I talked to two firms at meet the firms and thought it was dumb, personally, and left when I was in under grad. I just applied to my schools hire website and just did interviews later. Still got hired by another firm I didn't meet.

I did my first associate experience talking to students recently and honestly. we would mark resumes on people we really liked. That's it. Now one person I did talk to (that I didn't star) actually reached out to me and mentioned something we had discussed and that is bonus points cause now I solidified remembering him. He added me on linkedin as well. So when I go as a greeter to on-campus interviews, I will vouch for him on being proactive and really wanting the job. Also, I feel like it eases the nerves to talk to someone you already met before hand.

My point is, yea you could network a bit, but you didn't ruin your chances as I forgot most kids faces anyway, unless you were either a star candidate or reached out. For anyone else reading this, if you were an average student like me, reach out and be genuine, cause if you can't play the super genius card, play the "we can be in the same room for 12 hours and willingly to learn" card.