@sattut, what part of what I said do you consider “not true”?
In any case
- Yes, many top students from HS enter schools outside the elite for various reasons in the US, but that doesn’t really refute my point. Unlike (say) law school admissions, the training you get as an undergrad actually matters for top philosophy PhD programs.
- Compared to law school and b-school entering cohorts, philosophy PhD program cohorts are tiny, so most could be heading to law school or business (very few enter b-school directly these days) and top philosophy PhD programs can still be filled with elite college grads.
- If you’re not sure that the departmental reputation matters, then why are you commenting? In any case, it’s not the reputation that matters but the training.
- For law and med school, actually, where you go for undergrad probably matters less than it does for a top philosophy PhD program (in the US).