<p>I will be visiting a grad school next week, and I'm wondering, what is considered ok and not ok to ask? What questions should I ask?</p>
<p>One question I really want to ask is placement rate after graduation. Where do PhD's usually get post-doc positions? </p>
<p>Of course I would also ask potential advisers if they are actively taking on students (but I know this through their math genealogy pages) and what kind of topics they are working in (again, easily looked up).</p>
<p>What kind of questions should I ask the professors? What should I ask the grad students? How are the prelims? How is the faculty in terms of getting an adviser? Any difficult advisers? </p>
<p>Your question about placement rate should be asked of the DGS, not of any other professors. (Many likely will not actually know, and some will just answer in generalities, or anecdotes.) Also ask the DGS about average length of time to completion of the degree. The DGS is also the person to ask about the structure of and expectations for prelims, how dissertation committees are formed, how advisors are assigned, availability of health care plan, etc.</p>
<p>There is no reason to ask professors things you already know. Instead, formulate questions that show what you already know, but take things further. Demonstrating familiarity with the faculty is a good thing. (But don’t go too far and be the creepy guy who researched people’s personal lives.)</p>
<p>Ask grad students everything. Ask professional questions about the program when in professional settings, and ask quality of life questions in less formal settings.</p>
<p>Professional questions: expectations in classes, accessibility of faculty (in the aggregate and individually), how prelims work, etc.</p>
<p>Quality of life questions: how the health care plan really works, unexpected costs to anticipate, where grad students tend to live and shop, landlords to avoid, availability of parking for grad students, etc. Often, the best questions for grad students are “What did you wish you knew before you got here? What were you surprised by?”</p>
<p>In addition to these, a simple question I have offered in other threads is simply “Why did you choose this school over the others at which you were accepted?” Not only does it give you a good insight into what that student liked about that program, I think it helps you gauge what is important to your future colleagues. For instance, I chose a program where the common answer was something along the lines of “I love the science here and the fact that my PI allows me to pursue the questions I wish to pursue” and turned down a school where seriously most of the answers were more along the lines of “I love to mountain bike/ski/my significant other goes here.”</p>
<p>Haha, this is exactly why I’m going to a school in the middle of a wasteland instead of on a beautiful beach. :)</p>
<p>I also liked to ask current grad students where else they had thought about attending and why did they come here instead. I think it’s a good way to help you think about the pros and cons of a decision you’re going to make if you get to hear someone else’s input on the same situation.</p>
<p>My daughter went to a visit at UCLA today and found that they have her a printed list of graduated student placements in her info package. Very nice. So that seems okay to ask.</p>
<p>One thing she noticed was that was unexpected, was that the layout of the building was not conducive to a collaborative environment and there were no common areas for this, and perhaps not even teas (although this may be newly done, can’t recall.) So she asked students if they talk to or work with students in related areas and the answer seemed to be “no”. This made her realize that she really values that type of environment, especially it is useful in her area, and she is already attending her school grad student teas as she is invited, and they are useful to expand awareness of other’s work.</p>
<p>Off topic, but I don’t want to start a new thread, are TA’s and fellowship students tax exempt? I’m trying to get an idea of what my finances are going to look like, and how much I should be spending on rent (I heard 30-35% of my monthly income should be going towards rent).</p>
<p>The part of your fellowship/stipend that goes towards tuition, student fees, and educational expenses is considered tax free, but the rest of your fellowship/stipend isn’t.</p>