I guess it has something to do with this guy really being a star in a pretty good department, versus myself being a pretty typical student in a very strong depa

I guess it has something to do with this guy really being a star in a pretty good department, versus myself being a pretty typical student in a very strong department. UW is a top name brand grad school for CS. personal achievements say a lot more about you than the hand you were dealt by the extremely noisy college admissions process Grad school decisions at all the universities you mentioned are made by professors themselves, and they typically look for candidates who are interested in getting a PhD. Stanford's three year Master's program is career oriented.