[xyzzy21]

All I'll say is some of the smartest people I know went to MIT but also some of the VERY, VERY DUMBEST also went to MIT. The swath is so wide that I no longer automatically assume "Good Brand" when I see someone went to MIT - it's actually a red flag.

The latter group tend to be people who are "book smart" but otherwise out of touch with reality. For example: can't design or compute themselves out of a paper bag yet have disproportionate egos as if they could and well. Practicality isn't in their toolbag.

The out of touch is sometimes "in their own world" but it has also included "mentally ill" and "idiot savant smart in only one narrow area; utterly dumb in ALL others".

I've seen these also with other "elite" schools including East Coast Ivies as well as the West Coast equivalents; Stanford comes to mind, for instance.

On the other hand, when you get someone who is in the other group: actually able, it's a dream to work with them as long as their are low key about things. Truly smart people never have to "prove" or "brag" about their bono fides. They show by doing and being cool.

Numerically/Statistically I've found more people in this group will come lesser schools that value the process of teaching and students actually learning over pumping up their endowments or bleating about their pedigree or prestige.