How to answer questions about whether you are taking on new doctoral students when admission is determined by a committee and a competitive process? Because I teach at a doctoral institution, I get plenty of e-mails from prospective students asking me if I'm taking new doctoral students in the next academic year. 

I'm not always sure how to answer them. Because admissions are done as a committee of the whole, I might have a student, I might not. It depends on my colleagues and on the applicant pool. I also don't want to encourage or dissuade prospective students too much either.

Do you have a phrase or response which encapsulates this complexity?
You give one of the two possible answers:


No, I am not taking on doctoral students.
Yes, I am interested in taking on doctoral students but who actually gets a place is decided by the admissions committee, not by me.