Returning to undergrad institution for PhD?

[hgp]

I'm having difficulty choosing if I should return to where I completed my undergrad for my PhD. Does anyone have an opinion or experience on this topic? I spent four years there already, six more will be ten! But it does feel like coming home when I step on campus. Really interested in your thoughts!!!!!

[MaxWeberHasAPosse]

Hmm. Good question. May I ask what school?

[hillary511]

I think it depends on your school. Mine (Stony Brook) discouraged me from applying for the PhD there. They wanted me to get experience with different professors elsewhere.

[Alext182]

IMO the main benefit of going elsewhere is networking - during your Phd program you will have people at your program looking out for you but you still also have your undergrad contacts should you need them for social networking or if you want to continue collaborating with someone. By attending the same program, you limit the number of profs you can work alongside and the number of profs rooting for you to succeed.

 

On the other hand, if its the best fit its the best fit. 

 

Those are the two considerations i'd weigh: networking vs fit

[.letmeinplz//]

 

 

Those are the two considerations i'd weigh: networking vs fit

There is also a change in perspective you get when you go to another university. Only learning about X from Professor Y instead of learning about X from Professor Y and Professor P, etc.

[reinalou]

As a current senior, I can see how returning to campus in a few years could feel very familiar and comfortable. But I also know that there are so many things that I'm frustrated with after four years. I would recommend thinking about how you felt at the end of your undergrad career? If it was, "I want to get out of here," then maybe the comfort of a familiar place would be short-lived and you should try some place new.

[MisterFour]

The way I see it is that if you have an option of either staying at your BA school for a PhD or going to no school at all, I would suggest going to school. The reason is that you want to build your CV and other credentials. Now, if you have job lined up or maybe another school you got accepted too, I would move away from your old school.

 

But again, this is very largely up to you and if staying in your old school makes you happier, go ahead. Being unhappy with your school at the graduate level is so much worse than being unhappy with your school at the undergrad level.

[uselesstheory]

I know multiple people who have returned to their undergrad institution for their PhD, but I get a sense that their reasons mostly involved location/being around family and home. 

 

The main benefit of going elsewhere is definitely networking (as well as the fact that there's a better chance to "move up" from undergrad to grad school than there is from the PhD to a faculty position). More schools = more connections and perspectives (to simplify, of course).

[hgp]

Thank you all! That was so very helpful! 

[hgp]

Hmm. Good question. May I ask what school?

Northwestern.

[rising_star]

Will you have done a master's elsewhere?

[hgp]

Will you have done a master's elsewhere?

No.

[rising_star]

Then I wouldn't return to your undergraduate institution.