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I have another hypothesis the article didn't mention: students who want to do research focus more on their studies while the ones planning to go to Wall Street

by S4M 10y ago

I have another hypothesis the article didn't mention: students who want to do research focus more on their studies while the ones planning to go to Wall Street do the bare minimum to get an acceptable grade (whatever "acceptable" is for the Wall Street institutions) and spend the rest of their time networking, preparing for job interviews in banks, or just enjoying life. EDIT: spelling

martey 10y ago
From the article: "Shu noticed that since the Great Recession, after Wall Street careers had lost of some of their luster, newer classes of MIT students became more likely to major in science and engineering subjects — and their grades were better, too. This effect was most pronounced among the weaker students. Shu has a hunch that some students had been slacking off in their classes because they anticipated working in finance, not science, after graduating."
- throwaway729 10y ago
  "slacking off" implies non-productivity, whereas S4M posits high productivity applied toward different goals.
Exofunctor 10y ago
(Using a throwaway, because I don't like putting this kind of stuff on my main account.) I'm an undergrad CS senior signed for a quant/programming job at a Wall Street trading firm after I graduate in a few months. I have several friends from previous internships going to work at the same company after they graduate. None of them (nor me) matches the description you gave. Many of us are involved in research at the undergrad level, and no one is coasting by on the bare minimum. Some of these people are also not the sort of people who make any effort to network. The common thread seems to me to be a very strong theoretical and professional background. Of course, this is with a sample size of 5 undergrads and 1 company, so what I'm talking about could be highly atypical. Also, if you like doing the bare minimum, you're going to have a bad time in Wall Street, because they often have a bad culture of working 50-100 hour weeks (depending on the company). That's the cost of the more attractive compensation.

by S4M 10y ago

martey 10y ago

From the article: "Shu noticed that since the Great Recession, after Wall Street careers had lost of some of their luster, newer classes of MIT students became more likely to major in science and engineering subjects — and their grades were better, too. This effect was most pronounced among the weaker students. Shu has a hunch that some students had been slacking off in their classes because they anticipated working in finance, not science, after graduating."

throwaway729 10y ago
"slacking off" implies non-productivity, whereas S4M posits high productivity applied toward different goals.

Exofunctor 10y ago

(Using a throwaway, because I don't like putting this kind of stuff on my main account.) I'm an undergrad CS senior signed for a quant/programming job at a Wall Street trading firm after I graduate in a few months. I have several friends from previous internships going to work at the same company after they graduate. None of them (nor me) matches the description you gave. Many of us are involved in research at the undergrad level, and no one is coasting by on the bare minimum. Some of these people are also not the sort of people who make any effort to network. The common thread seems to me to be a very strong theoretical and professional background. Of course, this is with a sample size of 5 undergrads and 1 company, so what I'm talking about could be highly atypical. Also, if you like doing the bare minimum, you're going to have a bad time in Wall Street, because they often have a bad culture of working 50-100 hour weeks (depending on the company). That's the cost of the more attractive compensation.