<p>I was looking at the Graduating Student Surveys from Graduating</a> Student Survey - MIT Careers Office and I was surprised at some of the results.<br>
By far most MIT grads go into the finance sector - as stereotypical as this may sound, I thought most MIT grad would go into something like engineering.</p>
<p>Well, keep in mind that the job data are only for graduating students who are going to jobs instead of straight to grad school.</p>
<p>About 50% of each class goes straight to grad/professional school after undergrad, and some majors are more likely to go to grad school than others. So part of what you’re seeing is a selective effect – scientists and engineers are more likely to go to grad school than Sloanies, who are more likely to get jobs straight out of undergrad. So the job data is tilted toward the Sloanies already, then when some number of science and engineering majors get finance jobs, it really tilts that data.</p>
<p>Additionally, some number of the students who are working in finance are not planning to make a career of it – they just want to work in finance for a few years, make some good money, and do whatever else they want to do with their lives.</p>