So... How bad are admissions going to be this year and how should applicants adapt (Covid)

[trynagetby]

Hi all, so I think a lot of applicants this year are nervous about how COVID is going to torpedo admissions. Can anyone familiar with the admissions/funding process comment on how bad it'll be (25%, 50%, 75%, or 90% reduction in cohort sizes?). Also how do people recommend we adapt. So if an applicant's match schools are top 20, should they expand to top 30, top 40, top 50?

[cyberwulf]

It's going to be really program dependent. I would guess that cohort sizes in statistics departments (main grad student support source: TAships) will decrease more than cohort sizes in biostat departments (main grad student support source: NIH grants) because universities are feeling the financial pinch but federal research funding hasn't yet been drastically affected by the pandemic. Another thing working in favor of biostat departments is that COVID has driven a lot of interest and investment in public health, so there is even more demand for health statistics expertise.

And of course, reductions are much more likely to occur in funded Ph.D. programs as opposed to unfunded Masters programs which are generally money-makers for departments. 

Edited October 14, 2020 by cyberwulf

[HighStat]

Thank you for sharing your opinion, @cyberwulf. I've always gotten useful information from your posts! May I ask you a question regarding the potential impact of outsource funding (e.g., Fulbright, IIE, etc.) on stat (or biostat) PhD admissions? As an international applicant, I'm expecting this would be helpful (even a little) for my admissions under these unprecedented times. I am now sorting my lists of application, but still not sure whether I am competitive for the top programs or not. Do you think the admissions committees in the top programs would also care about the funding factor? 

Edited October 14, 2020 by HighStat

[cyberwulf]

In normal times, having your own funding might be a "tie-breaker" if you're on the admissions borderline for a program, but wouldn't give you a big leg up. With COVID, I guess I could see a slight benefit in a situation where, say, you're ranked 20th and due to COVID they're only admitting 15 but they decide to extend you an offer since in normal times they would have admitted 25 and you're essentially "free" to them because you're coming with your own funding. But obviously that's a pretty special set of circumstances.

[HighStat]

Many thanks for your answer! So helpful for me.