@intparent, my daughter is currently sees herself becoming an immigration attorney or an international lawyer working on human rights issues. I think she may change her mind 10 times over, but for now I want to support her in whatever she dreams of. And for her to reach her dream job, provided she still wants to do it, an elite law school would probably be a must, right?
It would certainly be helpful in that case.
Agreed.
To be fair to the Harvard grad above, one can be rejected despite a strong academics/application record and great personality due to factors such as lacking at least one critical skill required for the program’s dissertation research(I.e. advanced proficiency in a foreign language, quant/stats skills, programming language, etc), one’s research interests/interpretation doesn’t match or clashes with that of the department or the potential prospective, or the particular department/adviser may simply happen to not have any room to accept new grad students in that particular year and word didn’t get out in time. The last was the key reason why several friends’ PhD apps were rejected by some departments in the last few years.
As an aside, rejections from PhD programs from what I’ve observed are rarely based on the basis of personality/personability factors as academia seems much more tolerant of personality quirks, social awkwardness, and in some cases…even a smidgen of anti-social attitudes than most mainstream workplaces/social situations would tolerate provided GPA/GRE/statement of purpose/LORs from Profs impressed with the grad applicant’s academic work/undergrad research, etc were strong and matched the research interests of department/prospective adviser(s). This was apparent from the large numbers of grad students from various elite departments who exhibited personalities which would be problematic outside of their areas of academia…especially in the corporate sector.
In short, it usually takes A LOT for someone’s PhD application to be sunk mainly/mostly on personality/personality factors assuming nothing was lacking in the GPA/GRE/Statement of Purpose/LORs.
I would add that the college where one goes to UG is a small factor in PhD acceptance decisions.
Much more important are LOR’s, GPA in ones major, GRE scores, research, and the applicants Letters of Intent.
Applying to PhD programs is like applying for a job- applying from an IVY may help the application get an initial review, but after that where a student went to college is immaterial. The prof and other profs in the dept have the “say” as to who they want working in their dept, on their dime. And all of the above factors “trump” the name of the applicants UG college.
If you want to go to a standard state school or an average private college, you have no need for this website. The average state school adcom doesn’t even read essays — they only look at SAT/GPA. This website is a self-selecting group who generally want more than a college with a wide open front door.
@futureNU16, we answer plenty of questions out here about students who are confused about Pell Grants, federal loans, parent plus loans, Perkins loans, community colleges, how to make commuter schools work for you, how students living at home can integrate on campus, the path to different careers – there is a lot of stuff I bet you haven’t looked at… Don’t be so quick to judge, my guess is that you haven’t looked around much.
I agree with @intparent - this forum is an incredible resource for anyone, looking at any type of college, or even not thinking beyond high school. I feel a bit addicted for now but I’m still soaking in the wisdom 
CC is definitely addicting!
I also know a H grad shut out of all grad programs, his area was psych, applied to 12 programs, no dice. This was a while ago (90s) but taught me then that the school name alone means almost nothing.
CC is helpful, but I don’t think it is as great as some posters are suggesting. Maybe it’s because I’m a student and not a parent, but I can see some of the prestige obsession that the OP is talking about.
@dsi411, you are a HS student who hasn’t filled out the Conmon App, completed FAFSA, or tried to figure what the different elements of an FA package are. You have not had to decide between internship offers or deal with bad roommates. Think of us when you are dealing with those things, we will be here for you.
Heck, I remember when a CC parent bought a pair of shoes for a kid coming to NY for an interview who didn’t have what he needed. I think that same kid got advice on dental care when he ran into trouble after starting his job. You probably have parents to call when that happens – not everyone does.