<p>“However, even at those pre-professional oriented schools, the students interested in business related careers, medicine, and law are no where near 70%…”</p>
<p>IvyPBear, then you do not agree with Sakky. Sakky claimed that half the Engineers graduating from MIT take jobs with IBs and MCs. It is safe to assume that for Econ, Political Science and Sloan students, the percentage is probably even higher. It is also safe to assume that many interested in such jobs are not placed. Add prelaw and premed students, and clearly, well over 50% of MIT students wish to pursue careers in one of those four fields. If you do not believe that 70% of MIT students are interested in those four careers, then you cannot agree that 50% (or even 30%) of MIT Engineers take jobs with IBs and MCs.</p>
<p>And according to lesdiablesbleus, 450 Duke undergrads join IBs and MC firms annually. I would like to see documented proof of that as I believe the number (which exceeds Wharton’s numbers) is seriously lofty, but I would not be surprised if over 450 Duke students seriously sought careers in those two domains, with probably 150 actually landing jobs with such firms. That’s out of a class of 1,200. It is safe to assume that another 450 or so go on to Law school or Medical school. </p>
<p>I agree that at some of the schools you listed, like Chicago, Cornell, Johns Hopkins and NU, the percentage of students interested in pursuing careers in those four fields is nowehre near 70%, but at others, like Dartmouth, Duke, Harvard and several others, I think 70% is a fair estimate.</p>
<p>Actually, that’s not what I said. I said that, before the recession, nearly half of all MIT undergraduates - engineers, Sloan students, econ students, and otherwise - who entered the workforce took jobs in finance or consulting. That comment was not specific to engineers. </p>
<p>Secondly, my comment was about those who entered the workforce. Obviously a large chunk choose to go to graduate school instead such as PhD programs at which point the MIT career center obviously loses track of them. Yet surely even many of them will later choose to enter finance or consulting. For example, it’s become something of a running joke that many MIT PhD engineering and science students are ‘minoring’ in consulting or finance careers. Now obviously, not every MIT PhD student was an MIT undergrad, but many were. MIT undergrads who head to graduate school tend to prefer high-prestige programs such as Stanford, Harvard, and the like, and it is also true that many of their PhD students also enter finance and consulting. </p>
<p>But thirdly, it’s not my ‘claim’ that nearly half of all MIT undergrads who entered the workforce before the recession entered finance and consulting. It’s a fact. </p>
<p>Nearly half of all accepted offers were with consulting and finance firms…</p>
<p>Oh, I don’t know about that, especially when it comes to the stress. Ever work offshore (which is generally where you would have to go to get paid $100k right out of college as a PetE)? Trust me, that’s not exactly a low-stress environment. Nor is it particularly nice to having to share a room with 5 other guys for weeks at a time. Even when your shift is over, there’s nothing to do. At least an investment banker can go to a nice restaurant/bar or take in a show during the (admittedly few) off-hours he has. When you’re offshore, there’s nothing to do. There’s no place to go.</p>