Undergrad where you want to do grad work?

[Mama Lynx]

If your child intends to go on to graduate study, is it beneficial/not beneficial/doesn't matter to do the undergrad work at the place where you want to do your graduate work?

[cathmom]

I have always heard it's better not to.

[Carol in Cal.]

The feeling was that the student should have exposure to more than one faculty, for broader exposure to the field and also, I think, for better development of a professional reputation which would be helpful in getting a post-doc or tenure track position later on.

[creekland]

Everything I've read says it's better not to for reasons stated above.

[KnitWit]

Everything I've read says it's better not to for reasons stated above.

 

Same here.

 

Although, my dd has two good friends at the state U. One business, pursuing law. One engineering. Both have been offered full ride to the U's grad programs. Friend pursuing law is looking NE. Friend pursuing engineering is not sure what to think right now...but he has two more years to decide.

 

Interesting...

[SkateLeft]

Generally, the adage is that it's better not to do undergrad at the same school you plan to do graduate work, but both my dh and I went to graduate school at our undergrad institutions, so I'm not sure how true that really is.

 

We received a number of benefits, including better financial packages from the schools where we'd done our undergrad. Other schools offered some financial aid, but not as much. We also knew a lot of the faculty, which really helped with getting work opportunities early on (research assistant/teaching assistant). Some of those same faculty members had written our letters of recommendation. We knew our way around campus, we had a support network of friends, and we knew the culture.

 

So I know that at least for public universities in California, it doesn't matter if you do your undergrad there and then go on to graduate school. :)

 

Edited to add: It didn't hamper our careers either. Nobody has ever expressed a concern that our undergrad and grad institutions were the same. In fact, nobody cares where we did our undergrad.

Edited April 4, 2010 by sailmom

[Michelle in AL]

For admission purposes it can be beneficial. I too have heard that universities don't want to see too much "inbreeding." This was especially true if you want to go into university level teaching. The college I went to wanted to see degrees from different colleges/

 

Dh went to Undergrad, med school and residency at the same uni. He got in because of his relationship with his professors. He was somewhat of a rebel and the professor he worked for went to bat for him when it came time to get accepted for medical school. Many of his fellow students did the same: same undergrad and med school.

 

Dd will probably go to UAB which is known for its science program. She wants to study psych and they have probably the best psych program in the state and it pays tuition and a stipend I believe. We think she'll have a better chance of getting in if the professors know her (she's a hard worker).

[Mama Lynx]

I had always heard it was better not to. But then in another thread, one poster mentioned that it could be very beneficial.

 

DS wants to major in history, and right now is definitely planning on doing graduate work. We'd been kind of planning on him getting his BA by going to community college and then transferring to a local four-year university .... but it is definitely *not* the place he'd want to do his graduate study. We *think* we know where he wants to do that. And if it was going to be particularly beneficial for him, we *could* get him there for his undergrad degree too ... but that would involve going out of state and greater expense. So I wouldn't want to do it unless the benefit was great.

 

And consensus sounds like ... no strong leanings one way or the other? Pro he'd know the faculty, but con he'd only be exposed to one faculty. Hmmm.

[creekland]

 

DS wants to major in history, and right now is definitely planning on doing graduate work. We'd been kind of planning on him getting his BA by going to community college and then transferring to a local four-year university .... but it is definitely *not* the place he'd want to do his graduate study. We *think* we know where he wants to do that. And if it was going to be particularly beneficial for him, we *could* get him there for his undergrad degree too ... but that would involve going out of state and greater expense. So I wouldn't want to do it unless the benefit was great.

 

 

 

I'd check with his desired grad school to see how many people they accept from his desired undergrad school. I know some grad schools say they accept from anywhere, but when one looks at lists of where their students are from the same schools seem to appear over and over with the occasional "other." Not all colleges provide the same level of undergrad prep.

[Chris in VA]

I think it depends on the major. I've heard, for medical and law degrees, it's best to do grad work somewhere else (many don't accept their "own" students anyway--this is what I have heard, no facts to back it up). There are other majors, esp in humanities, that seem to be ok with grad work being done at the same institution.

 

I don't think you are talking about those majors that have 5 year or 6 year programs--technically, the last few years are grad school, but you end up with 2 BS degrees, or a Masters in Edu. That's a different story as the program is designed to take extra time at the same instituiton.

[JFSinIL]

I got my BA from a California LAC (Chapman) then did a MA at UCLA...when deciding whether or not to do my PhD at UCLA a major factor was that I had already started hearing a couple professors REPEAT themselves - covering the same material in different courses. I decided to go elsewhere for the PhD.

 

I think moving from school to school is a good way to maximize ones exposure and experiences with different professors and avoid getting in a rut. Of course, it may also depend on the major. If an undergrad. has a chance to help with research in which they are interested as a grad student with a professor if they stay at the same college - then that is a good thing!

[Jane in NC]

One factor that I have yet to see mentioned in this discussion is the very nature of an undergrad program vs. graduate. Usually an undergrad is drawn to an institution for a wider experience beyond the major, while a grad student is often looking for a mentor in his major. Undergrads rarely have the knowledge which lets them focus on specifics the way potential graduate/professional students do.

 

I think that a few students in their junior or senior year develop a relationship with a prof that leads to a graduate experience with that prof. Usually, though, it seems that academics encourage students to leave the undergrad nest, so to speak, to broaden their horizons elsewhere in grad school.

 

I think that some disciplines may be different. Take education, for instance, where teachers often earn master's degrees on a piecemeal basis as opposed to a full time student situation. I do not think it is uncommon for a teacher who is teaching in his university locality to return to his university for a graduate degree.

[KnitWit]

One factor that I have yet to see mentioned in this discussion is the very nature of an undergrad program vs. graduate. Usually an undergrad is drawn to an institution for a wider experience beyond the major, while a grad student is often looking for a mentor in his major. Undergrads rarely have the knowledge which lets them focus on specifics the way potential graduate/professional students do.

 

I think that a few students in their junior or senior year develop a relationship with a prof that leads to a graduate experience with that prof. Usually, though, it seems that academics encourage students to leave the undergrad nest, so to speak, to broaden their horizons elsewhere in grad school.

 

I think that some disciplines may be different. Take education, for instance, where teachers often earn master's degrees on a piecemeal basis as opposed to a full time student situation. I do not think it is uncommon for a teacher who is teaching in his university locality to return to his university for a graduate degree.

 

Excellent point Jane :)

[Heather in VA]

My husband did both at the same university - they offered to pay for his graduate work so that was pretty much a non-brainer :-). So I'm wondering if this is common - that you get more scholarship opportunities if you are already at the school. He went to Northwestern. Of course it was a LONG time ago. :D

 

Heather

[Laura in CA]

The conventional wisdom I heard many times when I was thinking about grad school was that it was a good idea to 'switch coasts' -- which in practice for most people I knew meant going from California to the Northeast or vice versa. We certainly knew a few people who did their undergraduate, graduate, and postdoc at the same university and then became an assistant professor there - but that was pretty unusual!