Originally Posted by Dude
Originally Posted by Bostonian
Originally Posted by JonLaw
It's pretty much the BigLaw system for elite school undergrads.

It's an insane inhuman system for the simple reason that it's an insane inhuman system.
I don't think it's "insane". If you want to make a lot of money in your early 20s, you usually need to make some sacrifices, and employers know it.
If "make a lot of money" is so highly ranked among your priorities that you're willing to accept the kinds of trades they're asking for (and which you've presumably already made in the achievement arms race required to get the job in the first place), then insanity has already been achieved.
If one career pays (say) five times as much as another but requires twice the hours (80 vs. 40 per week), some people, especially males, will choose the former. They can in theory retire early and enjoy more leisure in their 40s and 50s. The start-up dream is to solve your lifetime financial problem with a few "insane" years of intense work.