It started sedately enough with a day of lectures and welcoming speeches. Next, the new class was given a fete at Chase Manhattan's headquarters so the bankers could get a look at the new crop of corporate warriors. It was pretty nice. Although many business schools can boast that their graduates enjoy high incomes and myriad job opportunities, admission to Columbia is virtually a ticket to the good life. Columbia may have trailed Harvard in the Financial Times as the No. 2 business school in the world, but the average starting salary for Columbia graduates is the highest in the world.
Some lucky students play companies off each other in bidding wars.
The university works with relentless fervor to get jobs for students, with a well-staffed career office and constant, almost paternal advice on the art of getting a job. Career staff hold students' hands as they navigate the labyrinth of interviews, offers, rejections and bids. And all of this with a drink in their hands and three already under their belts. All rights reserved.