Questions to ask a professor at a target school

Question

For all of you who have reached out to professors at a school you may be researching - what kind of questions do you ask?

I am absolutely stumped at this..I have zeroed in on some professors but I cant think of good questions to come up with.

My main reason for contacting is to establish a touchpoint and gain more knowledge about specific courses and how they may help me in my career at XYZ - but can't seem to put it into words.

Here is what goes on in my head:

1. I am interested in your course on XYZ - could you please elaborate on the case studies or concepts learnt in this course for my goals to become an ABC?

2. What are some of the other programs or courses you would recommend me pursuing?

Pathetic questions..sigh - any help folks?

Raabend · Answer

Hey Sterny, great topic. I am having the same problem with student / alumni questions. All the questions I want to ask are cliche and/or on the website. However I want to ask them to get an answer from real people.

Perhaps people could suggest some questions/plans for professor AND student/alumni questions???

Thanks!

Perhaps people could suggest some questions/plans for professor AND student/alumni questions???

Thanks!

chicagoapplicant · Answer

I'm not an expert, but I think you'll get the most benefit from visiting that Professor's class at the Target School.

That way, when you introduce yourself after the class, you can chat about something interesting that you heard, and use that as your chance to learn more about the school, professor, program, etc.

Case in point, I visited Kellogg this morning, and sat in on a Tech Marketing class taught by Professor Sawhney. He wrote the case discussed, which was interesting, and he had time to chat for a few minutes after the class.

If you get a chance, definitely try to visit the Target on the day that the Prof is teaching.

sterny · Answer

Good point chicagoapplicant.

Question about visiting schools though - when you meet fellow students or professors, what sort of questions do you generally ask? I don't wanna ask stuff that I could easily findon their websites..but get some real perspective on their experiences and have a candid feedback from them.

Maybe I am overthinking this, just like I do normally

3underscore · Answer

Just ask the questions you want the answers to from students. They hardly sway matters, and would rather you ask things you want to know. Maybe avoid fact based questions (data that would be on the web - they won't know it anyway) and try to gather things from their perspective. Ask second years what they did for the summer and butter up their ego. That will never fail.

In fact - big up the student's ego by asking about them, then ask what the hell you like. They will just remember you making them feel awesome.

sm332 · Answer

Tha above advice is sound. - the other thing that may be worthwhile is to read some of the books that Prof. have written and engage them through that.

Questions to ask a professor at a target school

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