This question might generalize to a few members here and I figured I could extract some good advice from HN, so here's my quandary.<p>I currently attend a third tier school (George Mason University) which is ranked sixty-somethingth for computer science; I came in as a lethargic high school graduate (choosing computer science almost arbitrarily over English), but quickly became enthusiastic about school after my first few courses.<p>I'm now a junior and am seriously considering a PhD. I have a pretty good GPA (3.89) with experience as an undergraduate researcher, a teaching assistant, and programmer in the private sector. This convinced me that I had a shot at entrance to some of the more reputable schools (Berkeley, UCLA, Caltech, CMU, etc.) but as I browse the graduate directories of these institutions, I see that the PhD students have undergraduate degrees from the very same prestigious enclave of schools.<p>After browsing through the top 15 institutions for computer science and seeing a graduate body composed of (MIT|CMU|UIUC|Berkeley) undergraduates, I'm getting pessimistic about my chances of being able to attend a powerhouse school for graduate studies.<p>Is it true there's a barrier of entry based on pedigree in CS grad schools? If so, is there any way I can circumvent it? If not, any advice on what to do?
Ask HN: Graduate school admittance concerns