Consequences of burning bridges

[Mnera]

I see this phrase used often here: "burning bridges". I do not quite understand what consequences it might have to burn bridges with a university.

I do not indent to do such a thing, but I am curious what the effects would be. Unless you are considering working at that particular university after you graduate, I do not see how it can affect anything.

[ClassApp]

I'm not sure which field you're in, but my field is pretty small. This means that all the professors talk to each other, and a bad reputation at one school can spread very, very quickly. Jobs can be hard enough to find and there are more than enough qualified candidates, so having a reputation (for backing out or anything else bad) can easily mean that you won't be able to find work anywhere after you graduate, or at least that you could significantly diminish your chances at employment.

[TakeruK]

Like @ClassApp said, if your field (or sub-field) is small, then burning bridges and having a bad reputation can have a serious consequence. Even if your field is big, there are likely some small pockets where your reputation will matter. You don't have to say your field---you can judge for yourself if your field is big or small! My (broad) field probably has a few thousand people in the United States, my (sub) field has around 1000, and my specific topic of research has a few hundred (if you include grad students). I would consider this a small field! Even after being a grad student for a few years, you quickly learn the name of almost every faculty in the US working on the topic (and you start to know many of the grad students too). 

Just to add to what was said, here are some examples of where burning bridges with faculty at University X can still hurt you later, even if you never apply to University X. But, before I go further, I want to clarify that when many of us talk about burning bridges, we're talking about either very serious offenses and/or a repeated pattern of behaviour.

We rarely mean that one single bad action can ruin your career forever, and to be honest, as new grad students, it is pretty hard for us to do something noticeably bad enough that people will remember.  However, as new grad students, we have very little reputation and most of our interactions with our scientific community will be the first time we interacted with that person and you only get one chance to make a good first impression.

So, we commonly say you'd burn bridges if you go back on your word for something like an admissions offer. In all honesty, if that was the only thing you ever did, it's unlikely you'll face real and serious consequences in the long run. This is why I also say that if you must do this for some reason, then do it. But, you would make a bad first impression and chances are, you'll hopefully redeem yourself later on. But if you end up doing more unprofessional things, then it will all add up to hurt you.

Now, for some examples of how damaging your relationship with people at University X can hurt you even if you never directly work with University X. (Remember, most of these examples are for much more serious actions than typically true when we say "burning bridges" on this forum):

1. Faculty from University X will likely be on the Science Organizing Committee (SOC) of future conferences you want to submit to. These are the people that decide who gets talks vs. who gets posters. 

2. Faculty from University X will be panel members reviewing your future grants, your future fellowship applications etc.

3. Some places have evaluations of you where they call up random people in your field and ask them to evaluate you (like a LOR except you don't get to choose your recommenders). This is unlikely to happen to a grad student, but it's a common evaluation method when making hiring decisions or tenure decisions. 

4. Faculty from University X may be reviewers on your future papers. 

5. Faculty from University X may be friends/colleagues/collaborators with people at Universities A, B, C and you might be applying to A, B, C in the future and these people might talk to each other.

 

[Mnera]

Let's say 'in the field of engineering'.

[fernandes]

I have also seen the saying "burning bridges" being used when a PhD student decides to drop the program without reasonable reasons, especially after obtaining a MS degree within the PhD program. I believe that when you "burn bridges" you should not expect to count on your adviser for writing you a great recommendation letter that could help you finding a job, for example.

[Happington]

I did something in my masters that I knew would likely result in burning a bridge, however it was a move I had to make at the time to ensure that I could keep moving forward.  It likely somewhat damaged my relationship with my advisor.  Will it destroy our working/social relationship completely?  No.  But I know it may cause any LoR I receive from him in the future to be slightly weaker.  That said, I don't suspect any lasting consequences from what I did, as my indiscretion was justifiable and somewhat minor.

There is, however, another student I know who practically torched a bridge as they were leaving the school.  I know that several professors who worked closely with them while enrolled at the school have either refused, or warned that the letter cannot be very positive given what happened when asked for a LoR.  

Generally, I think burning bridges comes at a few levels.  The most minor (in my mind) is what I did in ignoring a standard practice and possibly hurting one professional you work closely with.  The second is likely something that will ruin your reputation in a department, like backing out of an accepted admission, a system will remember your name, and what you did, but the lack of a close working relationship with any one individual will probably limit the fallout in the long run.  The worst bridge burning is pretty much scorched earth.  You did something that actively damaged the reputation of a professor, or your department, and the severity will make faculty members REMEMBER your name.

The first level may hurt a LoR, or ruin a relationship with someone at worst.  The second may prevent you from attending a school in the future, and if your name sticks in a professors mind, may hurt your chances at certain conferences/in certain papers.  The third, if you do it wrong, could be a career ender (especially if you want to be an academic.)

 

This is from the perspective of a CS student with a research focus in Data Analysis.  A fairly large subfield, of an absolutely enormous field.