I have friends like that, they were in debt to begin with and then in 01 when jobs were scarce decided to take out huge loans to go to Harvard Business school. It never occurred to them that the work climate would be *worse* when they graduated than when they went in.
Harvard Business School posts its placement statistics online in detail. Here are the statistics for the 2003 graduating class:
hbs.edu
2003 Timing of Job Offers:
Before Nov. '02: 34% (cumulative 34%)
In November '02: 10% (cumulative 44%)
In December '02: 12% (cumulative 56%)
In January '03: 9% (cumulative 65%)
In February '03: 8% (cumulative 73%)
In March '03: 8% (cumulative 81%)
In April '03: 9% (cumulative 90%)
By May 1Graduation 7% (cumulative 97%)
After Graduation 3% (cumulative 100%)
So by graduation day, 97 percent of the graduating class at Harvard Business School had employment offers. The other 3 percent subsequently received employment offers.
How good were these jobs? The site has that data too:
hbs.edu
The median total package was $115,000, consisting of a median base salary of $93,300 and a median base plus sign on bonus of $108,300. Only 12 percent of the class accepted offers for less than $80,000 and only 4 percent for less than $60,000.
In earlier years was it better? Well, let's look at the year 1999:
hbs.edu
In that year, every class member received an offer before graduation, according to the placement office.
Compensation? It was actually lower than in 2003:
hbs.edu
Median base salary in 1999 was $90,000 (compared with $93,300 in 2003). Median base salary plus sign on bonus was $95,000 (lower than the $108,300 in 2003 though pretty close in inflation adjusted terms). Median total package in 1999 was $120,000, a little higher than the $115,000 in 2003. I suspect the sharply curtailed availability of options might have something to do with that, but the site doesn't say.
In any event, I don't know that the market for Harvard Business School grads has soured that significantly in the past four years. Perhaps there is other data that would shed light on this phenomenon you have observed regarding your friends at HBS? |
