Getting PhD at same school as I got my Bachelors a bad idea?

[micke1ad]

 just accepted a fully funded PhD offer from bgsu.I did my undergrad there but went to Michigan to get my masters. Will it matter at all to go back to bgsu for my PhD? Thanks

 

[GradSchoolTruther]

3 hours ago, micke1ad said:

 just accepted a fully funded PhD offer from bgsu.I did my undergrad there but went to Michigan to get my masters. Will it matter at all to go back to bgsu for my PhD? Thanks

 

It matters more that you couldn't make up your mind before the deadline. 

[micke1ad]

Please just give me advice on this issue... 

[rising_star]

If you've already decided, then it doesn't really matter what anyone here tells you. The people you should consult are your mentors and advisors in your field.

[micke1ad]

Please give me some advice. I would want to seek a tenure track position down the road....

[rising_star]

Getting a tenure-track job is a crapshoot in pretty much any field. Is BGSU highly ranked in your field? Are your advisors there doing well placing their students into tenure-track positions?

[juilletmercredi]

It doesn't matter whether you made the decision on April 1 or April 15 - that's why the deadline exists. It's the last day you can decide, but that doesn't mean you have to do so before then.

I agree with @rising_star that since you already committed this is kind of a moot question now. But it really depends on your field. In some fields (philosophy comes to mind) it is not uncommon for people to get two or all three degrees in the same department at the same university, possibly because the undergrad departments that prepare someone well enough for graduate school in philosophy - and also spark a love in people to study philosophy at the doctoral level - are the ones with the best doctoral programs. In other fields it's not very common but it's not frowned upon as long as the graduate department is solid and/or there's a good explanation for why someone might stay there. In one of my fields (psychology) if someone stayed at Michigan or Stanford or UCSB for all three degrees, no one would question why - these are excellent programs in psychology. Also, let's say someone wanted to stay at a mid-ranked program because there's a great advisor there for their interests, or they've already got a solid program of research going, or they felt like they could accomplish more of them stayed. That could be a good reason, too, especially if they are quite productive in graduate school.

Where it maybe becomes a problem is if it appears you stayed for comfort or familiarity but there's a mismatch between your interests and the school's, or you don't produce, or the school's ranking isn't very good. So how good is BGSU in your field? The NRC rankings are so dated now (they were compiled in 2005, and released in 2010) but they seem to indicate that BGSU is a middling program, with professors in the field having a quite variable view of it (the R-ranking range is from 14 to 82).