<p>I want to major in chemical engineering as an undergrad. Obviously, MIT is the best of the best in this area, but I'd also like to keep finance and consulting as possible career options. How is the recruiting for Wall Street and consulting at MIT? Obviously MIT is very technology-oriented, but I'd still like to keep business careers as options. I'm thinking top firms like Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Mckinsey, Bain, etc. </p>
<p>They are at you like vultures at the career fairs. They seem to really like course 6ers, but some of them don’t care what you are and just want MIT kids.</p>
<p>In my Junior year of high school I went to an MIT information session in Manhattan. There were recent graduates there to answer our questions. All the alumni first introduced themselves and told us what they are doing career wise. I could not believe how many worked for Investment banks and hedge funds. I was expecting to meet some engineers! I was wondering if the high paying finance jobs were luring all the students away from their original passions, but then I realized that these were the alumni that work in NYC and that maybe that explained things. I assume in another city I would have found more of a variety of careers. </p>
<p>I think being in NYC will seriously bias the sample towards finance and consulting. About 15% of graduates go into finance or consulting immediately after graduation (25% of the ~60% that start working). I think I-banking and consulting companies don’t have a strong preference for course 6.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Well, both can be true.</p>
<p>But yes, you will definitely find more variety in other places. Boston has plenty of that, as does San Francisco. The infosession I attended in Los Angeles as a prefrosh also had a wide variety of people.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Looking at the graduating senior survey <a href=“http://gecd.mit.edu/sites/default/files/files/2013_GSS_Survey.pdf”>http://gecd.mit.edu/sites/default/files/files/2013_GSS_Survey.pdf</a> we see that MIT undergrads who go into finance barely make more than the average MIT undergradd who enters the workforce and less than those who go into computer software/hardware so I’m not sure this explanation really holds up (I don’t think this data includes bonuses which could potentially alter the conclusions but I don’t think it could change things that much). I realize many people don’t like finance but I think concern that it lures away people from their original passions is misguided. Presumably many MIT students enter CS because of the strong job market in that field but you rarely hear similar concerns expressed about that. </p>
<p>^I think many students who pick finance for the money focus less on the starting salary then on expected career earnings.</p>
<p>Maybe although my guess is that people who immediately enter finance rarely spend most of their careers doing it. </p>
<p>In I-Banking you can’t go by the starting salaries. Bonuses are huge. At least they were when my husband went into it out of Business school 15 years ago. His first year out of school the bonus was more than his salary. Essentially more then doubling his income for the year and the second year his bonus was 3 times his salary and that was typical not the exception.</p>
<p>I don’t think undergrads who go into I-banking can still expect those kind of bonuses. Partially due to the economy being worse than 15 years ago, partially because new regulations reduced the profitability of big banks, and partially because I think bonuses are relatively more important for MBAs than undergrad hires.</p>
<p>My rough impression is that including bonuses undergrads who start out in big banks can expect a little more than 100k with quite a bit of variance (here is one source <a href=“http://www.ibankinginsider.com/on-the-job/investment-banking-salary-total-pay/”>http://www.ibankinginsider.com/on-the-job/investment-banking-salary-total-pay/</a>). I think bonuses in CS are typically much smaller but not zero so the starting pay difference between I-banking and CS for the average MIT grad can’t be very much. People generally only spend a couple of years in these starting I-banking jobs so it’s hard to make long term comparisons particularly if people pursue MBAs. I don’t deny that some people go into finance just for the money but I don’t think finance is currently that much more financially lucrative than CS. If you compare where MIT undergrads went to work in 2007 vs. 2013 you see a big shift from finance to CS which I think is explained by this.</p>
<p>To be more specific in 2007 28.7% of MIT undergrads who went into the workforce went into finance and 9.3% went into computer software. In 2013, the same numbers were 11.8% for finance and 21.5% for computer software (computer hardware is another 3-4%). The survey categories changed somewhat but most other fields stayed roughly constant in popularity. </p>
<p>I would imagine that the 2008-2009 financial crisis has played a role in that decreased number from '07 to 2011 for financial employment. </p>
<p>I would agree that the financial crisis and the regulations that followed played a large part in this. I would also argue that the mechanism is reduced compensation in the financial sector which in the mid-2000s seemed a lot more lucrative than anything else but now seems roughly comparable to compensation in Tech. </p>
<p>In any case, given current conditions finance does not seem to be luring that many MIT students which was the original concern. </p>
<p>MIT alum here who went through the i-banking/consulting recruiting circuit. Had interviews at most of the top shops. Feel free to send me a PM with any specific questions you may have.</p>
<p>MIT is considered a “target” school for MBB and bulge bracket banks. MBB in particular loves engineers, since they tend to have a very analytical mindset. The BBs will love you too, but more so for S&T than IB. Most of the grads who accepted IBD jobs were course 14/15 majors gunning specifically for that division. Most of the juniors can secure an internship at either top shops or at least mid-market firms. Seniors usually get return offers.</p>