Is this a good idea to do the masters at the same uni you just attended for your bachelors degree?
I am applying to grad schools but seems like my parents want me to stick to the same university. Apparently, I am getting scholarship here and the uni is going to send me out of state/overseas for my internship in summer even before I start my masters that might help me to obtain some information for my Master’s thesis.
On the other hand, my friends are suggesting me to explore another state or uni at least that might help me to build up more references and opportunities as well.
If you stay, the greatest advantage in my mind is the opportunity for you to collaborate with someone you already know at the school. At a new school, you'd probably be working with someone you've only interacted via email or other remote correspondence. It is a little risky to spend 2 years under a supervisor you may not like to work with.
This was one of the major reasons I stuck to the same Univ. for my Ph.D. after I did my Masters. Proximity to the family was the other reason... even though I don't live with them, I'm only 3 hours away so can visit on weekends and such.
The disadvantage of staying is that you develop a somewhat restricted mindframe when you approach a subject area... when you work with the same people for 6 years (4 + 2), you start thinking in a very specialized manner because you know how others in your dept. think and what works and what doesn't work for them - so you start thinking about things from their standpoint... and it also leads to some monotony and unhealthy semblance in your work... it is for this reason that Ph.D. students are encouraged not to take up academic jobs at their own alma matter... because they might end up not contributing added value to the school.
When I think of a transition from undergrad to a masters program, I personally think I would stick to the same uni. if I was getting a scholarship... and chances are that you haven't been engaged in research type activities with the dept. as part of your undergrad degree anyways, so you don't have to worry about the disadvantage I've mentioned above.
When I started my masters in the same Uni I had done undergrad, I felt my learning curve wasn't as steep as I would have liked it to be. Same prof. were teaching similar courses with the same knowledge base and the courses didn’t challenge me at all.
The biggest Pro is that generally you can finish your Masters quicker if you go to the same Univ. or so it has been noted.
In my opinion there are way too many factors involved to give a yes/no answer. It depends on your individual situation. Im my case I was working in the same insttution that I did my bachelors from so it only made sense to do my part-time masters there. Also, some institutions have many campuses, like the Univ. of Calif or Univ. of Texas System. So if you change campuses then the professors will be different as well.
Thank you so much Umar Talib, Ahmadjee, and Wadi for your feed back.
I agree with whatever you guys are suggesting. I am planning to stay here for my Masters as Ahmadjee said that I 'll be able to finish my Master sooner for two reasons, because I am taking couple of grad courses in my senior yr. as well as I 'll start my internship the summer I graduate, but for other schools, I might have to wait until fall starts and I might not found the best choice/opprtunity possible that is being provided here.
Umar Talib, you are right that my knowledge might stay limited to the horizon set up by the professors here. But then, I did my bachelors in Biology and Psychology but I am planning to do Masters in Public health (more precisely, International Health) so the department and the professors are kind of new to me. I like the environment here since the faculty and staff has been very helping and friendly to me whenever I visited for more information.
Wadi: My uni has plenty of campuses too, but I am currently enrolled in the best one possible, so that might not be choice for full degree but some courses or a semester could be considered.
hmm, I guess my choice is narrowed down now to atealst in-state grad schools and most likely my current university.
Thank you so much everyone for sharing the pros and cons that helped me to finalize my decision.