Admit Rates, Standardized Test Averages, Cross Admit Results

[JHS]

Faculty at research universities have responsibilities for research (of course), grad courses, and graduate student advising. These responsibilities will vary among members of the same department, and also among departments (as some humanities and even a social science or two might have markedly fewer grad students than other departments). So one major might either see lots of full-time faculty available to divide up these other responsibilities, or it might have some full time faculty willing to cut back on research or a thriving grad program, in order to focus more on the undergraduates via teaching and mentoring, etc.

It’s not just that, although the numbers certainly matter. After their first couple of years, and often even earlier, grad students are essentially indentured to a specific faculty member. That becomes an intense relationship that continues day-to-day, week-to-week for 4-5 years, and really is expected to last the remainder of their professional careers. It’s critical to getting the professor’s work done, and critical to the professor’s reputation in the field. It is generally analogized to a parent-child relationship, with good reason. Undergraduates take one course out of 3-5 from the professor for one quarter. Maybe they take another a few quarters later. They graduate and leave shortly after they learn enough to start being interesting. It’s not remotely a relationship that can compete with the professor’s grad student relationships.

That doesn’t mean the undergraduates can’t get a lot out of their relationships with the professor and the graduate students, but they have to find a slot to fit themselves in.

The History/Economics comparison at Chicago is a little misleading, though. There are Economics professors stashed at Booth and even some at NORC, I believe.