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Just brainstorming - maybe you could do a search for your programs on LinkedIn, and message former students on there. You could also contact the schools and request to speak to a student, but there's some potential bias there.
 
lifelonglearnerPhD said:
Thanks. I already considered both suggestions, but I don't believe folks would be super forthcoming (or at least not as forthcoming as they would be on a semi-anonymous platform i.e: yelp)
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You might be surprised. I worked for my school's admissions office while in grad school, and I was always blunt and honest with potential students. My reasoning was that I wanted people to know what they were getting into... grad school is really stressful, and it's important that people make informed decisions. Having unhappy or bitter students would affect the whole department. I didn't see a downside to this, either... if my answers turned someone away, it was saving everyone (applicant, other students, and faculty/staff) a lot of unnecessary stress.

Not everyone will share that view, but it may be worth a shot anyway. You could get some good information. I'd encourage you to be direct in your questioning.
 
Students' appraisals of their specific labs and mentors are going to matter more than appraisals of the entire program.

You get this, but more typically on interview day after you have identified people you want to work with.
 
I agree with MCParent. At places you interview, ask grad students in the lab open-ended questions on topics such as how collaborative/competitive the lab environment is, how involved the mentor is (some mentors out-source an amount of mentoring to the older graduate students and that amount varies), what is the general mix of praise and constructive criticism from the mentor, what do they see as the pros/cons working with that mentor, what is the pace the students in the lab get through the program, how well do lab members match for internship, what kinds of places do the lab members end up after the program, etc. Unless there is a lot of in-fighting among staff, unusual policies, etc, much of your experience in these programs will be driven by your experiences in your particular lab.
 
Apply to them all and pick the one that selects you. If you are fortunate enough to get two offers then you have a choice. Responses about environment and culture are going to have too low interrater reliability to be of much use anyway.
 
MCParent said:
Students' appraisals of their specific labs and mentors are going to matter more than appraisals of the entire program.
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This is a good point. It's important to find out about the program at large and the lab/mentor-specific culture. When it comes to working environment especially (cutthroat-versus-collaborative, intense-versus-laid back), the specific lab and faculty advisor matter enormously.
 
Not to be a contrarian, but I do think there is a lot of value in getting opinions online (anonymously) in addition to learning more on interview day. A few years ago I posted here soliciting opinions on a program I'd been accepted to and got a few private messages that painted a MUCH different picture of the program than the one I got during the interview.

I think current students tend to want to be as positive as possible during interviews and that can color the perception that interviewees get somewhat. I had a friend who was very unhappy about many aspects of her program and was vocal about them in the department. The department went out of their way to make sure she was not at interview day events. So getting opinions in a variety of venues can be important to get the full scoop.
 
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