<p>I would disagree with most replies in this thread. Where you go to undergrad DOES matter. While a school may not say “X went to A, they are more qualified then Y who attended B”, your undergraduate experience plays a huge role in your application. Which classes did you take? What kind of research did you do? My school provided many classes in my field, and the opportunity to do research. Not all schools offer that privilege. Furthermore, the environment will shape you. A deeply intellectual environment shapes good thinkers; at every single one of my interview weekends, more than one professor has mentioned how great the students whom have come from my undergraduate school have done at their graduate schools. Look at the pool of students at your interview weekend: Small, prestigious schools are over-represented. I have met far more people who attended top 20 schools than have not. Not all schools will build an attractive scientist. It isn’t about your GPA, it is about showing you have developed into a scientist. This is academia we are talking about. Most of these people truely believe in learning for the love of learning, and they want to see that you feel the same, and that means going to college to learn, not to paint a better graduate application.</p>