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I spent one summer working in a research lab during my undergraduate degree. Now that I am in 4th-year and applying to graduate schools, my former supervisor has asked if I would like to join his group.

I had an enjoyable experience in his group, but I think my talents lie towards the theoretical side of my field (physics). To be perfectly honest, I think that it is more likely I will choose something other than his group. At the same time, I don't want to "rule out" the possibility of working with him just yet because I can see myself being happy with either scenario (his group or somewhere else).

So my questions are:

How do I politely tell him that I am interested, but I want to consider other options too? How transparent should I be with my interest in theoretical research over experiment? Would it be best if he knew that his group would probably not be my first choice?

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Just explain to him what you have said here (in greater detail, of course). If you are applying to graduate school, you are really going to want a strong recommendation from this professor. You can't get that without giving a clear statement of what you are planning to do. The professor should not be offended; faculty members deal with these kinds of situations regularly.

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Be honest, but be diplomatic. Tell him that you'd be interested, but you've also found some other groups that you're looking into, and it's too early for you to make a straight decision one way or the other.

If he continues to pressure you, you can also take the monetary approach -- tell him that you're waiting to hear back regarding financial packages from the various schools, and you won't commit until you've got a firm idea of what your stipend/funding/responsibilities would look like.

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