> Have you considered that >90% of CS graduates are not going to be superstar programmers? At my University, I do not know of any other students doing their own side projects, outside of research projects with professors (this isn't to say I'm the only one, but given what I know, I'd be willing to bet there are fewer than 5 doing something cool).
Surely you realize that the point of these questions is to try to weed out that 90% as much as possible. A potential superstar coming out of college doesn't cost that much more in salary, so you want to get one if you can (another way to put it: hiring mediocre programmers won't save you money overall). You may see a bias on hacker news because people here are disproportionately working on (subjectively) interesting projects, so they think they can get potential superstars on board.
Btw, I'd encourage you to apply to those jobs anyway with a candid cover letter. You made a good impression here. But your concerns here are also a reason to take networking seriously and go to conferences, departmental seminars, local user groups etc. You have to know people before they can know you're good (and yes, I'm aware of the inappropriatness of replying to your comment with "immerse yourself EVEN MORE!" The trick is to do it strategically so it's not any more time overall).
Edit: "these questions" = asking about side projects
Surely you realize that the point of these questions is to try to weed out that 90% as much as possible. A potential superstar coming out of college doesn't cost that much more in salary, so you want to get one if you can (another way to put it: hiring mediocre programmers won't save you money overall). You may see a bias on hacker news because people here are disproportionately working on (subjectively) interesting projects, so they think they can get potential superstars on board.
You may like this pg essay if you haven't read it: http://www.paulgraham.com/mit.html
Btw, I'd encourage you to apply to those jobs anyway with a candid cover letter. You made a good impression here. But your concerns here are also a reason to take networking seriously and go to conferences, departmental seminars, local user groups etc. You have to know people before they can know you're good (and yes, I'm aware of the inappropriatness of replying to your comment with "immerse yourself EVEN MORE!" The trick is to do it strategically so it's not any more time overall).
Edit: "these questions" = asking about side projects