Finding An Advisor

Before you can choose the right advisor for you, you have to know who is available. Most graduate programs have a dedicated website for their program. On this website, usually they will have a "Faculty" tab posted. If not, it may be on the department website or the school's overall graduate program website. This may take some digging to find, but if you have a specific field you want to join, a google search may work, like: "school name engineering faculty" or "school name graduate advisors."

Once you've found the faculty list, you'll see most faculty members will have listed their personal websites or social media. These are great resources to figure out exactly what that professor does and what type of person they are. These will help you determine if you want to work with them or not. 

Now that you've found the list of potential advisors, it's time to choose the few that you think are the best fit. No one can tell you how to make this decision, but these are some things to keep in mind:

• Could I see myself doing work like what they do?

• Do I have applicable experience to what they do? (This isn't a deal-breaker, but is important to keep in mind)

• Do they seem to share the same values as me? (You can tell a lot from a DEI statement and social media posts)

• What do the students that currently work for them have in common with me? Do they seem like people I would want to work with?

• What sort of background do they have and is it compatible with mine? (Do you want an advisor that went straight from undergrad to an ivy league PhD?)

• Do they have funding or are they taking on students? (This one may not be answered immediately and usually requires an email inquiry).

A lot of the answers to these questions will come from their personal websites, social media, and email correspondence. 

Cold emailing is not a fan favorite. It's nerve-wracking to send that first email and try to establish rapport. Here are some things to include that will help you open the door for more conservation and a relationship:

• Email at the right time. 

  • Before you begin the email, ask yourself if the timing is right. For a December application deadline, most programs recommend reaching out in early October, for spring deadlines, the recommendation is February. That gives you plenty of time to determine if the advisor is a good fit before submitting an application. You don't want to email an advisor too early, in case they don't have funding yet, or too late, in case you miss the application period. 

• Introduce yourself.

  • Duh, right- but how exactly? Tell them a little bit about you. You don't have to lay out your whole life story, but make sure to mention who you are, what you're doing for undergrad, what you want to do for grad school, and why. Graduate school is difficult, make sure they know what you're in it for.

• Tell them why you're emailing them. 

  • Obviously you're emailing them to join their lab or get a degree, but take it a step further. Why did you choose this person specifically? Do you like their research? Did you read a paper they wrote? Did you just stumble upon them on Twitter and like the vibe? Make sure they know why you chose them out of the hundreds of other faculty members you could be emailing. 

• Ask them about next steps. 

  • This will differ from program to program and advisor to advisor. Some programs and professors will have open positions posted, and for others you're just going out on a whim. Either way, restate why you're emailing them. "I am hoping to pursue a degree in _____ in ______ University's _____ program." Tell them you'd like to chat about their research, or about an opening they posted, or to see if they're taking on students. Make sure to mention what semester you're hoping to join them. They may not have funding right this second, but they might have a grant in the works for the next fall/spring. 

• Pester them afterwards.

  • This is the worst part for most people. After getting over the fear of sending the initial email, you might have to send a follow-up. Professors inboxes get bogged down, and 9 times out of 10 they aren't ignoring you purposefully. If you don't hear back after 2 weeks or so, send a polite follow-up email by replying to your initial email. This could be as simple as "Hello Dr. _____, I just wanted to follow-up on this email. I would really appreciate the opportunity to chat with you about _____." Short, sweet, simple. 

• Things to include in your email.

  • Again, this will vary between professors and programs. Most faculty websites have a "prospective students" tab where they will list the specifics of what they hope to receive in an email. If not, these are the usual suspects:

    • CV or Resume (CVs are recommended in academia)

    • Unofficial transcripts

    • Test scores (if the school requires them)

    • Some professors like cover letters as well

When choosing a graduate advisor, it is crucial to get current student opinions. Since these students already work with the advisor you're looking at, they have first-hand experience with how that advisor operates as a supervisor and mentor. Student reviews are talked about elsewhere on this site, but here are some more specific questions you may want to ask current graduate students:

• Do you think the professors expectations are reasonable?

• Has the advisor been understanding when you've had to take time off?

• What is the advisors management style? Are they hands-off, hands-on, micro-managing? 

• Do you feel like the advisor is on your side?

• Are there any skeletons in the closet? (Scandals within graduate schools are well hidden)

• Have you been expected to pay for research expenses out of pocket?

• What are the advisors strengths and weaknesses?

• If you could go back in time, would you choose this advisor again?

Most graduate advisors will offer to put you in contact with their current students so you can get an unbiased review of them. If they don't, you should be able to find their current graduate students either on the department graduate students page or on their lab website.