How to Choose a Graduate Advisor
Finding a Faculty Member to Direct an MA Thesis or PhD Dissertation
Should you choose a prestigious scholar to advise your thesis or dissertation? Or are other criteria important as well? Here are some tips on how to choose an advisor.
As a graduate student, one of the most important decisions you'll make is your choice of dissertation or thesis advisor. This is important because you're going to be working with this faculty member on a detailed piece of writing for a semester, a year, or longer. Another reason why you need to weigh this decision carefully is because your advisor will be the person you work with most closely in graduate school, and therefore his or her letter of recommendation will make a difference.
So what should you look for when you're seeking an advisor? Yes, working for a prestigious faculty member can be very advantageous, but it's not the only thing to consider. When looking for an advisor, here are some important criteria to consider.
- Interpersonal rapport. Find someone with whom you have a comfortable rapport and relationship. This may be the most important criteria. A faculty member may be prestigious, but if you two rub each other the wrong way, so what? Your thesis or dissertation is going to be a major part of your life for a while, so take care of your sanity by finding a director you actually like. In addition, it's important to have a strong relationship with your advisor because he or she will be instrumental in finding you a job in the future. The quality of this relationship will affect your reputation.
- Knowledge and expertise. Look for an advisor who has a strong background in the areas relevant to your research topic. Your life is going to be much easier if your advisor can give you solid advice about journal articles and information you need to include. Sure, if your advisor has gaps in knowledge, you can always ask other scholars to be on your committee who have this background. However, it's helpful if your advisor has at least a working background in all or most of the research and information you'll be using in your project.
- Enthusiasm. Look for an advisor who's excited about your project In some ways, this is more important than #2. You have a passion for this topic, and it will be a real drag to work with someone who doesn't share this. When you're talking to prospective advisors, try to gauge their level of enthusiasm.
- Academic politics. As a graduate student who's been around for awhile, you know that there are certain arguments in your field that can get very heated. Be sure you and your advisor are on the same side of any of these debates that are relevant to your research. In addition, find an advisor who gets along with the other people you want to put on your committee. It's unfortunate that you have to consider this kind of interpersonal drama, but it's reality. Some professors just hate each other and may even refuse to do committee work together.
- Availability. Is this faculty member planning a sabbatical? Is there some doubt about whether he or she will get tenure? Is he or she looking for another position? You can't always predict these things, but get as much information as you can about the faculty member's availability. Switching advisors is a pain, as is working with someone long distance.
- Ability to make a time commitment. A disadvantage to working with prestigious faculty members is that they may have many other obligations and a heavy load of graduate student advisees. It's very important that you find an advisor who will get your drafts back in a timely manner and spend a considerable amount of time evaluating your work. Find out how many graduate students the faculty member already advises, and whether they will be working on a big project in the near future.
- Advising reputation. Ask other students about their experiences. Does this faculty member get drafts back quickly? Does he or she offer lots of excellent feedback? Be sure to ask as many students as you can, as one student's bad experience isn't necessarily representative of everyone's. Another thing that's useful to know: how quickly did the advisees of this faculty member complete their projects? If his or her advisees have taken an excessively long time to finish, this is not a good sign.
- Respect for family obligations. If you have a family, find someone who respects this. This is much more important than you might realize. Family obligations, including pregnancy, can increase the time needed to complete a dissertation or thesis. Some faculty members are very understanding about this, but some are insensitive and clueless.
- Academic connections. This is where the prestige part comes in. Look for someone with lots of connections and a stellar reputation, and this will help you out immensely in the long run. However, please keep in mind that this isn't the only consideration, and that sometimes you might be much better off working with someone who isn't as famous.
Best of luck with your thesis or dissertation! For more information on getting through graduate school, here are some ideas about choosing a thesis or dissertation topic and how to survive your first academic conference.
The copyright of the article How to Choose a Graduate Advisor in Graduate Schools is owned by Naomi Rockler-Gladen. Permission to republish How to Choose a Graduate Advisor must be granted by the author in writing.
