Bah. CS ("engineer") is a pretty rigorous and challenging curriculum at any competitive school, whether it's state or private. So graduating with a CS degree i

Bah. CS ("engineer") is a pretty rigorous and challenging curriculum at any competitive school, whether it's state or private. So graduating with a CS degree is enough of a level in my book. Of all the hundreds of candidates I've interviewed coming into Apple, the brightest and most self-starter guys and girls instead came from no-name schools in random parts of the world. Sure in startup land you see Stanford come up quite a lot, because that's where all the money is and so those guys get solid introductions and meetings with all the right people. Working at a company like Apple (or also Facebook/Google/Microsoft) means you need to be product driven and capable of learning quickly and on your feet. True, they are cushy companies in terms of benefits and pay, but they have high bars of entry. If anything, the opposite is now true, where they cannot afford to hire someone on a hunch, or experiment with them like a nimble startup can since it's near impossible to fire them. So if you yourself are in a state school (or small "unknown" school), do not worry. If you want to work at a prestigious company out here in California, the real trick is to find the one area you're able to really excel at and push yourself to shine in it. When you're in the interview, make sure you talk about that one shining aspect and really talk it up. When the interviewers see your passion and how you overcame obstacles in it, you'll be a shoe-in.