An Acceptance Of Limited Usefulness

I got an email from Purdue this afternoon that the department is recommending me to the Graduate School for admission, but without funding. This makes it unlikely that I will end up there, unless I don't get funding anywhere, and even then, the middle-of-nowhere location makes it not a great place for Robert to find a job.

I have been reading various places online that this year funding is going to be tight, as universities have been adversely affected by the economic downturn. Some programs are even reducing the number of admits or, in some cases, declining to admit any students at all. (For instance, business departments that will only admit 2 - 3 people per year anyway may just forgo any admits. I have heard of this happening for a few programs, which are not refunding the money of those who applied, but adding them to the pool of applications for Fall 2010, which is not really a substitute.)

Since Purdue has a PhD program in addition to the masters program I applied for, I knew that my funding chances from the department weren't that great to begin with. Of course, it just occurs to me that I will still be in the running for school-wide fellowships sponsored by the Graduate School, but I don't put much hope in that (almost none, really), since many of those are "diversity" fellowships and other scholarships that have specific requirements I am unlikely or certain not to meet.

I am really surprised to be hearing anything from the programs so soon. I had resigned myself to silence on the grad school front until at least mid-February. Exciting.