Slightly related: I'm curious about educational background and the impact on admission. The figures for Summer 2017 are 72 different universities out of 294 fo

Slightly related: I'm curious about educational background and the impact on admission. The figures for Summer 2017 are 72 different universities out of 294 founders. That seems like a pretty specific group within academia. Possibly a set of highly selective universities. I'm curious if the applicant pool similarly as narrow, or if the brand of one's alma mater bears relevance to the process. As mentioned prior, a piece of paper is a poor proxy for talent and drive.