I was under the impression that the networking aspect of Startup School is a major draw for a lot of people. Did you not find this to be the case?
If you ask me, the primary reason to attend startup school is that you'll see a lot of "famous" people who are just names to you, and you'll begin to realize that they're human. That's a worthwhile experience if you've never done it before, but I wouldn't go into the event with grander expectations.
The hallway conversations and the networking was indeed vibrant and full of energy, but no different than any other startup event, or sxsw, or meetups, or...
I'd say that there are smaller and more focused events (Eyeo comes to mind, even though not free and much longer), that are more rewarding. Anyway, I'd probably go again if invited, mostly for FOMO (fear of missing out).