<p>Originaloog couldn’t be more correct. Besides finding the key person you want to have as an advisor, consider a few other things:<br>
- Does your potential advisor have tenure? If not, be very cautious. More than a few graduate students have had their graduate work delayed for years because their advisor didn’t receive tenure and left the school.
- Does your potential advisor have funding – particularly funding that might allow you to avoid being a TA for entry level classes for two years? A RA is a lot more helpful.
- Is your potential advisor in great battles with others in the department? Is the department a battleground? Remember, when the dinosaurs tromp around, the little guys get trampled.
- How has this department and your potential advisor done with other graduate students? How long on average does it take? What’s the employment scenario for those graduates? </p>
<p>Too many potential graduate students fail to understand the political nature of graduate work, and I’ve seen far too many really brilliant people fail to finish while more politically astute but less amazing graduate students get their degrees.</p>