Bio Grad Programs That Preclude You For Attending as Undergraduate?

[patertrium]

Are there any graduate biology programs that preclude you from entering for having
attended the same university as an undergrad?

[juillet]

There probably aren’t any programs that have that as an explicit rule, but maybe some departments that like to encourage their students to go elsewhere for graduate school. There’s probably no list of these places but rather anecdotal impressions of people who have attended these departments.

What do you intend to do with the information?

[patertrium]

I wondered if S2 should pause about applying to any undergrad program in consideration that it could make going to that grad school four years later.

[Dimnarion]

It is an encouragement to explore another department rather than doing your PhD at the same place as your undergrad institution. They want to encourage you to get out of your comfort zone. I’m never heard of anyone having it as an actual rule.

There is a vast number of good biology deparments out there. This isn’t something I would concerned with.

[Pentaprism]

It depends on the school/department.

A friend of mine, who recently retired from EECS UC Berkeley, wrote to me:

There may be a slight negative in applying to a graduate school where the undergraduate degree was obtained, but it is only very slight and depends strongly on who is reviewing the application. It is certainly a common thought that it is better for the student to switch to a new scene to broaden his/her experience. But in serving on these graduate admission committees in our department for many years, I can’t recall a case where it even came up or played a role in the decision.

My advice would be to not let this be a factor in future planning. There are so many other factors of more significance. In the end, there is a big random element in getting admitted anywhere.

My D got her BS from UC Berkeley, and is doing her PhD there (EECS).

I also know a professor at UC Berkeley who got her BS, MS, and PhD at Stanford.

Yet I found this from http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/grad/cbe/faq:

My undergraduate degree is in chemical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. I have such happy, fond memories of the department that I cannot bear the thought of pursuing graduate studies away from Cal. Can I go to Berkeley for graduate?

Although nearly all of the best chemical engineers are Berkeley graduates, this department, like most other top chemical engineering departments, feels strongly that its undergraduates are better served by pursuing graduate studies in a new and different environment. Thus, unless you have obtained a degree elsewhere or have substantial industrial experience since you graduated from Berkeley, we will not admit you to the department for graduate work.

[juillet]

Yeah, I totally wouldn’t worry about this. Since it’s too early for him to know where he might want to apply for graduate school, there’s the chance that he’ll rule out some great undergrad schools for essentially no reason (e.g., it turns out he doesn’t want to go to those programs for grad school, or doesn’t need grad school at all, or ends up going in a different field, or gets an MS first, or any other reason that makes this a moot point).

[patertrium]

Thanks everyone.