Hi!
I’m currently an undergraduate at Michigan studying Pharmaceutical Sciences. I would love to continue here for graduate school (either for Pharmaceutical Sciences or Medicinal Chemistry), so I was wondering whether or not graduate schools like to take their own undergraduates? I’m a sophomore and I have a 3.4 (shooting for a 3.5 in the fall semester). I did research this summer with a pharmacology professor, and I am going to continue in the fall.
Thank you so much!
helppleasepharm
depends on the Uni. For example, UC campuses generally prefer that you go somewhere else for grad school. OTOH, North Carolina loves to keep their (under) grads in the grad family.
Best is to check with your dept advisor.
My son is a PhD candidate at Michigan in Aerospace Engineering. He has some good friends in the Robotic program. Michigan UGs are well represented in both programs. But that’s just two data points. I agree that you should check with your advisor. You could also look at the grad school rosters in some of the programs you are interested in. There may be a contact person for grad school inquiries too.
It often depends on the specific department at the school and what kind of program (e.g. PhD program versus professional school program).
For example, UCB chemical engineering prefers that students attend different schools for BS versus PhD study (and says that on its web site, also mentioning that some other chemical engineering departments have similar views), but some other UCB departments do not have this view and do admit their own undergraduates to their PhD programs.
^Yep, it depends not only on the university but also the department. One department at Michigan might like to keep its own students while another department might not. And even students who don’t like to can make exceptions where it really makes sense.
I think the question you really want to know is “Is it possible for me to get a graduate degree at Michigan if I went here for undergrad?” and the answer is yes. But the question you need to answer is why you want to stay at Michigan. It can’t be for the experience or the environment; it needs to be because of your research and/or academic interests.
Some offer an option for a master adding an extra year. Did you check if Michigan offers that? I know Michigan state does
At MIT and Caltech, probably the two foremost research universities in STEM, students are encouraged, but not required, to go to another university for graduate studies. The reason? To get a different perspective.
It’s not only dependent on the specific department, but also the specific PI doing the hiring when talking about STEM fields. Some professors recruit aggressively from their own program, and others focus externally.