@fuzzy...
thats the thing which is worrying me. The economy's bad right now and if things dont get right, students near the end of their PhD will delay their graduation and this will affect us... Moreover, there have been budget cuts for the university.
I have spoken to 3-4 students and all of them were of the opinion that all the admitted studetns have been to secure something in the first year itself in the past, but again cant predict this year.
The placement record is very good and the specific ranking too. They have 3 profs working in my specific subfield. The school which I am in currently has only my prof and another one who is in a slightly different subfield. I feel I will have a lot more courses to choose from and the interaction, contacts I would get to build would help in my career.