<p>For PhD programs they certainly care. First, the inbreeding issue is generally frowned upon at any school. But second, and important in my mind, I don’t think that Berkeley gives most people the right kind of skills/training to go on to PhD programs. Most people don’t do senior theses. Most people don’t develop collaborative and semi-peer relations with professors. Most students don’t have professors who know them well and can speak for their intellectual -and- personal capacity for advanced research. I think that Berkeley gives its students a very impersonal education with a focus on mastering facts but not challenging broad ideas. Being an academic is about challenging ideas, and from my experience few Berkeley students approach their education in this way.</p>
<p>Perhaps this is related to the fact that many students (that I have come in contact with – social sciences) aspire to professional school, specifically law school, and are highly focused on translating their undergrad education to a professional school application? I don’t necessarily think that this is anyone’s -fault-; it’s just part of the school.</p>
<p>By the way, the majority of grad students in my department (myself included) came from liberal arts colleges. There are a handful that came from big schools and a sizable minority came from elite private schools (Princeton, Harvard, Stanford, etc.) If you ask most grad students in my department where they would send their kids, most agree that they would never send them to a big university like Berkeley. </p>
<p>My two cents as a person who actually teaches classes here and writes letters of recommendation…</p>