Comment by _asummers

The big thing for me with top schools is the "baseline quality of the degree". I didn't go to a top school, but spent my time studying everything math and CS related I could, and managed to get an awesome education. At the same time, I am fully cognizant of the fact that peers who were less driven likely were more easily able to skate by, for the most part. So when a resume comes across my desk from a guy from my alma mater, I don't exactly know how to evaluate it -- there's no "well this guy went to CMU or MIT, so I can assume a modicum of strengths". I wouldn't turn down a candidate for an interview because of their school (or lack thereof), but coming from top schools generally frames you in a different way, in my book. If anything, I tend to gauge the difficulty up slightly more quickly in my questions.