[wbrendel]

Sounds like you did have experience: stuff you had done independently. More and more that's becoming a requirement to get a good job out of college, at least in certain fields. Combined with your ability to speak intelligently about that experience, it sounds like the hiring decision was pretty easy. What I've found more common, is recent graduates who expect their degree /alone/ will get them a great job out of college, and that's becoming more and more difficult.

Edit: After reading my comment, I don't think I made it clear enough that I'm agreeing with your point about people not marketing or educating themselves adequately. After spending 4 years in college, I think a lot of people expect to show up at a job interview, show the interviewer their degree, and get a job. The reality is obviously quite different.

[mratzloff]

This is also true. Especially in smaller companies, passion is one of your main criteria. Someone without side projects or perhaps a history of open source collaboration just isn't as passionate as someone who has those things.