Applying to Same School for PhD as Previous Masters

[bh1ge3u1hqwdjb]

Hello. I’m planning to apply for a PhD (humanities field) in December 2022 for Fall 2023 admission. I graduated in 2020 with my masters from an ivy. I’m applying to the same school again (among others) for my PhD.

All other factors aside, do you think already having a masters from a school, especially if it’s one of the top in its field (in humanities, if that matters), gives an applicant any advantage for PhD applications to that same school or is it largely irrelevant? I know that there is a lot of competition due to the limited spots but just wanted to get an idea.

Edited June 8, 2021 by nanakimmy9

[serpentstone]

It seems like it would make sense to take on a student that faculty is already familiar with. However, when browsing the admissions reports on the GradCafe main page, I've noticed a few people attribute their rejection to applying to the same school as their previous degree... I can't say I know too much about the reasoning or if that is an actual issue for rejection, I just wanted to report what I've seen. It might just be best to ask your professors directly, "This is something I've been wondering about..." Good luck!

[Sigaba]

Some academics consider getting one's undergraduate degree and subsequent graduate degrees at the same institution as "incestuous." (A professor said this to me when I entertained the idea of going to my UGI for graduate school. At the time, I was eager to go somewhere else. Put me in a time machine, I may make a different decision and take my chances.)

Wait. Where was I? Sorry. Right.

One could ask professors directly, as @serpentstone suggests, or phrase the question much more subtly, or one could look at the CVs of people who have the kinds of positions you eventually want to earn. Do you see any patterns?

(My recommendation is that you do your background research, figure out if you really want to get your Ph.D. from the same school, and then have conversations with professors that might be on your committees. IMO, these conversations should reflect a fair amount of preliminary research and reading and thought on your part. You could just see how they respond to your expression of interest.)