• Department/program
  • How many students does each advisor have?
  • How long does it take for a grad student to graduate?
  • How many students leave every year?
  • Do advisors usually have projects or do you create your own?
  • Can students collaborate with other students/labs?
  • Are XYZ classes required?
  • Mental health within the program?
  • Life outside of the program?
  • What kind of non-academic internships have students done? (Is there funding for unpaid internships?)
  • What’s required for a masters?
  • Have professors been recently publishing (<1 years)?
  • How often do students fail quals/comps or the degree?
• Mentor/mentee relationships
  • Interactions between students and advisors?
  • How do students find advisors? Is it easy?
  • How do you bring DEI training and education into mentorship?
  • What is your mentorship style?
  • How many students do you typically advise?
  • How large is your lab?
  • Do you have previous any students I could talk to?
• Money
  • Is TA-ing or teaching part of the financial package?
  • What is the financial package?
  • Is healthcare subsidized?
  • Is there a union?
• Life
  • What do students do for fun together?
  • What’s the friend/dating/marriage/etc culture like?
  • What restaurants in the area do you recommend?
  • How is the housing/rental market?
  • Do students typically live alone or with roommates? If so how many?
• Research
  • What is the research culture in X department, X program, and X lab?
  • How many publications do you typically expect from students in their Ph.D.?
  • What is the average timeline for a degree in your lab?
  • Do students typically get assigned a project or do they pitch projects?