Questions to Ask Professors About Grad School
Questions to ask professors about grad school, for a student heading to office hours or to a meeting with a faculty mentor and trying to work out whether to apply, where, and how to get in. The 62 questions start with the handful to ask first, then cover whether graduate school is worth it for the work you want, what the years are like, funding, choosing programs and advisors, and the application itself.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Start here
From what you know of me, do you think I should go to grad school?
Why ask it
Ask it plainly and then stop talking. A professor who has taught you can say yes, not yet, or not for the reason you gave, and the middle answer is the most useful of the three. If the reply is warm but vague, ask what would change their mind in either direction.
Should I go straight through, or work first?
Why ask it
Norms differ sharply by field: time away can read as maturity on one application and as drift on another, and someone who reads applications in yours knows which. Push for what the years out should contain, not a simple yes or no.
Master's or PhD: what does each one actually get me?
Why ask it
In some fields a master's is the working credential and a doctorate is more than employers want. In others it is mostly a stepping stone, or the degree people leave a doctorate with when they stop early. Ask which is true in yours and who pays for the master's, since the funding that comes with a doctorate often does not cover it.
Which programs would you recommend for someone with my interests and record?
Why ask it
Rankings are public, but which departments are strong in your corner of the field is something a professor carries in their head. Write down every name, then ask which two they would apply to in your position. Get the reason behind each one, since a place they knew well years ago may have changed.
Would you be able to write me a strong letter of recommendation?
Why ask it
The word strong is doing the work. It gives a professor who cannot support you a graceful way to say so, which is far better information than a lukewarm letter you never see. Ask in person if you can, and accept a hesitation as an answer.
What should I do in the time I have left here to be a stronger applicant?
Why ask it
Get the answer in order of importance, because you cannot do everything. A senior thesis, a harder methods course or a term of research often counts for more than another club or a small rise in grades. Say how many semesters you have so the advice fits the calendar.
Based on the work you have seen from me, what do you think I would be good at in this field?
Why ask it
Faculty seldom say this unprompted, and their read rests on things you cannot see about yourself: how you handle being stuck, whether your questions are your own. Ask early, because the answer changes how you hear everything after it.
What made you decide to go, and would you make the same choice now?
Why ask it
You are asking someone the system worked for, so expect a yes. The useful part is the qualifications that follow it. Notice whether they describe the field as it was when they trained or as it is for students starting now.
What do you wish you had asked before you started?
Why ask it
This turns the conversation from advice into recollection, which is usually where the specifics are. Answers often involve money, geography, or the assumption that the work would resemble undergraduate study. Whatever they name, put that question to every program on your list.
Worth it
Which of the jobs I am considering require a graduate degree?
Why ask it
Name the jobs first, even if the list is rough. Some of them will turn out to hire at the bachelor's level and promote from within, which makes the degree optional. If the professor only knows the academic route, ask who in the department has students working elsewhere.
What are the wrong reasons to go, and do you hear any of them from me?
Why ask it
Not knowing what else to do, liking school, and wanting to put off a job search are the usual ones, and faculty have watched each play out. The second half is the uncomfortable part, so give them permission to be blunt. A shaky reason can often be fixed before you apply, but only once someone has named it.
What is the job market like in this field right now, for the kind of work I want?
Why ask it
Ask for their own read and not a general statement, and ask what has changed in the last five years. A professor who has recently sat on a hiring committee has seen how many people applied for one post and who they were, which tells you more than any headline about the field.
Where have your former students ended up?
Why ask it
Ask about everyone, not the two or three they are proudest of. If they supervise graduate students, the full list shows what a degree from that group leads to in practice. If they teach only undergraduates, ask about the ones who went on to graduate school and how it turned out for them.
Of the people you went through grad school with, how many are still in the field?
Why ask it
Their own cohort is the one group they can account for completely, including the people who left partway. Listen to how the leavers are described: if they sound like people who found good work, the degree travels, and if they sound like cautionary tales, ask why.
If I never become a professor, what does this degree lead to?
Why ask it
Where most graduates end up working outside universities, this is the main question and not the fallback. A good answer names employers and job titles. If you get a shrug, find a recent graduate in industry, government or a nonprofit and put it to them instead.
Is a thesis master's or a coursework master's better for what I want to do?
Why ask it
A thesis usually matters if a doctorate might follow, because it is evidence that you can finish a piece of research. For a job that only wants the credential, a taught or project-based degree can be quicker and serve as well. The names and lengths of these degrees differ by country, so ask how it works where you would apply.
What should I do during the degree, besides the thesis, to be employable at the end?
Why ask it
An internship, a course taught on your own, a technical skill, a paper with someone outside your lab: the right mix depends on where you want to land. Find out which of these their strongest recent graduates did, and which ones an advisor might quietly discourage.
Will this degree change what I earn, or mostly which jobs are open to me?
Why ask it
Those are separate things, and a degree can do one without the other. What you hear will be one person's read of their own graduates, so check it against people who finished three to five years ago. Count the years of salary you would give up while studying as part of the price.
Daily life
What was grad school like for you, and which year was the hardest?
Why ask it
The first half gets you the polished version and the second half gets you a real story. Many people name a middle year, after classes end and before the project has a shape. What got them out of it is the part you can borrow.
How is graduate work different from doing well in undergraduate classes?
Why ask it
Good grades reward finishing what someone else set. Research mostly asks you to choose the problem and to live with not knowing whether it will work. If the professor says the two are much alike, check whether they mean a coursework master's, where that can be true.
What does the first year look like day to day?
Why ask it
Have them walk through one ordinary week: how many hours in class, how many teaching or in a lab, and how many with nothing scheduled. The unscheduled hours are the ones to ask about, since nobody sets the work that fills them. A first year built on coursework and one built on lab rotations are very different years, so find out which is normal in your field.
How long do students in this field actually take to finish?
Why ask it
The advertised length and the usual length are often different, and the gap is years lived on a stipend, or on nothing once the funding ends. Ask about the slowest finishers as well as the typical one, because what held them up shows where things go wrong.
Have any of your students left partway through, and what happened to them?
Why ask it
People leave doctoral programs in every field, and it is seldom raised with applicants. Listen for whether leaving was treated as a failure or whether someone helped them land well, and for any bitterness in how the story is told. Ask when in the degree it happened, since leaving in the second year and leaving in the sixth are different stories.
How many hours a week do graduate students in this field really work?
Why ask it
You will hear a number, and the number matters less than whether it is steady or comes in surges before deadlines. Follow up on whether evenings and weekends are expected or merely common. If a current student gives you a different figure, believe the student.
How much teaching do graduate students do, and does it help them or slow them down?
Why ask it
Teaching can be the condition of the stipend, an optional extra, or absent altogether. The department and the funding decide which, so ask how it works where you would apply. Ask too whether teaching fed the professor's own research or ate into it, and when students first get a class of their own.
What do the students who do well in grad school have in common?
Why ask it
Expect to hear about persistence and asking for help early more than raw ability. Then comes the harder follow-up: which of those habits have they seen in you, and which have they not? That turns a general observation into something you can work on this year.
What should I think through about the rest of my life before I commit: a partner, money, where I can live?
Why ask it
A doctorate can fix your city and your income for five years or more, and that lands on anyone who shares your life as well. Some professors talk about this readily and some would rather not, so raise it lightly and let them pass. Even a short answer shows whether the department treats students as people with lives.
Could you put me in touch with a former student of yours who is in grad school now?
Why ask it
Someone two or three years in still remembers applying and has not yet forgotten what surprised them. An introduction from a professor you share also tends to get a faster, franker reply than a cold email. Start with one name, and write within the week so the favor is not wasted.
Funding
In this field, what does a real funded offer look like?
Why ask it
Funding structures vary enormously: a fellowship, a teaching line renewed yearly, a grant tied to one advisor's project. Ask how many years are committed in writing and what happens in the years that are not.
Is it ever worth taking an unfunded offer in this field?
Why ask it
In many research doctorates an offer with no funding is read as a soft no, while professional and course-based master's degrees are commonly paid for by the student. What you need is the norm in your own field and country. Ask what they have seen happen to students who enrolled without support.
How do graduate students in this field support themselves over the summer?
Why ask it
Some stipends are paid for the nine-month academic year only, and the summer gap is easy to miss when you compare offers. The answer tells you whether summer funding is routine, competitive, or left to the student. Where stipends run the full twelve months, ask what work is expected in those months instead.
Can students in this field live on the stipend alone, or do most borrow or take outside work?
Why ask it
Stipends and rents both vary by university and city, so treat a professor's answer as a starting point and not a budget. Check whether outside work is even allowed, since some funding agreements and student visas restrict it. Then put the same question to a current student in each city on your list.
Which outside fellowships should I apply for, and when are they due?
Why ask it
Some fellowships are open only to applicants or to students in their first year or two, and the deadlines can fall before the programs' own. Eligibility often turns on citizenship and field, so ask which ones fit you. Money that follows the student can also widen your choice of advisor.
If I get more than one offer, how should I weigh them against each other?
Why ask it
The larger stipend is not always the better offer once teaching load, years of support and the cost of the city are counted. What no offer letter shows is how each advisor and department is regarded, and that is the part to ask for. Bring the letters themselves if you are comfortable sharing them.
Do applicants in this field ever negotiate an offer, and how is it done politely?
Why ask it
Some programs will respond to a competing offer and some pay every student the same, in which case asking achieves nothing. Learn which applies before you write to anyone. If it is done, find out who the message should go to and what is reasonable to request.
Programs and advisors
How much does the name of the program matter for what I want to do afterwards?
Why ask it
Prestige counts differently for an academic career than for industry or government work. Say where you hope to end up before you ask, because the honest answer depends on it. Then ask whether it is the university's name or the advisor's that people in the field go by.
How many programs should I apply to, and how should I spread them?
Why ask it
It depends on how selective the field is and on what each application costs you in fees and time. Ask for a split between ambitious, realistic and safer choices, and what safer even means for funded doctoral places, where no admission is certain. Many schools waive the fee for applicants who qualify, so ask how that works.
With my grades and experience, where am I a realistic candidate and where am I reaching?
Why ask it
This is hard to hear and expensive not to know. Hand over your transcript and CV so the answer rests on the record and not on an impression from class. If they place you lower than you hoped, ask what one more year of work could change.
Should I apply to the graduate program here, or is it better to go somewhere new?
Why ask it
Some fields look down on taking every degree at one university, and others do not care. Staying has real advantages: you know the faculty and they know you. Put this to a professor who would not be recruiting you, or allow for the bias.
Should I be looking at programs in other countries as well?
Why ask it
Length, funding and whether a master's has to come first all differ from one country to another, so a doctorate abroad can be a different kind of degree and not the same one in another place. Ask whether anyone in the department trained abroad and would talk to you. Visa rules, and how the degree is viewed where you hope to work, are worth checking before you pay an application fee.
Do you know anyone at these programs, and would you be willing to mention me to them?
Why ask it
Academic fields are small, and a note from a colleague can get an application a closer read. Hold this one back until you have a shortlist and they have seen your work. If they offer to write, send a short paragraph about yourself that they can paste in.
Should I be choosing programs or choosing advisors?
Why ask it
In lab-based fields the advisor is nearly the whole experience, and a strong department with nobody suitable in it is a poor fit. Where students pick a supervisor after a year or two of courses, the department counts for more. Ask how to find out whether a particular person is taking students next year.
Whose work should I be reading, and which of those people would be good to study with?
Why ask it
The two lists are not the same. Someone inside the field hears who is still active, who is close to retiring, and who is known for looking after students. Read a recent paper by each name before you write to any of them.
What should I look for in an advisor beyond their research?
Why ask it
How quickly they return drafts, whether their students finish, and how they speak about people who left the group tell you more than a publication list. Ask what the professor would check if someone they cared about were choosing. Then ask how an outsider finds those things out.
What is your own advising style, and how often do you meet your students?
Why ask it
Fair to ask of a professor you might apply to, and useful from anyone who supervises students, because it gives you one real example to hold the others against. Weekly meetings and once-a-term meetings can both produce good work, but they suit different people. Work out which you would need before you meet potential advisors.
What usually goes wrong between a student and an advisor, and how early can you see it coming?
Why ask it
Mismatched expectations about hours, credit and how fast drafts come back tend to cause more trouble than personality does. Professors have watched this from the other side and can name the early signs. Keep the answer as a checklist for when you meet potential advisors.
Is there a program or a type of advisor you would steer me away from?
Why ask it
Professors are careful about naming names, so make it easy and ask what kind of situation worries them. You may hear about groups where nobody finishes or departments that are losing faculty. Anything specific is one person's view: keep it to yourself and check it with current students.
When I visit a program, what should I ask the students that I cannot ask the faculty?
Why ask it
Faculty know which answers only students will give honestly: what the stipend really covers, which advisors people avoid, who has left. Have the professor imagine they were the one visiting. Then take the list to the informal hour with students, not the formal panel.
Applying
Could I work on research with you, or with someone you would recommend, before I apply?
Why ask it
It gives you something real to write about and gives a professor something real to say in a letter. Come with a guess at what you could help with and how many hours a week you have. A no often arrives with a referral, so ask who else might have room.
How much research experience do I need, and does what I have done so far count?
Why ask it
Describe exactly what you did, not the title you held. Committees look for signs that you have faced an open problem, and a class project where you chose the question can count for more than a year of washing glassware. Ask how to describe your part without overselling it.
Which courses should I take before I graduate if I am serious about grad school?
Why ask it
Ask which gaps a committee would notice on your transcript, such as a missing statistics, language or proof-based course, and which courses are only nice to have. A graduate-level class taken as an undergraduate can show you are ready, so ask whether it is worth the risk to your grades. Bring next term's schedule so the answer is about real choices.
How specific do my research interests need to be when I apply?
Why ask it
Too broad reads as someone who has not worked on anything yet, and too narrow can leave nobody on the faculty to take you. Where the line falls depends on whether students join a lab on arrival or settle on a topic after coursework. Say your interests in two sentences and ask whether a committee could picture your first project from them.
How do admissions committees in this field read an application?
Why ask it
Faculty who have served on a committee can tell you the order things are read in, what gets someone cut in the first pass, and how much weight the statement carries against grades and letters. Little of this is written down and it differs between departments, so ask which committees they are describing.
Should I email professors at the programs before I apply, and what should the message say?
Why ask it
Where students are admitted to one person's lab, a short note can matter a great deal. Where a committee admits a whole class, it may never be read. Find out which kind of field yours is, and ask to see an email the professor themselves would have answered.
Would you read a draft of my statement of purpose, and when would you need it by?
Why ask it
One read of a near-final draft is a better use of their time than several passes at a rough one. Tell them which paragraph you are least sure of. Allow at least two weeks, and send the program's prompt along with it, since prompts differ.
What should go in my writing sample, and what would make you stop reading one?
Why ask it
Not every field asks for one, so check that first. If yours does, the second half of the question is the useful part: common answers involve length, a slow opening, or a piece that shows breadth where the field wanted depth. A known failure is easier to fix than excellence is to guess at.
Who should write my letters, and what should I give them?
Why ask it
The strongest letter usually comes from whoever supervised your most substantial work, not from the most senior person who knows your name. Ask what they like to be given and how far ahead, which also tells you how to make your own request to them.
How much do GRE scores count in this field now?
Why ask it
Plenty of programs have made the test optional or dropped it, and practice differs from one department to the next. Ask whether a missing score reads as neutral or as something to hide. Check each program's own page before paying for a test date.
How should I handle the weak spot in my record: a bad semester, a low grade, a gap?
Why ask it
Say what it is before you ask, since nobody can advise on a problem you describe sideways. The choice is usually between one plain sentence in the statement, a line in a recommender's letter, or silence. Which would they rather read if they were on the committee?
Working back from the deadlines, when should each part of my application be done?
Why ask it
Deadlines differ by country and program, and some fall most of a year before the start date, which is earlier than students expect. Get dates for a first statement draft, the request to your recommenders and any test. If they know a recent applicant who got in, that person's calendar is the best template.
If I do not get in this year, what would you tell me to do before trying again?
Why ask it
Asking ahead of time takes some of the fear out of a rejection and means the fallback is not improvised in spring. Useful answers are specific: a research job, a master's, a stronger writing sample. It is also fair to ask whether they would back a second attempt with a fresh letter.
Can I come back to you once I have a shortlist and a draft statement?
Why ask it
It turns one conversation into a running one and gives you a reason to finish both documents. Offer a rough date so the request does not sound open-ended. A professor who has seen your thinking twice has far more to put in a letter than one who met you once.
Talking to faculty about graduate school
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Setting up the conversation
- 1Ask for office hours or a scheduled meeting rather than catching them after class. Twenty minutes of attention beats five minutes in a hallway.
- 2Say up front what you are trying to decide: whether to apply at all, where to apply, or which of two offers to take. Faculty give sharper advice when they know what question they are answering.
- 3Do not bring the whole list. Pick five or six questions for a twenty-minute meeting, and lead with the one you are most nervous about, because it is the first to be dropped when time runs short.
- 4Bring a draft of something: a statement, a shortlist of programs, a writing sample. Reacting to a specific document is easier than advising in the abstract.
- 5Talk to more than one professor. A single opinion in academia is a single career path generalized into a rule.
- 6Afterwards, send a short note saying what you plan to do with their advice. It is polite, and it makes a second meeting and a letter easier to ask for.
Which questions to take to which professor
- The professor who knows your work best gets the Start here group: whether to go, what you are good at, and the letter. Nobody else can answer those about you.
- Someone who has served on an admissions committee is the person for the Applying group. Ask directly whether they have read applications in the last few years.
- A mentor who is not grading you, such as a research supervisor or a postdoc in the lab, is a good person to ask about grad school as a decision, which is the Worth it group. They have less reason than your own professors to assume you will stay in academia.
- A professor early in their career finished recently, so their picture of stipends, the job market and what applicants are up against is likely to be the most current one in the department.
- A professor you might apply to work with is a different conversation. Keep to advising style, where their students went and what the first year involves, and save the questions about your own doubts for someone who is not deciding on you.
- The Funding and Daily life groups are worth asking twice, once of a professor and once of a current graduate student. Where the two answers differ is where to look harder.
What to listen for
- Whether they describe the field as it is now or as it was when they trained. The difference shows up in advice about the job market especially.
- Whether they can name where their own recent students went. Vagueness here is worth noticing quietly.
- Whether they ask you anything back. A professor who asks what you want out of it is more likely to give you advice fitted to you.
- Any hesitation when you ask about writing a letter. Take it at face value rather than pressing.
- Enthusiasm without specifics. Encouragement costs nothing to give, so follow it by asking for one concrete reason.
What you should know by the end
- The names of two or three potential advisors, and whether each is taking students.
- A realistic completion time for the field, and the funded years attached to it.
- Whether an unfunded offer is normal in your field or a reason to say no.
- What your application is currently missing, in one concrete sentence.
- Whether a master's is a step, a destination, or a detour in this field.
- Who you are asking for letters, and the date you will ask them.