<p>There is something worth looking out for. This anecdote applies to Berkeley, not Michigan, and I have no idea whether it’s generalizable beyond Berkeley (although I think it’s clearly generalizable within Berkeley).</p>
<p>Anyway, my daughter’s high school BFF was applying to PhD programs this year. She was, it’s clear, a fabulous candidate: great undergraduate training in her field, great recommendations from well-known scholars, relevant non-classroom experience, very specific, focused, and sophisticated ideas about what she wants to study and where she fits into the academic map of her field, and on top of all that a peach of a personality that anyone would be happy to have around for half a decade or so. Based on all of that, going into the process Berkeley was her top choice – it had the people she wanted to work with, the projects she wanted to work on, and the orientation she liked. They thought the same thing, apparently, because they called her up and accepted her less than a month after she applied, no interview or nothing.</p>
<p>Then came the financing issue. Three months after accepting her, Berkeley still hadn’t produced a formal commitment, and it was clear that her department was not going to be able to guarantee funding beyond one year. After a lot of back and forth, she wound up committing to another brand-name program she liked a little less (but only a little less), but where she had a full multi-year funding commitment. It was a sad decision but a supremely rational one.</p>
<p>Repeat that a few hundred times a year across multiple fields, for a few years, and Berkeley will be a MUCH less attractive place to study. Top grad students are a big part of what a top university offers. If it doesn’t recruit top grad students, then it isn’t going to stay a top university.</p>