As someone who is involved in the hiring process at IT firms, I can say that hot schools will get you noticed, but the really impressive thing is experience. Applicants who immediately move to the "top of the pile" are those who are either start an open source project, or those that participate in open source projects. This is the easiest way to get experience while still at university. Also remember that there is no college in the world that will qualify you for "real world" IT. Only experience will do that.
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As someone who is involved in the hiring process at IT firms, I can say that hot schools will get you noticed, but the really impressive thing is experience. Applicants who immediately move to the "top of the pile" are those who are either start an open source project, or those that participate in open source projects. This is the easiest way to get experience while still at university. Also remember that there is no college in the world that will qualify you for "real world" IT. Only experience will do that.