Heated discussions are not a bad thing. In fact, some of the greatest analysis comes from highly heated discussions. And, unlike most charged debates on the Internet, this did NOT spiral into a bunch of ad hominen attacks. So hurray! Ya'll defied the laws of the Internet! I have some scattered thoughts to throw out there, not really responding to anyone in particular. Here we go!
We have to talk about class. Oh, and gender, sexuality, race, etc. Because, despite what we want to believe, academia is not a utopian den where classism or any other -isms don't exist. Like bfat, my class upbringing shaped how I saw myself as a scholar at the age of 17, so I didn't apply to any out of state or private schools. It wasn't some painful decision my family and I made after looking at the budget. I just never saw myself at a "fancy" school. Never even considered it. I see this with my community college students all the time; they have internalized where "students like them" go for their undergraduate degree, and they very rarely apply to top schools for transfer. One of my favorite parts of my job is opening students' eyes to their potential and to the programs that support students from low-income and/or minority families. That works on an individual level, but if we want institutional change, we have to keep talking about class whenever the opportunity presents itself.
Ok, now onto "pedigree" and ranking. There seems to be two discussions: the ranking of the BA/MA program for PhD applicants and the ranking of the PhD program for job searchers. We are all agreed that it absolutely matters where we get our PhD's for the job search. However, I do firmly believe that the source of our BA/MA degree is not as important in PhD applications as what we do while we are enrolled in our BA and/or MA programs. Of course, I'm sure it helps if an applicant has a degree with a pretty name stamped on the top-- name recognition and prestigious connections are invaluable in academia. But while an Ivy league undergrad degree may get someone in, I don't know if a public, state school degree will keep a qualified student out. I went to a California State University for my MA, and a bunch of us worked our butts off to present at conferences, publish our own journal, volunteer with professional organizations, and the like. From my cohort, students went to Northwestern, University of Arizona, WUSTL, USC, UC Davis, University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign, and UC Berkeley. No Ivies, but still top schools in their fields. So, I believe it is possible to come from a "no name" program and do well within the world of PhD applications.