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PhD visit days are your chance to explore potential graduate programs and decide if they’re the right fit. They’re packed with activities like campus and lab tours, meetings with potential research advisors, and opportunities to ask questions to faculty and students. Here’s what our PhD student panelists had to say about using them effectively.
Visit days allow you to evaluate the program’s fit for your goals. Expect campus tours, lab visits, faculty meetings, and social activities with current and prospective students. Programs aim to impress during the visit days, so when you’re evaluating the program, make sure to focus on what really matters for your academic and personal needs. Of course, make sure to have fun and enjoy the visit as well!
You’ll spend years here, so ask yourself: can you see yourself living and thriving in this environment? Here are some important questions to answer during the visit, either on your own or by talking to current students/faculty:
Current students are your best resource for honest and accurate information - they’re less invested in selling the program to you, and have experiences that are much closer to the ones you’d have.
In Your Potential Lab: This is your chance to learn about lab culture and advising style. Don’t be afraid to ask direct questions - this is your best chance! Here are some key things to ask about:
Outside Your Lab: Students outside of your lab/field are a great resource to gauge the department-wide environment - these will be your friends and peers. Ask about student organizations, social activities, fun things to do in the area, and how well different labs interact.
As with students in your lab, direct questions will be the most productive. Here are a few our panelists like:
Don’t shy away from tough questions—students are often happy to share their honest take, especially if something’s not ideal.
Your advisor plays a key role in your PhD. Use visit days to understand their mentorship style and expectations:
Practical questions like these will help you assess how the advisor and lab align with your goals.
When comparing programs, our panelists thought these were the most important factors to focus on:
Our panelists felt that an advisor/program’s reputation does matter for connections and networking, so they are a consideration, but that advisor fit and program culture are more important for facilitating your happiness and success in the program.
Our panelists recommend preparing a list of all of the questions you’re hoping to get answered (like the ones in this blog post!) and creating a spreadsheet to track them all for each school! This will make sure that you don’t forget anything important as you go between different schools, and make it easier for you to directly compare programs when it comes time to make a decision.
Though the above questions are all more pointed towards the program’s current students/faculty/environment, it’s also important to connect with both prospective and current students during visit days. Your cohort will be a big part of your life, providing academic and emotional support. Even if they choose other schools, you’ll likely cross paths professionally, so it never hurts to start making good connections early. This is also a great way to share learnings about the program, either good or bad, to help you make a more informed decision.
Enjoy the perks of visit days but focus on the important details—living environment, lab culture, advisor fit, and funding. Ask the hard questions, connect with people, and take a close look at what the program offers beyond its presentation.
The goal is to find a program that supports both your academic success and personal well-being. Good luck!