override form. Ask which one works here rather than guessing.
Is there a hold on my account, and do you have to clear me before I can register?
Why ask it
Only an advising hold is your advisor's to lift; fees, health forms and library fines belong to other offices with their own queues. Ask the week before your registration time, while there is still a working day to chase each one.
How many credits do I need each term to stay full time for my aid and insurance?
Why ask it
The full-time line differs by school, and different things can hang on it: a scholarship, a place on a parent's health plan, housing, a student visa. Get the number before you drop anything, and ask which office confirms it for aid, because your advisor may not be the one who knows.
If I take a lighter term, what does that do to my graduation date?
Why ask it
Have them trace the knock-on effects, because one delayed prerequisite can push a whole sequence back a year. Sometimes the answer is that it costs nothing, which is worth knowing too.
What is the last day to drop without it showing on my transcript, and how would a withdrawal look later?
Why ask it
Many schools have two dates: one before which the course vanishes from your record, and a later one that leaves a withdrawal mark. Write both down for this term. How a single mark reads later depends on who is reading, so say where you hope to apply and ask what they have seen.
One class is going badly. What can I still do about it at this point in the term?
Why ask it
The list is often longer than students expect: tutoring, an incomplete, a late drop with documentation, a repeat that replaces the grade. Which of those are still open depends on the week, so have this conversation before the next exam and not after it.
Where does my GPA stand against what my major, my scholarship and good standing each require?
Why ask it
Those can be three different numbers, and they are not always worked out from the same set of courses. Ask which one you are closest to, and how many terms you would have to recover before anything is taken away.
Is retaking this course worth it, and how would the second grade be counted?
Why ask it
The arithmetic depends on a local rule: the new grade may replace the old one, be averaged with it, or simply sit next to it. If you are headed for a program that recalculates grades its own way, mention that, because it can change the advice.
Could I take one of these pass/fail, and what would that close off?
Why ask it
The usual catch is that a pass may not satisfy a major requirement or a prerequisite, and the choice often has to be made early in the term. Three things to pin down: which of your courses allow it, when the cutoff is, and whether you can change your mind.
Beyond Class
Which faculty here take undergraduates into their research, and how should I approach them?
Why ask it
A departmental advisor often knows who has room this year and what a first email should say. If all you get is a pointer to the department web page, take the question to a professor whose course you did well in.
Where would an internship or a term abroad fit in my plan without adding a semester?
Why ask it
There is usually one term that can absorb it, the one with no once-a-year course in it. If you want credit for either, ask who signs off and how far ahead they need the request.
What is the most useful thing I could do with this summer?
Why ask it
Lay out the real options first, such as a paid job at home, a class or a research place, along with what you can afford, or the answer will be generic. Then ask when students usually arrange each one, in case an application date is already close.
Where have recent graduates of this program ended up, and what did they do here to get there?
Why ask it
Listen for specifics: job titles, employers, programs, a named student or two. An advisor who does not know has still told you something, and the follow-up is who does keep track, whether that is a career office or an alumni list.
I am thinking about graduate school. What should I start this year that I cannot fix later?
Why ask it
Some gaps close in a month and some take two years, and an advisor can tell you which kind yours are. If their answer is thin, ask which professor in the department has recently sent students to the kind of program you have in mind.
Who could write me a strong recommendation, and what would they need to see from me first?
Why ask it
The practical answer is rarely a name. It is a seminar to take, a project to finish or office hours to start showing up to, so that the person has something to describe. Ask how much notice letter writers here expect.
Is there a scholarship, honors track or funded program I qualify for and have not applied to?
Why ask it
Announcements for these tend to reach advisors first and students by luck. Get the name and the closing date, and check whether a faculty nomination is part of it.
Grad School and Thesis
What should I read or learn in my first term so that I am useful to this group?
Why ask it
A new graduate advisor usually has a short list in mind: three papers, a method, the software the lab runs on. Get it at the first meeting, along with the name of a senior student who can show you the parts that are written down nowhere.
What do you expect me to have finished by the end of this term?
Why ask it
Without a stated target, you and your advisor can carry different ideas of on schedule for months. Write the answer down and open your next meeting with it.
Which courses belong on my plan of study, and when does it have to be filed?
Why ask it
Many graduate programs want a signed list of courses on file by a set point, and changing it later can mean another round of signatures. If yours has no such form, find out what the graduate school checks your coursework against at the end.
Should I take the thesis route or the coursework route, given what I want to do next?
Why ask it
This is for a master's student whose program offers both. Say whether a doctorate is on your mind, since that often settles it, and have them tell you how many terms each route tends to take in this department.
Could I move from the master's into the doctoral program here, and what would I need to show first?
Why ask it
Some departments take their own master's students through a short internal route and others make them apply from scratch with everyone else. Learn which it is, whether your credits would carry across, and what your advisor would want to see before writing in support.
What does the qualifying exam cover here, and how did your recent students prepare for it?
Why ask it
The format can be a written paper, an oral before a committee, a reading list or a proposal defense, and the name changes from one department to the next. Check whether a failed attempt can be retaken, then go to a student who passed last year for old questions.
What are the milestones between here and my defense, and which of them has a fixed date?
Why ask it
Exams, a proposal, candidacy and the defense each come with forms, and the graduate school's deadlines are not your advisor's to bend. Names and stages differ by country and program, so ask for the local sequence rather than assuming one.
Is there a time limit on this degree, and where am I against it?
Why ask it
Graduate schools often set a maximum number of years, sometimes counted from enrollment and sometimes from candidacy. An extension tends to need a petition and your advisor's backing, so learn the date while it is still far off.
Is there a yearly review of my progress, and what goes into my file for it?
Why ask it
In many programs a committee or the department looks at each student once a year, and a poor review can touch funding. Find out what your advisor writes for it and whether you get to read it. Their plain view of your year tends to come out in the answer.
I have not settled on a thesis topic. How did your past students arrive at theirs, and by when should I have one?
Why ask it
Some advisors hand over a piece of a funded project; others wait for you to bring an idea and say little until you do. Knowing which kind you have saves a term spent waiting for the other person to move.
Does this project need ethics, safety or data approval before I start, and who files for it?
Why ask it
Work with people, animals, hazardous materials or restricted data usually has to be cleared before any of it begins, and a review can take weeks. The rules belong to the institution and the country, so ask which office handles yours and whether anything collected before approval could be used at all.
What does a finished thesis look like to you: how many chapters or papers, and to what standard?
Why ask it
The two of you may be carrying different pictures of done, and the gap tends to show only when you think you have finished. Have them name a past student's thesis that cleared the bar comfortably, then go and read it.
Is this project the right size for a thesis, or should it be narrowed?
Why ask it
Scope is the judgment you are worst placed to make, since you have never finished a thesis and they have watched several get finished. If the answer is to narrow it, ask which part they would cut.
What is the weakest part of my work right now?
Why ask it
Asked plainly, this draws out the criticism that politeness tends to hold back until a committee meeting. One named weakness is a plan for the next month. If they say there is none, ask a second reader.
How long should I allow for you to read a chapter, and do you want it rough or polished?
Why ask it
Their turnaround tells you how far ahead of a deadline you have to finish, so work it into every date you set. The second half matters as much: some advisors want early mess they can redirect, and others stop reading at the first gap.
Who should be on my committee, and when should I approach them?
Why ask it
Your advisor knows who reads carefully, who goes quiet for months and which pairings to avoid. Raise it early; a member who joins late has had no say in the design and may want changes you no longer have time for.
How will authorship work on what we publish from this?
Why ask it
The comfortable time to ask is before a draft exists. Conventions for author order differ by field, so ask for theirs in a sentence, and treat 'we will see' as a sign the order will be settled under deadline.
Where should this work be submitted, and what does it still need before then?
Why ask it
A venue brings a standard, a length and a date, which turns an open-ended project into a list. If they name a conference, ask whether you would present and who pays for the trip.
When I finish, what happens to the data, code and notebooks from this work?
Why ask it
Who owns them is a matter of university policy and the terms of the grant, and it is rarely the student alone. Agree what you may take with you, and whether you can go on publishing from it, long before your last month in the lab.
How is my funding covered for next year, and what does it depend on?
Why ask it
Grants end, assistantships get reassigned and fellowships carry renewal conditions. Ask what the fallback would be and the date by which you would have to apply for it, while that date is still ahead of you.
How should I split my week between my assistantship and my own research?
Why ask it
Teaching and grading expand to fill whatever time you give them. Look up how many hours the appointment is meant to take in your offer letter or contract, and ask what your advisor would have you say when the course wants more.
What hours do you expect me to keep, and how should I handle time off?
Why ask it
Expectations run from fixed lab hours to 'I only care that the work appears', and they are seldom written down. Leave and holidays may also be governed by your contract, funder or visa, so get your advisor's preference from them and the actual rule from the graduate office.
If I had to step away for a term, how would a leave affect my funding and my deadlines?
Why ask it
Illness, family and money interrupt degrees more often than anyone plans for. Whether the clock stops, whether a stipend or a visa survives the gap, and whether your place in the lab is held all depend on the school and the funder, so get the name of whoever can put each answer in writing.
What should I be doing now for the job I want afterwards, inside academia or outside it?
Why ask it
Say which way you are leaning, because the preparation differs and the advice will be vague until you do. How they take the news that you may leave academia is worth learning long before you need a reference.
Who else should be reading my work besides you?
Why ask it
A secure advisor names a methods person, a second reader or a colleague elsewhere without hesitating. That person is also where you take a problem when your advisor is away, or when the problem is your advisor.
Working Together
What do you handle yourself, and who should I go to for everything else?
Why ask it
An advisor's remit can be as narrow as approving courses or as wide as your whole degree. Ask for a name, not just an office, for financial aid, disability accommodations and careers, so you are not forwarded from desk to desk.
What would you like from me before each meeting: an agenda, a written update, or nothing?
Why ask it
Half a page sent the day before lets the meeting open at the hard part rather than at a recap. Even an advisor who asks for nothing tends to remember the student who arrives with three written points.
What do the students you find easiest to advise do differently?
Why ask it
It is a polite way of asking what wastes their time, and the answer is usually practical: arrive with a draft plan, read the email first, do not vanish for a term. Pick the one habit you can show at the next meeting.
Are there stretches of the year when you are usually unavailable?
Why ask it
Sabbaticals, field seasons and conference travel can take an advisor away for weeks or months. Find out who signs forms while they are gone, and get anything that needs their signature in before they leave.
If I am struggling and do not know how to say so, how would you want to hear it?
Why ask it
Asked on a good day, it sets up the route you will need on a bad one: an email, a word at the start of a meeting, a note to someone else first. Notice whether the answer makes bad news sound safe to bring.
If you go on leave or I change direction, how does switching advisors work here?
Why ask it
Advisors take leave, change jobs and retire, and sometimes a student's interests simply move. Put as a question about continuity it is a neutral thing to ask, and you learn whether a change is a form, a conversation with the department, or both.
Looking at my record, what would you do differently if you were me?
Why ask it
Save it for the end, when your file is already open. It asks for a judgment where most of the meeting has been procedure, and now and then it turns up an option nobody had mentioned.
Is there anything I should have asked today and did not?
Why ask it
Advisors mostly answer what is put to them, so a short list of questions gets a short meeting. This hands them the floor for a minute, and what comes out is often a date or an opening that was nowhere in your notes.
Getting More Out of a Meeting With Your Advisor
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the meeting
Read your own audit first
Pull the degree audit, mark anything that looks wrong, and bring a draft schedule with two alternates. An advisor can correct a plan far faster than build one from nothing.
Book longer than you think you need
Around registration, appointments tend to be short and booked solid. If you have a substitution to sort out or are weighing a change of major, ask for a longer slot well before the rush.
Bring the specifics, not the feeling
Course numbers, grades, and dates get concrete answers. Saying you are worried about being behind gets reassurance, which is not the same as help.
Close the loop afterwards
- Send a short email summarizing what you agreed, so there is a written record
- Ask for the name of any form mentioned, and file it the same week
- Put every deadline they gave you into a calendar with a reminder a week ahead
- Verify the audit updated after any approved substitution, rather than assuming it did
- Book the next appointment before you leave, while you both have a calendar open
If a faculty advisor supervises your research
Send a short update the day before
Three lines will do: what you did, where you are stuck, and what you need decided. It moves the meeting past the recap and leaves you a dated record of progress when a review comes round.
Spread the hard questions out
Funding, authorship and timelines do not all belong in one meeting. Raised months before it matters, each one reads as planning. Raised the week it matters, it reads as a complaint.
Have more than one reader
A committee member, a postdoc or a senior student who knows your work is a second opinion and somewhere to go while your advisor is travelling. Tell your advisor who else is reading, so nobody is surprised later.
Where students lose time
Treating the advisor as the last word on your major
A professional advisor usually knows the rules best; faculty in your field know what the work is like and where graduates go. Use both, and do not substitute one for the other.
Waiting until the term has gone wrong
Almost every remedy, from a late drop to an incomplete, is bounded by a date. The same conversation two weeks earlier often has three options instead of one.
Assuming an approval happened
Verbal agreement in a meeting is not a change to your record. Check the audit yourself, and keep the email where the approval was given.