Welcome! Are you applying for graduate schools, getting ready for interviews, or trying to decide whether to accept an offer? Applications can be intimidating and stressful. My goal is to help you through the process as much as I can. Below are a few questions I wish I asked before graduate school. I also offered some of the reasons why I thought these questions were valuable!
If you are undecided about whether or not you should go to graduate school, see my earlier post before you dive into this one!
1. How long is the normative time to degree for this program?
There is a lot of variability in how long it can take to get a doctoral or master’s degree and that can result from what field you are in, your specific department or university, or your specific advisor.
I, personally, don’t want to spend my whole life in graduate school. So, it was important for me to know how long my graduate program was before I completed my dissertation or thesis.
I finished my master’s thesis in 2.5 years (which may sound long according to the general 2 year definition). Though, I later found out that the median time to degree for a master’s in my department was 4 years. Four years for a master’s was not feasible for me. I was incredibly thankful to finish before the median time.
Can you overcome a time delay?
Notably, I suspect that this high median time to defend an MS thesis was because of highly field-based projects in my department. With field-based projects, uncontrollable factors like a 100-year weather event or even a pandemic can derail a year of work. This may necessitate the addition of another year.
The normative time to degree at my PhD institution is 5 years. In my field (biology), 5 years is not an unreasonable time period, especially if you work with live organisms or do fieldwork. Though, with other fields, such as engineering, you may feasibly expect to graduate in 4 years.
However, I looked at other universities before I applied. One faculty member I spoke with said the normative time to degree for a PhD in their program was 7 years! When I clarified if that was with or without a master’s they told me it was 7 years already coming into the program with a masters. I chose not to apply to this school. I didn’t want to fight to get out in 5 years if it wasn’t feasible within the department.
2. What kind of work-life balance does the department have? The specific advisor?
An important factor (in my opinion) in being a successful graduate student is work-life balance. This is often dictated by the department or your specific advisor.
During an interview, it’s good to pay attention to how graduate students talk about their lives in the program. Do they go home and visit family during the holidays? Do they relax on nonwork days or do they work through every weekend? What are their hobbies? How often do they engage in those hobbies?
Sometimes students are uncomfortable sharing their opinion if it is not positive. You may choose to speak with students in confidence to ensure that you receive an honest opinion.
Be explicit with your potential faculty advisor in asking questions. How do they approach a work-life balance? How much vacation do they give to their students? What are their expectations for number of hours a week worked?
3. Are people here happy? Are they healthy?
This builds on the previous point but sometimes you can observe more than what people are willing to share with you. Whether most students and faculty are happy may reveal to you how your experiences in a department may be.
Often, you can discern if people in a department are happy just by watching them. Spend some time people watching the students and faculty and see how they carry themselves. Do they look sleep deprived or stressed? Are they carrying themselves with slumped shoulders or are their heads held high with smiles on their faces?
4. How much are graduate students paid? Is it a livable wage? Are students funded by teaching assistantships?
Not all graduate schools pay students equally (or even at all). So, it’s important to find universities that treat you as a valued employee. This usually occurs through graduate student teaching assistantships or research assistantships. Many schools provide a stipend during the academic year AND cover the cost of tuition.
For STEM fields, especially, it is a fallacy that you need to incur debt to get your MS or PhD.
If you conduct research for your degree, you may prefer payment as a research assistant rather than a teaching assistant.
As a teaching assistant, you are expected to work a certain number of hours a week just teaching your course. This is in addition to studying for your own classes and accomplishing any research goals you may have. This may lengthen your time to degree.
I, personally, really enjoy teaching and, although it takes time away from my research, I think it is a valuable experience for me.
It is also worthwhile asking, what the expectations are of you to accomplish your research during the academic year? Will your research goals come before your duties as a teaching assistant? How would you feel if that was the case?
How much income do you need to live?
Lastly, you’ll want to make sure that any stipend the university is providing is enough to live on. If you receive $20,000/year and live somewhere where rent is >$1,200/person/month, you may struggle.
Asking other graduate students how they manage their finances is helpful. It may help you know if you can afford graduate school. If you’re interested in how I save money as a graduate student, watch for an upcoming article on my blog.
Note: When offered a graduate position, it is important your department provide a written statement explaining your funding. This is basically a contract where the university agrees to pay you a stipend and cover tuition in some form during your studies. In general, most universities will provide this agreement when you receive your acceptance packet. In the case that you do not receive one, ask for one!
5. Is there on campus housing? Am I eligible for it?
I bet your first thought goes to thinking of dorms and that doesn’t sound appealing as a graduate student. However, many universities offer housing guarantees in family or married student housing. The units in these communities are usually apartments rather than dorms.
You may wonder what a housing guarantee is. A housing guarantee is essentially what it sounds like. The university guarantees you that you can live in on-campus housing for a given period of time. In the case of my university, I am guaranteed the option to live on campus for at least the normative time of my degree minus one year.
There is a caveat here, though. Not all universities offer graduate housing to all graduate students. For example, at my university, master’s students are not given a housing guarantee – only PhD and JD students are.
Again, you may wonder why you should care if they offer these options. Some universities discount the cost of graduate student housing to help improve affordability of attending that given school.
On campus living can save you money.
For example, according to Rent Café, the average apartment in the area close to my university costs $3,000/month/person. In comparison, living in a 2 bedroom/1 bathroom apartment on campus can cost anywhere between $1,186 – $1,862. The price range depends on the size of the unit and which complex it is in. That’s a savings of between 38% – 60% in rent a month.
Living on campus not only gets you close to where your classes and office are but can save you money!
Plus, it is nice to have neighbors that share the same experiences as you. Often, these housing communities host social hours and private events for their residents. Thus, helping to expand the sense of community you feel in your neighborhood.
Though, if you have a pet, you have to check what the pet policy is in your school’s housing.
6. Is there healthcare for graduate students? Is it paid for by the university? What kind of plan is it?
This is extremely important if you are not a dependent on another person’s healthcare plan.
Many universities have great medical schools, university hospitals, and healthcare programs. This is especially nice when the university covers the expense of enrollment in the graduate healthcare plan for you.
Not all universities will cover the cost of healthcare. My master’s university required graduate students to pay fees each semester. In contrast, my current university covers the cost of healthcare (minus copays and other expected costs) and fees.
It is as important to inquire about healthcare at prospective universities as it is if you applied for a job with a new employer.
7. Is there maternity leave, paternity leave, or childcare?
If you are considering having children (or already have children), this is an especially important point.
Some universities offer paid leave for graduate students are expecting or have a baby. Though, the amount of support and time period may vary by department and university.
Finally, if you have children or expect to have children during your graduate studies, some universities (like mine) offer subsidized childcare for graduate students in addition to playgroups organized within graduate student/family housing.
8. Are there resources if students have issues with advisors?
It is a worst case scenario to imagine but if you ever have unacceptable conflict or difficulties with your advisor/mentor, it is incredibly important to have a resource to discuss this with.
Some universities have an ombudsman who may serve this role. And ombudsman is generally, an unbiased party to investigate filed complaints and ensure that conflicts are resolved fairly. Though, the role of an ombudsman may differ by university.
Other universities might have a dedicated departmental figure who works within the department to moderate conflict between students and faculty. And there are some universities who have neither of these options.
Because of the power dynamics between students and faculty advisors, it is important to have an unbiased third party to provide feedback and improve precarious situations.
9. What do students from the program end up doing after they finish? How many students finish?
Knowing where alumni get postdoctoral positions or jobs is a great litmus test for your opportunities following graduation.
It is also good to know how many students, if any, do NOT finish their intended program. It is wise to ask why these students left as it can shed light into the inner workings of the department and work-life balance of the students in the program.
10. What is the funding for your research like?
We covered figuring out if there is funding for you (i.e., stipend) but you probably want to know if there is funding for your research, too! This is a question for your prospective faculty advisor. They apply for/have grants from proposals in the pipeline that can fund your project.
Sometimes there isn’t funding for your project specifically. This is not the end of the world. You should follow up with asking how much of the equipment is already available in the lab, availability of funds that you could apply for through the university, grants that you may apply for to get funding, etc.
During my undergrad, I met a student at a different university who worked at a teaching assistant to pay for tuition and to get a stipend from the university but also as a waitress in the evenings to raise funds for her research because of funding issues
11. What is your preferred advising style? How does your prospective mentor advise?
This is a question that is difficult to answer if you haven’t consciously thought about it before. From my experience, there is a spectrum that advising styles fall on. Some advisors are more hands-on while others are more hands-off, and others are flexible with how they approach individuals.
During my master’s, I found that I go through phases of independence or needing quite a bit of feedback. So, when looking for a PhD advisor, it was important to me to find someone who could provide feedback when necessary.
When asking about advising styles, it’s good to ask about what your advisor’s expectations are. Do they expect to meet with you multiple times a week? Once a week? Once a month? On an as-need basis?
If you have other questions you think are important or any questions/comments about this post, feel free to comment down below!