A student writes:
I am a Ph.D. student at [an unranked PhD program], currently applying to transfer to a top program (11 of the best ethics programs, according to PGR and my own interests). I, as well as others on the application front, have started to wonder whether the economy is likely to affect admissions this year. My own institution is hurting badly enough to start talking about admitting fewer graduate students in some programs (I don’t know if ours is one of them), and this began to make me nervous. Is it possible that my timing will add yet one more element of luck into the admissions game? Do you have any sense of whether programs in general, but top programs in particular, have talked about admitting fewer students this year?
I don’t know if this is something faculty are talking/blogging/gossiping about, but if you have any information, I would be very interested to hear it.
It would be useful to hear reports from others on this. Clearly the financial crisis is affecting hiring, but it seems to me it could go either way with admissions: programs may cut back either because they get less fellowship/TA money and/or because more of their existing money has to be used to support current students who don't get jobs this year; or programs may keep admissions steady because they will need more 'cheap' graduate labor to do the teaching that needs to be done, and for which departments don't have money to make new full-time hires. My guess is the first scenario is the more likely one, but the second one may be applicable, especially at state universities which often depend more on graduate student TAs.
Thoughts, predictions, reports from others?
