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<p>Well, I don’t know that it has NO bearing. I have to believe that some undergraduate schools can help you to get into some grad schools, particularly when we’re talking about going back to same school you were at as an undergrad. Many grad programs provide strong ‘homefield advantage’ to their own undergrads, and certain ones are exclusive to their own undergrads. </p>
<p>For example, the MEng EECS program at MIT is specifically reserved for former MIT EECS undergrads. By rule, nobody else can get in. {Heck, even if you were an MIT undergrad but didn’t major in EECS, you can’t get in.}</p>