I generally agree, but having a degree from a top 20 school would definitely make even a software development career easier, just because some companies filter

I generally agree, but having a degree from a top 20 school would definitely make even a software development career easier, just because some companies filter candidates based on that, and some filter even more aggressively. And if you want to start a startup, being friends with connected folks from Stanford would help... assuming connecting with them is possible if they're wealthy and you're not -- assuming you can bridge the cultural gap. A lot of success really is who you know, so going somewhere where you meet a lot of people who are going somewhere can be very useful. But of course, they also need to be people who are open to networking, understand the value of networks, etc., which I suspect is somewhat more true of people who attend Stanford than those who go to UCs just because of the mindset of the folks going in.