Unemployed after Princeton

Colleges & Universities Princeton University
1

<p>[Princeton</a> University - Career Services - Online Publication](<a href=“http://ocsweb.princeton.edu/pro-flip/Main.php?MagID=1&MagNo=1]Princeton”>http://ocsweb.princeton.edu/pro-flip/Main.php?MagID=1&MagNo=1)</p>

<p>24% of Princeton students graduated unemployed.</p>

<p>10% of Princeton graduates are working ‘internships’, not even as full-time employees.</p>

<p>And, ~22% of Princeton graduates are heading directly to graduate school, implying the strong possibility that greater than 24% of Princeton graduates don’t have decent jobs lined up. (People tend to attend graduate schools if they fail to secure a decent employment)</p>

<p>It is rough out there, and it clearly seems like Princeton students and graduates aren’t immune to terrible economy and tough job market. Maybe it is time that more students across top schools think about majoring in more marketable majors. (read: computer science, statistics, engineering, accounting, etc) Because, in this economy and job market, political science/ history/ sociology majors won’t likely to get you far. (Btw, it seems that political science and history are actually top 5 most popular majors at Princeton)</p>

2

<p>See: <a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/business/economy/19grads.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/business/economy/19grads.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<h2>“Now evidence is emerging that the damage wrought by the sour economy is more widespread than just a few careers led astray or postponed. Even for college graduates — the people who were most protected from the slings and arrows of recession — the outlook is rather bleak.”</h2>

<p>“Young graduates who majored in education and teaching or engineering were most likely to find a job requiring a college degree, while area studies majors — those who majored in Latin American studies, for example — and humanities majors were least likely to do so.”</p>

3

<p>The article you mention confirms the riskiness involved in pursuing a degree in liberal arts. Ironically, at Ivies and many top schools, they pride themselves on their rigorous liberal arts education and theoretical, not practical, aspects of their courses.</p>

<p>One thing that sets apart Princeton, or other Ivies, away from liberal arts majors at other universities is that even humanities majors at Ivies have access to recruiting from i-banks and consulting firms. Indeed, there are plenty of people from such schools, with majors in English or Political Science, who successfully attain Investment Banking Analyst jobs post graduation.</p>

<p>However, this is very risky, as a vast majority of employers outside of high finance don’t particularly care about a person’s academic pedigree, but much more so on his/her skill-set, experience, or choice of college major. As a result, many students at Princeton or other Ivies who go on to major in humanities and strike out on high finance/ consulting jobs, they will likely to struggle a great deal in the job market. And, getting high finance or top consulting jobs are incredibly competitive, and just because you attend Princeton/ Harvard/ Wharton, there is no guarantee that you will score such jobs. </p>

<p>Truth be told, someone who majors in accounting or engineering at a second tier college will have a much higher success rate of attaining a salaried job with decent career upshot, as opposed to a humanities/ liberal arts students at Harvard or Princeton. (On the other hand, if you are one of those lucky folks and score an IBD or top consulting job with a degree in Political Science, more power to you)</p>

<p>Now, considering the fact that a significant portion of student body at schools such as Yale or Princeton pursue humanities major (such as Political Science, history, or English), are they really making prudent choices overall? These kids are, no doubt, very driven and talented academically. Knowing their level of talent and intelligence, I am honestly surprised that they’re not considering pursuing ‘marketable’ majors, such as accounting, sciences, engineering, or statistics.</p>

4

<p>My son is considering majoring statistics but not that many schools actually have a bona fide stats major; more have masters in stats. He lists math and physics as his #1 and #2 choice but, depending on where he gets in, he could indeed easily be drawn to stats as a major.</p>