No, its because 10-20 years after you graduate, no one asks you for your GPA at Harvard but they certainly think you are a genius just because you went there (you could graduate with a 2.0 GPA). As opposed to average state school guy with a 4.0 GPA. Many years after you graduate, you regularly get asked where you went to school but rarely asked "what was your GPA". This isn't even mentioning the type of whiz kids or socially powerful people you can befriend at these type of institutions. Steve Ballmer is smart but if he didn't meet Bill Gates, i doubt he would ever have become a multi billionare.