This says alot about your biases... I would have assumed that the person learning on their own, working on open source projects, and hacking away on stuff sinc

This says alot about your biases... I would have assumed that the person learning on their own, working on open source projects, and hacking away on stuff since they were a kid went to the mediocre school. They just need the paper to open the gates. The person who went to the "top-tier" school is more likely to be working the system and generally turning in garbage at work. Their parents have a buddy on the board, or the department is run by a frat/sorority acquaintance, or they just get extra consideration because "top-tier" school resume. An yes, I've seen this at many places over the years... Guess who the first whiner is?