<p>I apologize if there is an ongoing thread on this topic but I searched and did not find it. </p>
<p>I am a senior in molecular biology and I was planning at remaining at my current University to work towards my PhD. It's a good grad program, I love the town, some of my family is here, I have my own house, friends that are settled etc. I've just recently been told by a professor that it is sometimes discouraged to earn your terminal degree at the same institution as your undergrad degree. Does anyone have more information on this?</p>
<p>Many professors discourage it because it is good to have a change of perspective at another institution for the Ph.D. That being said, there are many reasons why you might wish to stay at the same university and it would be fine. For the Ph.D. the most important thing is whether your research advisor is good and his/her students can find good positions afterward. You have to ask yourself whether your inclination to stay in the same place is due to the fact that it is much easier to stay then to make an effort to leave or whether it is because the program where you currently are an undergraduate is the “right” one for you and your career.</p>
<p>I was told by a professor that it is recommended also because of the networking opportunities that would be afforded by a new school. You can still network with all of the old professors from undergrad, but that you would be preventing yourself from another set of opportunities.</p>
<p>I agree with xraymancs. Also, you’re going to move at some point (for a postdoctoral training, for instance), why don’t start now at the PhD level. </p>
<p>However, if you have made up your mind and decided to stay at your current university, you have to look at the job prospects/opportunities in industry or academia in the area.</p>
<p>This is the concept of “academic inbreeding,” and the desire to avoid it also limits the number of faculty hired at a given institution who have their degrees from that same institution. In theory, you get fresh ideas by doing work at more than one school, and a department is strong when its faculty have diverse academic backgrounds. Whether staying at the same school will actually harm your future candidacies is far from certain though.</p>
<p>It is a good idea to move around. You can always come back to teach. An example: Current UNC Chapel Hill Chancellor graduated from UNC as undergrad, went to Yale for graduate school and did post doc at Cal Tech, got a position at NC State and then was hired back to UNC as prof. Now he is the top honcho at UNC.</p>
<p>i was actually discouraged from doing this by my advisor and my school. it is usually like this at other places, from what i hear…</p>
<p>…except at harvard/mit. people stay there their entire careers it seems, from undergrad to tenured professors. it’s really the most incestuous academic environment in the country.</p>
<p>I have a different perspective. Yes, “academic inbreeding” can be bad, but that really depends on the scholar. You will presumably be going to conferences and meetings in your field, meeting and speaking with other professors and researchers at other places, and reading, reading, reading lots of research done by other people. Not that your graduate program is not going to be the biggest influence on your approach, but you’ll have other influences too.</p>
<p>It really depends on your PhD program. Are you just staying out of convenience? Then I would encourage you to branch out and find the best fit for you - and by fit I mean research fit, not location/friends/any of that. Academia is a field in which you have to have some geographical mobility if you want to succeed. In fact, the less picky you are about where you live in the beginning, the more picky you can be on the back end - because if you are willing to go anywhere for the best PhD program and the best postdoc, then you’ll be a better candidate and can be more selective about the types of programs that you work for.</p>
<p>But if the PhD program at your home university is the best fit for you, and your adviser is well-known and/or successful in his field, then staying shouldn’t be a problem.</p>
<p>My best friend is getting his PhD at our undergrad school, even after he was accepted to higher-ranking schools. He tells me he stayed because he didn’t like the other programs when he interviewed at them, but I think it’s because of his girlfriend (who ALSO went to our school!). They are in a long-term relationship and I don’t think he wanted to move. Ironically, the girlfriend is applying to PhD programs next year. It’ll be funny to see if she ends up going to the same school too or ends up moving - something he couldn’t do. (Aren’t I just sinister? :P)</p>
<p>Now in all fairness, I applied to that school this year, too. It’s my last choice, however. </p>
<p>My opinion is that it’s best to not be tied to any one place. But he is doing very well in school, so it is perfectly fine and doable.</p>