Applying to a recommender/adviser's alma mater?

[DukeofDuke]

I am currently doing some research with a professor that I enjoy, and I like the lab and the team very much. So I plan on sticking with this till I leave for graduate school. Hopefully, my adviser will write a pretty recommendation for me!

He got his PhD and undegrad degrees from some fancy places, and did a postdoc at a fancy place as well. How much of an advantage would it give me at these places if an alumnus was backing me?

 

[Vanadium 50]

Very little. If I get a letter from someone I know, I weigh it more heavily than from someone I don't (if only because there will be more consequences if they lead me astray), but not because it has a "big name" on the letterhead.

 

[DukeofDuke]

but not because it has a "big name" on the letterhead.

No, I'm not asking what effect "big name" will have on committees everywhere, I'm asking what the name X university would have on the committee that's actually from X university. Not asking what Y university or Z university would think about a letter from an X university alum.

aka, if my adviser graduated from Columbia and wrote a strong letter for me, would that have a significantly stronger effect on the columbia admissions committee than it would have on say the upenn admissions committee?

 

[eri]

I had letters of recommendation from former professors, students who did very well for themselves, and even deans of colleges I was applying to - and I didn't get into those schools. I wouldn't count on it making a big difference.