For grad school, does it matter where you went for undergrad?

When you apply to grad school, does it matter where you went for undergrad? For instance, if you go to a local state school with an amazing department for what you want to do, and you get really good grades/good recommendations/good experience, are you going to be beat out by someone who went to a top 20 school and got mediocre grades/recommendations/experience?

It is mostly about your academic record and experience rather than where you attended college. If you have strong grades and test scores and good research experience, you will competitive at the most selective programs. That being said, those highly selective programs get a lot of applicants and consequently it is hard for anyone, no matter their strengths, to get admitted. Make sure you hedge your bets by applying to one school oyu are happy to attend but which is likely to admit you with the financial aid package that you seek.

I second xray. I went to a local state school (albeit, a top 100 state school) for undergrad and am attending a top PhD program.

For grad schools, they really want to know that you’re a good bet, so to speak. They are investing a LOT of money in you (if it’s funded, which is the only way you should ever go into a PhD program). They want to make sure that you’ll be a good fit, can do independent research, and have a proven track record of excelling. You can absolutely do all of these at a local school.

In my experience, your undergraduate pedigree only serves to provide you with a small advantage if you are an otherwise average candidate, and even then it depends on the specific advisor. If he or she is familiar with your program and respects it, he or she is more likely to overlook a somewhat lower GPA, for example.

Most likely not. The name of the school isn’t important; it’s what you do there.

^^ What @juillet‌ just said.

As someone who’s been on departmental graduate admissions committees, for my field it doesn’t matter. In fact, if you got solid mentored research experience no matter where it was we’re simply overjoyed.

It may make a difference to top-10 or -20 programs in a discipline, I don’t know. But at the very least for everyone else? As long as it isn’t a for-profit take-your-money-and-run place, not really.

Thank you for the feedback everyone! I appreciate it