My father, who was a VP of HR for a major soft drink company, also refused to hire anyone with just school experience.
He found that employees who had kept a constant job throughout HS and then college years (even with a 2.7 -2.8 GPA) were always better employees than even kids who came out of college with nearly 4.0 GpAs but had no work experience.
He told me to get a job and keep it in college. Well, he got more than he bargained for as I helped found a company while in college and therefore ended up on the 7 year track to graduation.
I’ve realized he was right, though. So I end up hiring the same way for the companies I’ve been with.