What questions should you be asking potential graduate programs?
If you’re applying to graduate programs it’s a good idea to gather information about the places you’re considering applying to. A graduate degree is a huge commitment and you want to feel confident that you have all the information you need to make the best decision for you.
Here’s a few things to consider as you try to choose between different programs. As a disclaimer, I’m a humanities PhD candidate and so my POV will be most relevant to potential graduate students within the humanities. However, I believe that most of these tips are also relevant for potential graduate students across many other areas of study.
- Scour the program’s website!!!
I can’t put enough emphasis on how crucial this is. Honestly, most of the important information about a program will be made available to you in written form on their website. This includes information about their faculty and students, how long the program usually takes to complete, what the coursework entails, tuition and scholarship/fellowship information, job placement rates, and much more.
Do not underestimate how important it is to first look at the program’s website and gather as much information as you can!
If you contact a program by phone or you go into an interview and you ask questions that you could have easily found out online then you’re not going to seem precocious and engaged—you’re going to look like you didn’t put in enough effort and that you’re not serious about the program.
- Ask qualitative questions in person (or via phone or email)!
So you’ve found out about the nuts and bolts of the program on their website or by reading their brochures or whatever the case may be. Now, it’s time to ask questions that you can’t find on a web page.
Some questions you might want to consider asking are:
- What are the strengths of your program?
- Is your sub-field strongly supported? What kind of research is being conducted by current graduate students?
- What is the working environment of the department? Is it competitive? Laid-back? Separatist? Cohesive?
- How are students supported academically and personally? What resources (financially, professional, and otherwise) exist for students within the department and outside of it?
- What internship or fellowship opportunities do students in the program participate in?
- What support is there for students when they’re going on the job market?
- What connections and partnerships does the program have to other programs within and outside of the university? How do these connections benefit graduate students.
These questions are meant to help you gauge things about a program that you won’t purely get from seeing statistics or looking up rankings. These are questions that will help you to evaluate if the program is a good fit for you based on your research interests, career goals, and personality.
Remember:
At the end of the day, no graduate program will be a perfect fit. BUT, if you do the best you can to learn about a program you’ll limit your surprises once you start and you’ll up your chances of ending up somewhere that makes you happy to be a graduate student!
Danielle Procope
Founder & Lead Editor for Mertina Writing Services
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