If you are in Silicon Valley and at uni, I guess whether you get into Google etc. or not will make a massive difference to your future. It could determine if you have enough money to but a house, have kids in the area in the future, etc. All down to a few interviews.
You should always read salaries as a fraction of the median home price within a ~30 minute radius of where the salary is being paid.
Where $110,000 base salary is offered to new grads (matches my experience at a unicorn, it isn't just Google), it's about 1/12th of a reasonable home.
Where $50,000 is offered to mid-career folks, it's often 1/3rd to 1/4th of a reasonable home.
All politics is local. All salaries are local.
1. Except the economy is global. And people do remote work.
2. The 110k salary person will come out ahead of the 50k salary person in net worth, assuming both manage their money well, despite the cost of living difference. This is due to the value of their house, ability to invest in stock, etc.
However, they fail to see that the hiring process obviously works for Google and it is definitely not "easy". If it were easy, they'd be doing that too and making over 200k at a young age.