Having had a short and unpleasant stint at a BigTechCo, it's my projection that pushing hard to make it will likely get you into a bad team - one of those 50%-9

Having had a short and unpleasant stint at a BigTechCo, it's my projection that pushing hard to make it will likely get you into a bad team - one of those 50%-90% at each corp where people are set up for failure and spend years persevering rather than thriving. I would instead focus on sticking out of the crowd: making a cool side project (e.g., a utility app that brings you $100/mo in profit), finding a mentor, finding a partner in crime, finding current employees who could give you leads to good teams, upping your game in some advanced tech/data analysis etc.