美国今年博士招生减少了吗？
PhD application cycle 2021-2022 is off to a rough start. Last year， we were seeing lots of applications get into the top schools by mid November， with some even getting in as early as October (yeah！ I know how lucky that feels). 然而今年的申请周期才刚刚开始就遭遇滑铁卢... We are now seeing applicants who applied last year not hear back from any universities until Feb/Mar and it’s only then that they will receive rejections（which last year we didn't see till February）and acceptances. And those who do get accepted are being offered conditional acceptance which means more paperwork and hurdles just so they can secure a spot for next fall.
What makes this year different from last is the rise in number of applicants for Master's degree programs（硕士项目申请人数大幅度上升）. As an example， at our #1 ranked EECS department here at CMU， we have increased our MS class size by almost 50% this coming Fall while PhD classes remain about same size as last year. So if you are thinking of applying to a Masters program， don't delay－apply right away. If your goal is a PhD， keep working on your research project and resume－you may still be in position to gain admission this cycle but chances are much slimmer. We are hearing of many cases where applicants need to redesign their entire thesis project or switch labs entirely to have any chance at getting a PhD offer this go round.
With all the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic and global economy， one can never predict what will happen next. All we can do is stay vigilant and keep working on our projects and resumes. Good luck to everyone out there！