<p>Do graduate schools prefer students who attended the same exact school as an undergrad?</p>
<p>Do graduate schools prefer in state students or out of state?</p>
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Actually, it’s the exact opposite. In general, you should not attend graduate school at your undergraduate institution, barring exceptional circumstances. This is considered “academic inbreeding.” It is desirable to gain experience at different universities.</p>
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There is no in-state/out-of-state preference for academic graduate schools.</p>
<p>Actually, the answer to the first one depends on the field and the school. Some universities don’t care, some universities like to take their own graduates and some universities are interested in sending their graduates off to develop themselves somewhere else. I’m not in economics, for example, but I’ve noticed that a lot of economics departments tend to accept more of their own undergrads than would seem to be by random chance.</p>
<p>If you go to the same school for undergrad and grad it will limit your research network/ professional connections. I was also warned that it can make it harder to get a top postdoc position.</p>
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I don’t think you can make a general statement like that. I know at least one department that gives special consideration to in-state applicants because they can fund two in-state students for the price of one out-of-state student.</p>