<p>i honestly did not know it's not a good idea to attend the same school for all three. </p>
<p>i planned on staying at the same school for all three just because 1.) it's close to home and 2.) it has a good rep for my program.</p>
<p>what are your thoughts? would you stay at your current undergrad for all 3 degrees?</p>
<p>It depends on if they will accept you. That’s a long time in the future. Certainly, many schools offer a 5 year masters program and that’s worth it if you can afford to pay for 5 years. Phd is a completely different matter.</p>
<p>It’s certainly not unheard of. I know a couple of college professors who did just that – as well as a couple of research scientists. I’d suggest speaking to the professors in your department and ask their advice. They should have good insight into how this decision might impact you professionally.</p>
<p>It is generally not recommended because many colleges have a particular emphasis or strength within areas of instruction that they exhibit. By going to a single school for all three levels you become entrenched in that way of thinking. Going to different schools forces the student to see things from a different perspective. </p>
<p>That being said, it really does depend on the field and what you want to do in life (teach, etc).</p>
<p>Some departments, particularly at top places, essentially don’t allow it. For example, my son graduated Johns Hopkins with a BA in international studies, which is a second major administered by the Political Science Department. When he was applying for Ph.D programs (four years after graduating), the Department told him that they have an informal policy of never admitting Hopkins BA’s to the Ph.D program–not because they don’t think they are qualified (to the contrary) but because the department is relatively small and they don’t think it is good pedacogically to study with the same faculty for 6-8 years after 4 years of undergraduate work. Instead, they made calls and helped him gain admission to a fine program elsewhere. My son is now 4 years into his program and he now sees the wisdom of that policy.</p>
<p>FWIW, I’ve observed the above policy more in the humanities and social sciences. In the natural sciences, it seems to be more common to stay in one place through the Ph.D.</p>
<p>The schools don’t like it. They want you to study at a new place, learn under new professors, make new connections.</p>
<p>Part of it depends on the size of the program. When I finished my bachelors in a small program, the faculty told me to go somewhere else for my masters because I needed to learn from new professors, and because I had already taken many of their grad courses as an undergrad. I was really ready to move to a larger city anyway.</p>
<p>If someone has an employed spouse and other obligations, then it is more understandable to want to stay at the same college for all your degrees.</p>
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<p>I guess it makes sense to stay at the same university if that option compares favorably to most other alternatives you can think of, for example if you are an engineering student at MIT. Otherwise, I think it’s better to move on. </p>
<p>Most people usually tend to look for a grad school that is ranked higher than their current undergraduate college. In graduate school though, sometimes the person (advisor) you work with matters more than the overall reputation of the school you attend. It might be advantageous then to go to a marginally lower ranked school as long as you get to work with that particular top expert in your intended field of study.</p>
<p>A Ph.D. on the employment market needs to possess references, contacts, and intellectual influences form different institutions. It is generally not a good idea to get all of your degrees from the same place.</p>