As a Rutgers alumnus who was involved in the scene when college hackathons started really taking off (2009-2013, attended 40+ hackathons), I can say that this anecdote doesn't reflect my experience at all. Had you attended HackRU instead of HackPrinceton, I can guarantee you that the app ideas would be pretty much indistinguishable from those at other universities.
As for thinking differently, I can't speak much to that, but I've met quite a number of rich people with average and below-average thinking capabilities.
As for thinking differently, I can't speak much to that, but I've met quite a number of rich people with average and below-average thinking capabilities.