To answer some of the other downthread questions:
- Educational background: Ivy League, comp sci major and math minor. I wasn't the smartest person in any of my classes, but I got my work done well and didn't blow it off.
- I didn't have any connections that helped me get in, but had been pretty interested in the markets for a long time.
- As for chances of getting in, I'd say that it's definitely still possible but harder than it was. Most of the quant finance firms draw from the same pool of seniors graduating from highly selective colleges, and mostly just the good programmers from that group. Finance is also pretty cyclical in its hiring -- most firms were probably hiring record numbers of people right before the financial crisis.
I still have a copy of the cover letter I sent to apply for a job in structured credit products at Bear Stearns.