Consulting

Economics is one of the most popular majors here at Columbia and Barnard, and it makes sense. Doing the major seems like a direct way to a successful career on Wall Street.

We talk a lot on this campus about “selling out,” but it’s almost always presented as a binary: Either you’re going the corporate route because you’re willing to overlook whatever crimes and/or human rights abuses your desired company is allegedly involved in, or you’re going to pursue some far nobler, but probably less lucrative passion because you’re a good person™ with morals or whatever. But this binary wrongfully assumes an equal playing field where we all grew up with wealth and the knowledge of how to manage said wealth, so we’re able to choose a job based on beliefs or passions rather than financial necessity.

If one of the purposes of the University is to equip students to enter the professional world, what does it say about Columbia’s pre-professional culture that students perceive CCE to be primarily focused on finance, consulting, and tech?

Barnard's Sustainable Initiative Consulting Board, a committee of appointed students that works with the administration on sustainability policy, and the Student Government Association's committee on arts and culture presented "Waste of Time" last Thursday, a student exhibition addressing issues of climate change, waste production, and sustainability in artistic practices.

Three years after the completion of a report detailing the effectiveness of Columbia's Center for Career Education, students are still concerned about the opportunities available at the center.

In her column, ("The choices we didn't make," Nov. 12) Sarah Durham criticizes the negative dialogue surrounding the large number of Ivy League graduates in finance and consulting. She argues not only that we should be wary of following our passions, but also that they will lead to certain unhappiness when we eventually crumple under the pressure of perceived and self-imposed standards of success.

Maybe you've heard one of these before: 
"Do what you love, love what you do."
"You can do anything if you set your mind to it."
"Follow your dream."

To the editor: