Taking Courses at Other Schools while in a Program

[GreatMix]

So, if you're in a PhD program is it generally frowned upon if you want to take a couple of classes at another school? For example, you get into Princeton, but there's a prof at Rutgers in your area of interest that you want to take a couple of classes from? Or you get into UCLA, and you want to take a couple of classes at UC Irvine or UCSD? Etc.

[jackassjim]

So, if you're in a PhD program is it generally frowned upon if you want to take a couple of classes at another school? For example, you get into Princeton, but there's a prof at Rutgers in your area of interest that you want to take a couple of classes from? Or you get into UCLA, and you want to take a couple of classes at UC Irvine or UCSD? Etc.

It's usually perfectly fine. Unless, of course, a perfectly capable prof on your dissertation is giving the exact same course at your school.

[catchermiscount]

This is actually something of a selling point at Big 10 schools, where, through the CIC (Big Ten schools plus UChicago), you can take classes at any partner school for credit as a traveling scholar. Last fall I was lucky enough to be a traveling scholar for a security class that I found to be dynamite and completely helpful for the dissertation. Given the amount of surface area touched upon, it isn't even that much red tape.

[rising_star]

Definitely with Princeton and some area schools because the university has already formalized those relationships.

[gradster]

This is common between Columbia and NYU and not frowned upon.

[swr22]

A lot of the Boston-area schools have a similar arrangement.