don't listen to the retards in this thread. I'm a whitey who got admitted to MIT for grad school, but chose to go elsewhere.
>does it matter where I get my undergrad degree from?
absolutely, but for the most part what will help you is your research. going to a good undergrad will allow you to do better research in undergrad, but this isn't a requirement. better schools also have better connections, so if you work with someone that has MIT connections your chance of getting in is much higher.
however, the only thing I'll stress is you really REALLY need research experience. grad school is a research degree. you're not being admitted based on how well you can take classes, you're being admitted to do research.
also, get the idea out of your head that you have to go to MIT. odds are they're not even the top school for the field you want to go to. tons of people get rejected because it's obvious they're just applying there because of the name and prestige, without doing the research to see if it's actually the right fit for them.
