Thoughts on Importance of School Prestige

Hi all. 
Full disclosure, I'm a current high school senior here in the midst of application season, so I'm probably wildly uninformed on this topic. Rather than finishing the 9 essays I have to write for college apps in a couple days, I've decided to procrastinate and get this site's opinions on the current emphasis on school prestige in the high finance recruiting process.
I don't read posts on this site often, however as a prospective undergrad business major, I do enjoy skimming the business school forum from time to time. It wasn't until I started doing this/researching more into prospective majors that I realized the importance of going to a "target" school. With rapid changes in the current college admissions process, including the increase in difficulty and perceived randomness of getting into good schools, I can't help but think that the importance of having a good school name on your resume is silly. This is not to say that a Wharton grad and a no-name state school grad should be given the same opportunities out of college, I just think that excelling/being top of your class at any school should be good enough to land a job in high finance (or at least give you the same consideration as a typical Ivy grad). 

Here are some reasons why I say that:

1) Being a top high school student in no way guarantees an acceptance to a T20 anymore. 20 years ago, a 4.0 and 1500 SAT could've gotten someone into T20s/Ivies regardless of essays/ec's. Today, I know this is not the case. I have several friends who have been rejected to their ED/EA schools (mostly t10s/20s), all of whom have 4.0's, are fighting for a Valedictorian spot (which at our school will require taking and getting A's in 21 AP Courses), and have SAT scores ranging from 1480-1590 (many also have impressive ec's, and good essays as far as I can tell). IMO, all of these students would succeed at a top school - it is just that admissions are so competitive that not all qualified applicants have a spot. 
Now, none of the friends I listed are interested in majoring in finance. However, if they were, their path to a high finance job just got exponentially more difficult. 

2) Low income/demographics can also play a heavy role in college acceptances, which will automatically exclude a portion of the population that would be qualified for a high finance job. Take a low-income student for example - this student most likely has a much harder path to T20 than a middle/upper-class student would. This student likely goes to an underfunded high school, doesn't have connections for good extracurricular opportunities, may have to deal with issues at home that could affect GPA/SAT scores (in the case of not having stable internet access, etc.), and/or doesn't have a mentor/leader who can guide him/her through the admissions process. This student, if given the resources of an upper-class student, most definitely would've been competitive for a spot at a top school. Instead, they're going to a regular state school, where they will inevitably excel, but will have a much tougher time breaking into the field. 
The same goes for demographics/residence (to a lesser extent). I am extremely lucky to live in VA, which will provide a MASSIVE benefit when applying to UVA, which arguably has one of the best public b-schools in the country. If I am accepted, it will probably be at the expense of a more qualified OOS student. I didn't do anything to earn this, I just happen to live in VA (same goes for Michigan, Cali, Texas, and NC kids). This also applies in other areas: for example, a student from the Bay Area will have much more competition than a student in Alaska. Most people in suburbs will have to deal with this, as admissions tend to be more competitive in these areas. 

3) School costs. With tuition prices approaching 80-90k per year for many top schools, I'm starting to see how the middle class may be getting absolutely screwed out of attending a top school. Now, the low and high-income students are taken care of; low-income students will pay next to nothing for a good private school, and high-income students won't have much of an issue paying the sticker price. But middle/upper middle-class students - those whose families are pulling in 100-300k a year - are going to get ripped off on aid (even with a 300k salary, paying 80k for school is going to hurt). This is going to result in many students who can/will get into Ivies/t20s, but will have to settle for a state school instead because private schools are unaffordable. 

4) To cap this all off, I'd just like to point out that the perceived success of our future depends on our performance in HIGH SCHOOL. High schoolers are idiots; we are literally all teenagers. Whether or not we get into good schools is, let's face it, largely a function of how hard we are pushed to perform in school by our parents. And while, on average, an ivy league student is going to be smarter/a better worker than a state school kid, the top decile of every school is likely qualified and able to do a job in high finance.

So there you have it. Again, I am completely uneducated in this subject and may just be spewing a bunch of BS (see: "High schoolers are idiots"). But I'd really like to get people who are actually in the industry's opinion on how important school prestige should be. In the future, should top companies put less of an emphasis on school when recruiting? If so, do you think this is viable, or will prestige/coming from a target always matter?
Thanks for any input!