How to compare two prospective advisors?

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RandomMathStudent
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Feb 09, 2021 3:12 am

How to compare two prospective advisors?

Post by RandomMathStudent » Tue Mar 02, 2021 6:51 am

I am confused between two prospective advisors in two different schools ranked similarly. They both work on the same field. These are few factors which I think would help me to make a decision (ranked in decreasing order):
1. Post Doc/Industrial position of PhD students they adviced
2. Publications
3. Years they have been working in academia
4.

The list is incomplete, can someone help me to complete it? You can also make your own list and post it as a reply.

IdeallyRingless
Posts: 12
Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2020 12:03 am

Re: How to compare two prospective advisors?

Post by IdeallyRingless » Tue Mar 02, 2021 10:48 am

One thing you absolutely need to do is reach out to the graduate students they’ve advised in the past and ask those students about their experiences with the respective advisors. Nobody will know what the situation will be like with each advisor better than their previous students. Some questions you might consider asking the students include

1. What is the advisors personality like? Did you feel like you could talk to them about things outside of research or were things strictly professional and academic?

2. How present was the advisor/how much “hand-holding” was there in research during the course of your PhD? Were you just given papers and told to find research topics on your own or did the advisor meet with you frequently (weekly, biweekly, multiple times a week, etc) to discuss research topics, ideas for proofs, and papers in your field?

3. How much did the advisor connect you with people they knew in academia/research/industry? (Some friends of mine have advisors that don’t do much to get students connected with people they know in their field. Other friends of mine however frequently get invited to zoom/Skype meetings their advisor has with research collaborators to help the student form connections at other institutions. This can help a lot with finding a position in your desired career path after graduating)

4. How approachable is the advisor in general? Are they intimidating or are they very friendly and easy to talk to? (This is similar to question 1, but id suggest asking this question explicitly as well since early in your PhD, being comfortable asking questions and telling your advisor that you don’t know something or that something is unclear to you is hugely important for success)

5. What was/is your favorite thing about working with the advisor and what was/is your least favorite thing or worst experience with the advisor? (This can help you get an idea of what the best times and worst times will be like with either advisor. In particular, knowing what the bad experiences are like can be a huge factor in deciding who to go with since one very bad incident can have a really big negative impact on your feelings and work success during your PhD)

6. Is there anything you wish you knew about your advisor before you started working with them?

And lastly, my go-to question whenever I finish any sort of interview or meeting with people where I can ask questions is

7. Is there anything I should be asking that I am not?

This last question can help act as a catch-all since there will almost certainly be questions that the grad students know of that don’t occur to students applying for PhD programs. The past or current student that you’re talking may just say “no, I can’t think of anything” to this and that’s fine.

Hope this helps :)

RandomMathStudent
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Feb 09, 2021 3:12 am

Re: How to compare two prospective advisors?

Post by RandomMathStudent » Tue Mar 02, 2021 5:30 pm

IdeallyRingless wrote:
Tue Mar 02, 2021 10:48 am
One thing you absolutely need to do is reach out to the graduate students they’ve advised in the past and ask those students about their experiences with the respective advisors. Nobody will know what the situation will be like with each advisor better than their previous students. Some questions you might consider asking the students include

1. What is the advisors personality like? Did you feel like you could talk to them about things outside of research or were things strictly professional and academic?

2. How present was the advisor/how much “hand-holding” was there in research during the course of your PhD? Were you just given papers and told to find research topics on your own or did the advisor meet with you frequently (weekly, biweekly, multiple times a week, etc) to discuss research topics, ideas for proofs, and papers in your field?

3. How much did the advisor connect you with people they knew in academia/research/industry? (Some friends of mine have advisors that don’t do much to get students connected with people they know in their field. Other friends of mine however frequently get invited to zoom/Skype meetings their advisor has with research collaborators to help the student form connections at other institutions. This can help a lot with finding a position in your desired career path after graduating)

4. How approachable is the advisor in general? Are they intimidating or are they very friendly and easy to talk to? (This is similar to question 1, but id suggest asking this question explicitly as well since early in your PhD, being comfortable asking questions and telling your advisor that you don’t know something or that something is unclear to you is hugely important for success)

5. What was/is your favorite thing about working with the advisor and what was/is your least favorite thing or worst experience with the advisor? (This can help you get an idea of what the best times and worst times will be like with either advisor. In particular, knowing what the bad experiences are like can be a huge factor in deciding who to go with since one very bad incident can have a really big negative impact on your feelings and work success during your PhD)

6. Is there anything you wish you knew about your advisor before you started working with them?

And lastly, my go-to question whenever I finish any sort of interview or meeting with people where I can ask questions is

7. Is there anything I should be asking that I am not?

This last question can help act as a catch-all since there will almost certainly be questions that the grad students know of that don’t occur to students applying for PhD programs. The past or current student that you’re talking may just say “no, I can’t think of anything” to this and that’s fine.

Hope this helps :)
It's really great. Thank you so much for such a good advice. :D

modularform
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2020 3:55 am

Re: How to compare two prospective advisors?

Post by modularform » Wed Mar 03, 2021 12:25 pm

IdeallyRingless wrote:
Tue Mar 02, 2021 10:48 am
One thing you absolutely need to do is reach out to the graduate students they’ve advised in the past and ask those students about their experiences with the respective advisors. Nobody will know what the situation will be like with each advisor better than their previous students. Some questions you might consider asking the students include

1. What is the advisors personality like? Did you feel like you could talk to them about things outside of research or were things strictly professional and academic?

2. How present was the advisor/how much “hand-holding” was there in research during the course of your PhD? Were you just given papers and told to find research topics on your own or did the advisor meet with you frequently (weekly, biweekly, multiple times a week, etc) to discuss research topics, ideas for proofs, and papers in your field?

3. How much did the advisor connect you with people they knew in academia/research/industry? (Some friends of mine have advisors that don’t do much to get students connected with people they know in their field. Other friends of mine however frequently get invited to zoom/Skype meetings their advisor has with research collaborators to help the student form connections at other institutions. This can help a lot with finding a position in your desired career path after graduating)

4. How approachable is the advisor in general? Are they intimidating or are they very friendly and easy to talk to? (This is similar to question 1, but id suggest asking this question explicitly as well since early in your PhD, being comfortable asking questions and telling your advisor that you don’t know something or that something is unclear to you is hugely important for success)

5. What was/is your favorite thing about working with the advisor and what was/is your least favorite thing or worst experience with the advisor? (This can help you get an idea of what the best times and worst times will be like with either advisor. In particular, knowing what the bad experiences are like can be a huge factor in deciding who to go with since one very bad incident can have a really big negative impact on your feelings and work success during your PhD)

6. Is there anything you wish you knew about your advisor before you started working with them?

And lastly, my go-to question whenever I finish any sort of interview or meeting with people where I can ask questions is

7. Is there anything I should be asking that I am not?

This last question can help act as a catch-all since there will almost certainly be questions that the grad students know of that don’t occur to students applying for PhD programs. The past or current student that you’re talking may just say “no, I can’t think of anything” to this and that’s fine.

Hope this helps :)
Thank you very much for such a piece of great advice! I have a silly query now. Shall I ask this to the current/past graduate students of the prospective advisors now only (i.e., 5 months before joining the university) or after a few months once I get in and my first year starts? Thanks!

IdeallyRingless
Posts: 12
Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2020 12:03 am

Re: How to compare two prospective advisors?

Post by IdeallyRingless » Thu Mar 04, 2021 12:28 pm

modularform wrote:
Wed Mar 03, 2021 12:25 pm
IdeallyRingless wrote:
Tue Mar 02, 2021 10:48 am
One thing you absolutely need to do is reach out to the graduate students they’ve advised in the past and ask those students about their experiences with the respective advisors. Nobody will know what the situation will be like with each advisor better than their previous students. Some questions you might consider asking the students include

1. What is the advisors personality like? Did you feel like you could talk to them about things outside of research or were things strictly professional and academic?

2. How present was the advisor/how much “hand-holding” was there in research during the course of your PhD? Were you just given papers and told to find research topics on your own or did the advisor meet with you frequently (weekly, biweekly, multiple times a week, etc) to discuss research topics, ideas for proofs, and papers in your field?

3. How much did the advisor connect you with people they knew in academia/research/industry? (Some friends of mine have advisors that don’t do much to get students connected with people they know in their field. Other friends of mine however frequently get invited to zoom/Skype meetings their advisor has with research collaborators to help the student form connections at other institutions. This can help a lot with finding a position in your desired career path after graduating)

4. How approachable is the advisor in general? Are they intimidating or are they very friendly and easy to talk to? (This is similar to question 1, but id suggest asking this question explicitly as well since early in your PhD, being comfortable asking questions and telling your advisor that you don’t know something or that something is unclear to you is hugely important for success)

5. What was/is your favorite thing about working with the advisor and what was/is your least favorite thing or worst experience with the advisor? (This can help you get an idea of what the best times and worst times will be like with either advisor. In particular, knowing what the bad experiences are like can be a huge factor in deciding who to go with since one very bad incident can have a really big negative impact on your feelings and work success during your PhD)

6. Is there anything you wish you knew about your advisor before you started working with them?

And lastly, my go-to question whenever I finish any sort of interview or meeting with people where I can ask questions is

7. Is there anything I should be asking that I am not?

This last question can help act as a catch-all since there will almost certainly be questions that the grad students know of that don’t occur to students applying for PhD programs. The past or current student that you’re talking may just say “no, I can’t think of anything” to this and that’s fine.

Hope this helps :)
Thank you very much for such a piece of great advice! I have a silly query now. Shall I ask this to the current/past graduate students of the prospective advisors now only (i.e., 5 months before joining the university) or after a few months once I get in and my first year starts? Thanks!
The more important time to do this is now. Think about it this way, if you meet with the grad students of each advisor and one advisor's graduate students say a lot of negative things about Advisor A and the other set of graduate students for the advisor say a lot of great things about Advisor B, if you are already a few months into your studies, then it's too late to go with the more preferred advisor B. Basically, you want to meet with the graduate students to figure out which advisor you'd prefer to work with, but if you meet with them after you're already in the school, then you won't be able to do this.

Meeting with previous graduate students can definitely also be helpful after you've already begun the program too however. For example, if you want advice on how to handle a certain situation with your advisor that you're unsure of how to approach, asking past students can be eye opening. If you are going through a difficult situation with the advisor, then there's a decent chance that past students have also had to deal with that same or similar difficult situations with the advisor and they can share how they dealt with things.

Definitely though, meet with past graduate students before you commit to the school and decide where to go if possible.

modularform
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2020 3:55 am

Re: How to compare two prospective advisors?

Post by modularform » Thu Mar 04, 2021 3:10 pm

IdeallyRingless wrote:
Thu Mar 04, 2021 12:28 pm
modularform wrote:
Wed Mar 03, 2021 12:25 pm
IdeallyRingless wrote:
Tue Mar 02, 2021 10:48 am
One thing you absolutely need to do is reach out to the graduate students they’ve advised in the past and ask those students about their experiences with the respective advisors. Nobody will know what the situation will be like with each advisor better than their previous students. Some questions you might consider asking the students include

1. What is the advisors personality like? Did you feel like you could talk to them about things outside of research or were things strictly professional and academic?

2. How present was the advisor/how much “hand-holding” was there in research during the course of your PhD? Were you just given papers and told to find research topics on your own or did the advisor meet with you frequently (weekly, biweekly, multiple times a week, etc) to discuss research topics, ideas for proofs, and papers in your field?

3. How much did the advisor connect you with people they knew in academia/research/industry? (Some friends of mine have advisors that don’t do much to get students connected with people they know in their field. Other friends of mine however frequently get invited to zoom/Skype meetings their advisor has with research collaborators to help the student form connections at other institutions. This can help a lot with finding a position in your desired career path after graduating)

4. How approachable is the advisor in general? Are they intimidating or are they very friendly and easy to talk to? (This is similar to question 1, but id suggest asking this question explicitly as well since early in your PhD, being comfortable asking questions and telling your advisor that you don’t know something or that something is unclear to you is hugely important for success)

5. What was/is your favorite thing about working with the advisor and what was/is your least favorite thing or worst experience with the advisor? (This can help you get an idea of what the best times and worst times will be like with either advisor. In particular, knowing what the bad experiences are like can be a huge factor in deciding who to go with since one very bad incident can have a really big negative impact on your feelings and work success during your PhD)

6. Is there anything you wish you knew about your advisor before you started working with them?

And lastly, my go-to question whenever I finish any sort of interview or meeting with people where I can ask questions is

7. Is there anything I should be asking that I am not?

This last question can help act as a catch-all since there will almost certainly be questions that the grad students know of that don’t occur to students applying for PhD programs. The past or current student that you’re talking may just say “no, I can’t think of anything” to this and that’s fine.

Hope this helps :)
Thank you very much for such a piece of great advice! I have a silly query now. Shall I ask this to the current/past graduate students of the prospective advisors now only (i.e., 5 months before joining the university) or after a few months once I get in and my first year starts? Thanks!
The more important time to do this is now. Think about it this way, if you meet with the grad students of each advisor and one advisor's graduate students say a lot of negative things about Advisor A and the other set of graduate students for the advisor say a lot of great things about Advisor B, if you are already a few months into your studies, then it's too late to go with the more preferred advisor B. Basically, you want to meet with the graduate students to figure out which advisor you'd prefer to work with, but if you meet with them after you're already in the school, then you won't be able to do this.

Meeting with previous graduate students can definitely also be helpful after you've already begun the program too however. For example, if you want advice on how to handle a certain situation with your advisor that you're unsure of how to approach, asking past students can be eye opening. If you are going through a difficult situation with the advisor, then there's a decent chance that past students have also had to deal with that same or similar difficult situations with the advisor and they can share how they dealt with things.

Definitely though, meet with past graduate students before you commit to the school and decide where to go if possible.

Thank you very much again!

letepsilonbelarge
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2021 9:20 pm

Re: How to compare two prospective advisors?

Post by letepsilonbelarge » Fri Mar 05, 2021 9:41 pm

One of my professors told me that it is often better to choose a young adviser, as they are the faculty who are the most "hungry" and thereby are thinking about a lot of interesting problems. Moreover, they are less likely to have a lot of external obligations (the canonical example being kids), so they have much more time to guide you.

RandomMathStudent
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Feb 09, 2021 3:12 am

Re: How to compare two prospective advisors?

Post by RandomMathStudent » Fri Mar 05, 2021 11:05 pm

letepsilonbelarge wrote:
Fri Mar 05, 2021 9:41 pm
One of my professors told me that it is often better to choose a young adviser, as they are the faculty who are the most "hungry" and thereby are thinking about a lot of interesting problems. Moreover, they are less likely to have a lot of external obligations (the canonical example being kids), so they have much more time to guide you.
I think that we should look at how frequently a professor is publishing and that he is not very old i.e. close to retirement.

Because, if say there are two professors one of them joined as an assistant professor on 2015 and another one is professor who joined academia on 2005. Then they both are young in terms of mathematical productivity because they both are publishing frequently.

kahdk
Posts: 40
Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2020 8:22 pm

Re: How to compare two prospective advisors?

Post by kahdk » Sat Mar 06, 2021 4:26 am

RandomMathStudent wrote:
Fri Mar 05, 2021 11:05 pm
letepsilonbelarge wrote:
Fri Mar 05, 2021 9:41 pm
One of my professors told me that it is often better to choose a young adviser, as they are the faculty who are the most "hungry" and thereby are thinking about a lot of interesting problems. Moreover, they are less likely to have a lot of external obligations (the canonical example being kids), so they have much more time to guide you.
I think that we should look at how frequently a professor is publishing and that he is not very old i.e. close to retirement.

Because, if say there are two professors one of them joined as an assistant professor on 2015 and another one is professor who joined academia on 2005. Then they both are young in terms of mathematical productivity because they both are publishing frequently.
I agree with RandomMathStudent, being "young" is not all about the age. You should judge through how active he/she is in terms of research. I've seen profs in their 50s or 60s published 10 papers each year. And I bet they have a lot of interesting problems in hand as well. The only thing is that those senior profs might be really busy and often adopt a hands-off advising style. But whether this is good or bad also depends on you.



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