I'm not sure why HFTs can often feel the need to hire from these schools. I think it's a little different in NYC, but in Chicago, it tends to be the devs that couldn't land jobs in silicon valley that end up working as devs in trading.
Generally speaking (so obviously not for everyone - but for most) working as a developer in trading was not anyone's first choice. Go figure what this means for the kids from brand names schools who end up working there. I say this is as someone who went to work at an HFT firm after MIT.
I worked at one of the top tier prop shops in Chicago. This is my experience there:
Fresh grad devs are generally evaluated on their potential and not what languages and specific skills they know. The people they end up hiring for fresh grad dev roles tended to come from the same six schools. Said schools are generally not top tier (for developers) and are local to Chicago.
Generally speaking (so obviously not for everyone - but for most) working as a developer in trading was not anyone's first choice. Go figure what this means for the kids from brand names schools who end up working there. I say this is as someone who went to work at an HFT firm after MIT.