<p>Most of them didn’t even bother applying because they were focused on financial services or medicine. The 30-40 people are friends that I’m close enough to ask. One of my friends flat out got rejected by chemical engineering firms. One of the residents on my floor can’t find a job at all. </p>
<p>Overall, if you’re good (top 30% of the school), you can find an engineering job quite easily. It just becomes more difficult as you are less academically qualified, because there are already a dearth of jobs on campus for engineering. I know of some students looking into engineering and getting interviews but haven’t checked up to see what they’re doing. </p>
<p>That’s what the engineering school means when they sell that “engineering is a new liberal art” crap. It just means that not enough Columbia engineers go into engineering and instead focus on pre-professional routes. If you call engineering a liberal art, you might be able to dodge the spotlight that comes from having most of your engineers enter professional careers.</p>