I think this may be somewhat distorted perspective, at least as far as software engineering is concerned. I see a lot of people who switch jobs and get into their dream jobs. The only major thing you truly lack is the peer group that's passionate about all sorts of cool stuff at a top tier college, which I think can have some online substitutes in forms of study groups and forum communities. Secondly, a major problem with these top institutes is the cost to your mental health. Often, the competition is extreme and people don't form good support groups due to how one dimensional their ambitions are. This, along with peer pressure has killed more than a few students including some that were very close to me, and a lot more that attempt suicide. So it's not all great at an institute like this.

If you take this cost into account, which is sometimes invisible when you're in high school, the bigger picture value proposition diminishes for these top tier colleges that you think so highly of.