My guess is the allure of FAANG is the same as that of Ivy Leagues - people who haven't gone to either think there's something special about those institutions

My guess is the allure of FAANG is the same as that of Ivy Leagues - people who haven't gone to either think there's something special about those institutions or the people who went there. Part of it is certainly media coverage and status in their peer group and general society as well. But once you've gone to one of those, you realize that they are really no different from any other college or work experience. There are some things they do a lot better due to scale and ranking, but day-to-day is much the same.