I got skewered in /r/cscareerquestions several months ago for suggesting that any Ivy had a top-tier CS program. It may not be reality, but there is definitely a strong perception.
Depends what you mean by top tier. If you look at where CS professors did their Ph.D.s and where they end up teaching the top four are clearly CMU, MIT, Stanford and Berkeley. None of those are an Ivy. A school can be great without literally being top tier. UT Austin is a great law school but there is a top tier in law schools and it's not part of it[1].
It's a very odd perception that I think comes from their size. They tend to be smaller, more focused departments. The education quality is still high and everyone's favorite companies recruit at them.
Agreed! If you actually talk to recruiters and teams at top-tier companies, then the stronger Ivies still do well when it comes to CS careers.
They punch above their weight, but it still helps to be big.