Graduate Life Cycle > Getting Started > Meeting with your Research Advisor

Meet early with your Graduate Advisor

One of the most important keys to success in graduate school is establishing a positive working relationship with your research advisor. Your advisor can lend advice and provide wisdom regarding many aspects of your graduate program. You should plan to collaborate closely with your advisor in order to learn about essential rules and procedures of becoming a researcher and scholar in your discipline.

Still Waiting to Choose an Advisor? In some programs, graduate students have the opportunity to select a research advisor after they have arrived. If you are in such a program, be sure to familiarize yourself with the procedures and deadlines for selecting an appropriate research supervisor when you first come to campus and during your program's orientation for new graduate students.

Working Effectively with your advisor. It is important to set up a time to talk with your advisor during the first week that you arrive on campus. There are a number of important topics that you will need to discuss. These include:

-Advisor's Expectations: It is important to ask your advisor what is expected of you. Some questions you might consider: How many hours should you work per week? When and where should you work? Does your advisor prefer you to have a collaborative (i.e., frequent contact with your advisor) or independent working nature? How often, and in what form (e.g., written, oral) should progress be communicated? Questions such as these will give you a clear understanding as to what your advisor expects of you, strengthening your working relationship.

-Meetings: Does your advisor prefer regularly scheduled meetings or "drop-in" meetings? When and where should such meetings take place?

-Thesis Timeline: When should certain portions of the thesis be completed?