Funding cuts throw US graduate admissions into chaos

She was excited when the acceptance letter came in January, from a research university in a major East Coast city. “In my brain, I was like, ‘Yeah, this is it,’ ” the student tells C&EN. But in February, when she put together all the offers she had, she began to feel nervous. The offer letter from the research university that was her first choice had promised a contract to follow, but it hadn’t yet arrived. Meanwhile, rejections from some other universities mentioned uncertainty about federal funding—a topic that had also been making headlines in both science-focused and mainstream news outlets. The student, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she’s concerned about jeopardizing her admission, wrote to the admissions office at her first-choice school to ask for an update. In an email in mid-February, an admissions officer said they were “uncertain whether the recommendation from the chemistry department for your admission