SV salary levels are not the norm across the industry. Furthermore, these high salaries in places like SV are often displaced by the extreme cost of living.

well, a full answer to the question would also need the percentage of college graduates that land jobs in big companies in the valley...

P.S. I don't think we'll get far with this... i just noticed, e.g., "median household income in the US" - that seems a tricky thing to compare with, given that many ppl in the US don't have health insurance, or live in trailer parks eating off food stamps...

I think almost all my (upper-year) classmates got offers to at least one of Amazon/Microsoft/Google/Facebook/Twitter/Palantir/Uber. And I went to a school in Canada that nobody's ever heard of (University of Waterloo).

From across the pond, I can tell you we do have heard of you.

I don't follow the Shangai listings (because to me they are kinda pointless) but if pressed to list canadian universities, University of Waterloo would definitely be there....

> And I went to a school in Canada that nobody's ever heard of (University of Waterloo).

Erm, that's well-known as an excellent school. Top-tier, really. My only qualms about inviting in a Waterloo man for an interview would be that our work might not be interesting enough.

What with one of Tommy Flowers colleagues moving there post ww2 :-)

Read Cryptonmicon and you can work out who Randy's' family is based on

You do realize that Waterloo has a CS program that's highly regarded (internationally), yes?

Outside tech circles most people give me a blank stare or ask me if it's in England or in Belgium. It's certainly not an Ivy League school where my rich parents dropped $200k to ensure my spot in the upper class, like some of these commenters claim.

For sure. Why you're getting my response, and others like it, is because well, this is a tech circle and we're talking about tech jobs, so in this context, it's certainly nowhere close to being a school no one has heard of.

edit: Your original comment (paraphrased) was, 'I go to this school no one's heard of, but my classmate get offers to <top-tier tech companies>', but the reality of this is that all of these top-tier tech companies are without a doubt quite aware of Waterloo and it's quality. The same can't be said for, what, I don't know, Cleveland State University.

Humblebrag by association.

Which brings us full circle back to the topic of the article such that its only children of rich parents who graduated from ivies, white "1% rock star programmer" males only, then you don't need the easy cash anyway.

Children of rich parents come in all shapes, sizes, and colours, friend.