Some Background information:

I hope this is the appropriate place to post this.

I'm a prospective college student hoping to study philosophy, and hopefully to go onto the graduate level and become a professor. I know it is a bit early to be set on a rather hopeless goal, but I've been interested in philosophy ever since I was a little kid, and I've been teaching myself philosophy for years.

I've read tons of philosophy, I participate in reading groups, I've read advanced works from Plato to Hegel and according to students I've talked to, demonstrated a good understanding. I've run a philosophy club for four years as well which has been hugely successful at my school (we even had some local professors come in to give a talk). My daily life outside of school is largely dominated by philosophy-related activities. I eat and drink philosophy and am fairly certain that this is my passion, though I understand that that could change in the future. I'm an amateur but I most certainly am not a dilettante.

I've heard about how absolutely terrible the job prospects are for professorships in philosophy, and read the various reasons why trying to become a philosopher is a bad idea, and I'm not deterred by the risks. I love reading about philosophy, talking about philosophy, explaining philosophy, discussing philosophy, and writing about philosophy. I've decided I want to do this and am fully aware of the difficulties involved.

With that out of the way, here are my actual questions:

1. How important is the undergrad program in going on to graduate school? I haven't found anything similar to the Gourmet Reports for undergrad and have received conflicting advice on this matter. I know that for grad school if you don't go to a top 20 you may as well not go, but is this true for someone seeking undergrad education with the intent of continuing to grad school?

2. Keeping the first question in mind, what are some good undergraduate programs to consider? I've heard Western Washington University has a good one but I don't know how to assess the quality of a program.

3. How would one then go about assessing the quality of an undergraduate program?

4. Would it be appropriate to ask professors (at my local college, a SUNY, for example) for advice on this matter?

5. Besides "Forget about it," what do you think would be the best piece of advice you could give me?

I hugely appreciate any advice or answers people can give me, as I'm very passionate about this. Thanks ahead of time.