department-cest

an academic department practices departmentcest when they disproportionately accepting graduate students from the pool of their own recent undergraduates, rather than selecting from undergraduates of other schools.

rigorous and prestigious departments avoid departmentcest, as they prefer to encourage students to explore different arenas in academia by choosing different schools for undergraduate and graduate work.
the undergraduate seniors of our department know they can come back right away as grad students after they graduate, our professors don’t care about departmentcest.
when one member of an academic department at a university hooks up with another member of the same department.

considered slightly incestuous because often members of the same department are often an insular social group that work, hang out and often live (roommates) together. can also lead to a degree of nepotism.

on the other hand, can be quite common or even encouraged due to the lack of interaction with non-members of the department.
if you are going to take time away from your studies for a love life, make it department-cest so you don’t get too distracted. lab or office-cest is off-limits though.

did you hear mike and sally are shacking up? department-cest!