Most Common Majors at Highly Selective Colleges and at All 4-Year Colleges

[Data10]

@roycroftmom

Presumably proportionately more T25 students pursue phd degrees or law/business/med schools, at least in the past, though with highly lucrative jobs available to them upon graduation, that may no longer be as common. As long as the trifecta of finance, consulting and tech remain busy recruiters there, much less pressure to attend grad school, at least not right away.

Continuing with the Yale vs UConn example, 8.0% of UConn grads planned a PhD/MD/JD soon after graduation compared to 8.5% of Yale grads – not a dramatic difference. However, there was a difference in distribution of these 3 degree types, with Yale grads more likely to pursue law than other colleges. This fits the Yale law school connection and differences in distribution of majors.

I do think that satisfaction in career opportunities with only a bachelor’s plays a role, as does the larger portion pursuing finance and consulting – fields that typically do not require graduate degrees for initial employment.