Then how did all the Auburn folks get hired?

Steve Dickson gave a lounge briefing last month on the hiring process. While the weight of the metrics isn't public, the things that he emphasized were those that differentiated a candidate from the pack. He specifically mentioned where an applicant went to college, how long it took to finish, degree and GPA were weighed heavily. He also said they were looking for leadership, volunteerism and service (all three of any type) to differentiate candidates. He also said that attention to detail was a key differentiator - multiple misspellings, failure to do timely updates, unexplained gaps in an app all were things that put guys into tier 2.

FWIW, and good luck all.