Choosing an Advisor

One of the first things graduate students typically do when they begin their graduate research is pick an academic advisor. This is an important decision and it can be a difficult one. The personality and expectations of the academic advisor will strongly affect the character of the student’s research. This document contains tips from a past Georgia Tech student (Mike Woodmansee, Ph.D. M.E., 2003) on how you might select your advisor

Defining your interests

It is important to be able to define your research interests as early as possible. More so now than ever before, employers are increasingly expecting masters and doctoral graduates to be able to utilize their specialized knowledge gained in graduate school immediately after graduation. This means that it will be easier to get your first job after graduation if it is in the area you did your graduate research in. Conversely, if you want to change your major (for instance, if you have a B.A. in mathematics but you are interested in doing materials research), the beginning of graduate school is a great time to make the switch and choosing the right advisor will make the transition much easier. In defining your research interests more closely, consider the following:

• Favorite classes (Which college classes did you most enjoy?)
• Best grades classes (Which classes did you get the best grades in?)
• Favorite professors (Which college professors did you get along with the best or admire the most? What were their areas of interest?)
• Extracurricular activities (Were you passionately involved in sports or clubs that could be incorporated into your research?)
• Professional aspirations (Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Academia? Industry? Research? Manufacturing? Management? How can graduate school help you achieve your ambitions?)
• Undergraduate research or previous work experience (If you did any undergraduate research or have previous work experience, what area was it in and did you enjoy it?)

Meeting with prospective advisors

The next step is to meet with potential advisors. You may be given a list of professors who are looking for graduate research assistants. Meet with as many of these professors as possible, even if you are not sure your interests mesh with theirs. Meeting with professors with different interests will help you define your own research interests and the professors who are actively seeking research assistants will be the most receptive to you if you share their research interests.

• Meet with as many potential advisors as possible.
• Review a professor’s research interests and past work before the meeting.
• Project a sincere interest in the professor’s research areas during the meeting.
• Ask lots of questions.
• In discussing your own interests and experiences, focus on the positive and gloss over the negative.
• Take notes.

Characteristics to consider in choosing an advisor

After meeting with a number of different professors, you will want to sit down and review your notes and think back over the different interviews. There are a number of areas you should look at in comparing different potential advisors.

• Research interests (Do you share this professor’s research interests?)
• Availability (How often does the professor travel? Is this professor’s door always open to students? If you have a question or problem on any given day, how long do you think it will take before you can meet with this professor on the matter?)
• Facilities (Where are the physical facilities that you will be doing your research at? Is physical environment (i.e. lighting, temperature, humidity, visual) pleasant? Will you have the tools necessary to get the research done right? Will you have to walk very far between your desk, the lab and your advisor’s office?)
• Personality (Did you “click” with this professor or did you feel intimidated or put-off in some way. Could you see yourself as being friends with this person after graduation?)
• Other advisees (How many other students does this professor have? Will they be working on the similar projects as yours or will you be working alone? Do they seem happy/excited about their research?)
• Funding sources (Even if you are on fellowship, it may not cover all material expenses associated with your research. Does this professor already have funding secure for the project you are considering? When does the funding contract need to be renewed next? Does the professor have a long-standing relationship with the funding source?)
• Stature/tenure (Is this professor tenured yet? Choosing an advisor who is does not yet have tenure may pose a potential risk—should they leave the Institute before your graduate work is complete—but also has the potential to yield special rewards such as more personalized attention to your own work. Professors which have a greater stature in their research area could have more to offer intellectually, but may also be less available because of the large number of advisees they are responsible for or due to time away for travel to conferences and meetings.)
• Home department (What department is this professor based in primarily? The home school/field will strongly affect the character of research that this professor does.)
• NOT race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, age (Georgia Tech makes a point of hiring only those professors who demonstrate a talent at teaching and communicating in English, without special accommodation for their demographics. There is no logical reason to write off a potential advisor because of what they look like or where they are from.)

Good luck in beginning your graduate studies at Georgia Tech. For many individuals, graduate school represents an intellectual coming-of-age and the relationships made and kept in graduate school often stay with you for the rest of your life. The opportunities in graduate school are not presented as openly as in college, but there are many more of them. Take advantage of as many of these opportunities as possible. Expand your mind. Travel. And most importantly, pursue your interests with passion.