I know of a guy who got his undergrad degree at Portland State University, his medical degree at Imbler Health Sciences University (class rank #1) and now is doing his residency in anesthesiology at Harvard. Though he is an extreme case, I know plenty of people like this. What interests me, what about the people who move down in prestige? I think that this sort of transition is a good clue as to how important being a legacy, or person of privilege, is. Note below that New England blue-bloods Dean & Kerry went to one of the elite institutions in the country as undergrads, but made the transition for graduate level (professional) work at schools of lesser status. Contrast this with Wes Clark, who went from the US Military Academy (good) to Oxford (great). Edwards went from NC State (OK) to UNC (good). Lieberman, unlike Kerry or Dean the product of public schools, went to Yale, but stayed on to get his legal degree from Yale Law School.

John Kerry
Undergrad: Yale
Law School: Boston College

Howard Dean
Undergrad: Yale
Med School: Albert Einstein

Wes Clark
Undergrad: US Military Academy
Master's: Oxford

John Edwards
Undergrad: North Carolina State
Law School: University of North Carolina

Joe Lieberman
Undergrad: Yale
Law School: Yale