&gt; Is it really that easy to enter finance at that level (or at all), or even get a job at Google for $200k&#x2F;year?<p>Yes. from personal experience, if you can get into a good graduate program, you can also get an offer from {google,amazon,microsoft} for $150-$200. the predicate &quot;get into a good graduate program&quot; means you have a CS degree with a decent GPA from a well considered school and some research experience, which usually translates into some kind of job experience that you can talk up in your interview.