> get into an MIT or Stanford have to have work ethic and prior experience that places them well above the average CS student. You're comparing apples to orang

> get into an MIT or Stanford have to have work ethic and prior experience that places them well above the average CS student. You're comparing apples to oranges. The worst at MIT is not necessarily any better than the average at some state school. I've seen more than a few people with bachelor's degrees from UCSD and UCLA be below the class average at Cal Poly for their second bachelors or masters degree. If there's any metric you can rely on it's that their average is usually better than the average of another school.