For years, Georgetown’s business, finance, and economics culture—particularly within the McDonough School of Business (MSB), competitive pre-professional clubs, and career-driven student circles—has obsessively focused on one destination: investment banking. For undergraduates in nearly every school, breaking into banking is often treated as the indicator of success, narrowing long-term career exploration just as teenage students are beginning to explore interests. As applications are already opening for the Class of 2028, we have to wonder: is this what a well-rounded education brings?
Beginning in the late 2000s, as the 2008 financial crisis dominated news and public discussion, the topic of finance gained increased visibility among college students. Georgetown students also had growing access to industry information through career center programming, alumni outreach, and the broader visibility and exposure to finance recruiting. As the nationwide recruiting timeline accelerated in the mid-2010s, students who were interested in banking began preparing earlier in order to stay competitive. While these shifts didn’t necessarily change Georgetown’s institutional priorities, they contributed to an environment where finance opportunities became more prominent and widely discussed among students.
Employment data helps explain why this narrative persists. The MSB’s’ 2024 Post-Grad Employment Survey reports that 96.3% of job-seeking graduates of the class of 2024 received full-time offers within three months of graduation. The average starting salary was $100,733, with an average signing bonus of $10,952. Graduates primarily went into three broad industry groups: 60% into financial services, 14% into consulting, and 6% into real-estate-related roles.
Beyond these placement outcomes, the compensation packages offered by major banks further their appeal. At top firms, analysts can earn total first-year compensation well above $150,000, including bonuses, overtime, and other incentives. Even mid-market banks often provide pay that significantly exceeds entry-level roles in other fields. Thus, for students with student loans, hoping to support their families, or just seeking financial stability, banking can feel like the most straightforward path for success. The security and prestige attached to these roles can overshadow many other opportunities, making it difficult for students to chase after passions that may be more intellectually aligned with their interests but perceived as less financially rewarding.
But beyond the pay, a broader cultural force shapes this trend. “Finance culture” at Georgetown—rooted in business clubs, competitive consulting and banking organizations, career-oriented friend groups, and the highly visible presence of finance recruiting—creates a campus environment where banking is both a professional aspiration and a social expectation. From the first month of freshman year, students hear upperclassmen trading interview prep tips in hallways, discussing Superday (the final round of interviews in finance recruiting) outcomes in Lau 2, and describing their identities through the lens of their career goals. For some, this community is energizing; for others, it becomes quietly suffocating.
The recruiting structure intensifies this pressure. Many major banks begin their search for sophomore summer analyst interns in sophomore fall, sometimes even late summer. On a campus filled with high-achieving, career-driven students, the social expectation—not just the professional incentive–becomes banking. This pressure has pushed many past and current students—from former Women’s and Gender Studies majors to current Classics majors—to redirect their trajectories toward investment banking. With such strong placement numbers, those who diverge from this “norm” can feel as though they are not only taking a risk but also making a professional mistake and falling behind their peers.
This culture also diminishes the broader purpose of a university education. College should encourage curiosity, critical thought, and engagement with complex problems. It should provide a rigorous, well-rounded environment with a variety of topics, so students can explore a range of interests and careers. But when students come to believe that only one career path is socially validated, they may overlook opportunities in areas like entrepreneurship, engineering, writing, or public policy—fields where the same analytical and problem-solving skills are not only needed but also highly valued across many professions.
Of course, I have nothing against investment banking; the industry itself isn’t the full issue, nor is pursuing it as a career path. The profession plays an important role in global markets and offers a valuable analytical and learning experience. My concern is in the uniformity of ambition that increasingly characterizes Georgetown’s professional environment. Each Hoya’s individual idea of what defines success to them should stem from their true informed passion, not social expectation and pressure.
