This article strikes a particularly strong chord with me. I am a student, probably in between the second and third examples, and it is so unbelievably hard to get an interview. I wasn't even aware it was so easy for students at top schools. This is frustrating because college admission for many essentially comes down to the first year or two of high school. That can't be a good indicator of developer performance.

Maybe we need better career services for students at mid-level schools or lower, or maybe we need a company to step in between the gaps. Either way the system is broken right now.