It does even out after a few years. When I think of the half a dozen or so people I know at the Googleplex who I would most want on my team for a startup, they graduated from: Virginia Tech, UT Austin, UMich Ann Arbor, UC Berkeley, Stanford, and perhaps Brown.
I've noticed that the MIT interns are noticeably ahead of interns from other schools, and that fresh grads from top tier schools tend to be ahead of other fresh grads (actually, fresh grads from state schools tend not to end up at Google - nearly everyone above except the Brown & Stanford grads came to Google after work experience elsewhere). But that advantage fades after a year or two, and the long-term top performers are often folks who blew off college or went on tour with their punk-rock band.
I've noticed that the MIT interns are noticeably ahead of interns from other schools, and that fresh grads from top tier schools tend to be ahead of other fresh grads (actually, fresh grads from state schools tend not to end up at Google - nearly everyone above except the Brown & Stanford grads came to Google after work experience elsewhere). But that advantage fades after a year or two, and the long-term top performers are often folks who blew off college or went on tour with their punk-rock band.