How taboo is doing undergrad and grad school at the same place?

[Frzn]

Just wondering if it people would ever go so far as NOT doing undergraduate at a school doing research they're interested in because they would want to attend grad school there

 

[Vasara]

It doesn't really matter that much, but in general it is better to see how things are done in other places and get some connections. I don't consider it taboo at all, there are plenty of people that do both degrees in the same institution. It is strongly encouraged to go to a different place for grad school though.

 

[eri]

I've heard people say they did that, but frankly I changed my specific research field about 5 times between the beginning of undergrad and the end of grad school, so it doesn't really make sense to do that (and those 5 fields were all still in astrophysics, but not really related). Unless there's a very good reason for you to stay (it's a very top school in the field or you want to work with someone very specific) it's best to move on. Schools will encourage you to go elsewhere.

 

[twofish-quant]

Just wondering if it people would ever go so far as NOT doing undergraduate at a school doing research they're interested in because they would want to attend grad school there

If you are an undergraduate then the odds are that you probably aren't familiar enough with the people in the fields involved to really know what graduate school you want to go to. You may think you do, but you probably really don't.

Selecting graduate schools is a totally different process from selecting undergraduate schools.