@SlitheyTove I understand your point about anecdotes. In your example, with D1 she “attended a well-regarded private school .” Now, if student also has co-ops & research on her resume, then even better!
Now let’s compare a kid who goes to college, who might have problems finding his 1st co-op or 1st exp VS a kid who goes to college, and easily found research/co-ops.
Find out why more research and co-ops are available at 1, but not so much at the other. And which companies seem to be connected to certain colleges? For example, this reputable Tech School shows which companies recruited kids:
https://www.rpi.edu/dept/cdc/students/jobsearch/offers/Class%20Stats.html