<p>I’d back up the idea that your undergrad institution doesn’t matter much if you have a “superior” professional or doctoral degree. (And this comment must be put into the context of how much the diploma itself – as opposed to one’s own skills and accomplishments – may or may not matter in the real world.) Among the leading figures in my own field are folks who received their doctorates from “top 10” schools in the discipline (e.g., Harvard, Chicago, Wisconsin, Rochester, Stanford, Berkeley, UMich) but did their undergrad work at the likes of SUNY New Paltz and Cal State Northridge. Selection into doctoral programs is highly merit-based. After that, after you’ve earned the doctorate, you may get an initial boost in placement from where you earned your degree (and more particularly from who you worked with), but after a couple of years you are truly on your own to publish or perish.</p>