gonzaemi

I remember seeing in a thread somewhere (I looked for it and couldn't find it) that certain MIT grad school programs will not take MIT undergrad graduates. Am I correct or has my memory failed me? And exactly what programs don't take MIT undergrad graduates (if I am indeed correct)?

cellardweller

That is not true at all for most departments at MIT.

At MIT, you have a significant advantage as an undergrad majoring in a department when applying to the same department for grad school. The reason for that is fairly straightforward. Graduate admission decisions are made at the departmental level. If you have established a good rapport with the professors and done research in the department, they know you well and will generally be more than happy to recommend you for admission to grad school. If the prof runs a big lab, as many do, his recommendation may be all that is required to get you admitted. His colleagues in the department won't overrule him.

Let's face it. MIT has some of the very best undergrad science and engineering students anywhere. The school would be stupid not to admit them for grad school. On top of that, the students are already familiar with the research being done. In departments depending on large outside grant funding, it is a huge advantage to have an already trained pool of talent. Quite a few departments have a disproportionate number of MIT undergrads, especially the most selective ones such as EECS or the Media Lab.

The only departments I am not sure about are the humanities departments such as philosophy, political science or economics, all very prestigious. These are fields where there are different "schools of thought" and the departments may want their PhD students to have a diversity of backgrounds. To the extent that is also the policy at MIT, I am not sure. I would venture that if you are good they will want to keep you. As far as science or engineering, it is only an advantage to have an undergrad degree from MIT. The list is long with students have done their BS, MS and PhD at MIT. Some even join the faculty and become "lifers". MIT is a very incestuous place!

mathboy98

This is logical in a sense, but the question is, does the school actually follow this line of thought. I'm pretty sure I heard about Harvard's math department discouraging its own undergrads from returning, and Harvard definitely has some of the most talented undergraduates. At my own school, it tends to be that a few top undergraduates are let in, depending on who's on the admissions committee. Sometimes, they're worse than others about admitting their own undergrads.

cellardweller

Again, you just need to look at the very high prevalence of MIT undergrads in the various departments to get proof.

Mikalye

No the OP was right in that it is a department by department thing. Some departments actively encourage MIT undergraduates to apply. Others, such as Chemical Engineering, actively discourage (and almost never admit) MIT undergraduates into their graduate programs.

kryptonsa36

I know MIT Biology has only accepted its own undergraduates for a couple of years now. And I definitely recall there being at least one department that still discourages MIT undergrads from applying to its graduate program. Chemistry? Or chemical engineering, as Mikayle said.

collegealum314

^^I would guess chemistry, although I have seen one person with a BS and a PhD from there. My guess is if you are an established and productive member of a research group (like publish a 1st author paper) and do well in class, then you.

I don't think Mikalye is right about chemE. I don't think they discourage undergrads getting a PhD at MIT. It's generally math/science depts. that do that, not engineering.

mathboy98

^^ Very true. Math rather heavily discourages actually.

cellardweller

I still have to see any evidence that any science/engineering department actively discourages students from applying to grad school at MIT. Chem, Bio, physics and BCS definitely don't discourage students. A friend of mine is a tenured math professor and several of the PhD students he supervises are former MIT undergrads.

The statistics below indicate that well over half of undergrad student applying to grad/professional school matriculate at MIT. If one removes pre-professional students who apply to med/law school (which obviously go elsewhere) the actual ratio of undergrad students pursuing graduate studies at MIT is even higher.

Applying to Graduate School - MIT Careers Office

jessiehl

I've heard several anecdotes from undergrads in course 8 (physics).

However, many departments (aero/astro, EECS, and BCS all come to mind, though they are not the only ones by any means) preferentially take their own undergrads.

molliebatmit

The bio department will definitely accept its own undergrads (I think all of us who applied my year were accepted), but we were all set up in an interview with one of the bigwigs in the department at the interview weekend in order to encourage us to really consider whether staying at MIT for our PhDs was the best career move.

After that chat, I ended up deciding to go elsewhere. At least one of the students my year decided to stay, and he's happy and doing productive work in a lab different from his UROP lab. Whatever works.

idler

There are good, logical reasons for not taking your own undergrads in to your grad school, no matter how brilliant and well-educated they are: they boil down to concern for your best undergrads--you want them to get a broader education. This view still holds sway, though it has been trumped by desire to get the best students, period. MIT Bio was a holdout, but I gather they have been doing so, for a couple, three years; Stanford bio still (I think) doesn't.

kryptonsa36

I've heard from professors galore that the MIT graduate program accepting MIT undergraduate Course 7 majors is only a recent thing. The graduate program was just far too similar to the undergraduate program until large restructuring was done to the former a few years ago.

molliebatmit

Yes, my year (2006) was the first year for course 7 to accept MIT undergrads (and they didn't notify us until about a week before the application deadline, either). Sorry I didn't clarify that.

AKiss20

Glad to hear Aero/Astro actually likes their own because I wanna go to MIT for my PhD as well.

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