More in Class of '02 than in Class of '01 chose grad school over the workforce

By Jacquie Powers

Cornell graduates, like many others, are experiencing the effects of the slow economy. As a result, more members of the Class of 2002 went directly to graduate school, and fewer into the workforce, than in 2001, according to the annual report of students' postgraduate activities from Cornell Career Services.

In addition, the average and median salaries for the Class of 2002 declined after several years of increases.

A total of 45.2 percent of the 2002 graduating class took jobs, compared with 52.7 percent of the 2001 class, reported Rebecca Sparrow, director of Career Services. Another 32.4 percent entered graduate or professional studies, compared with 28.7 percent the previous year, while 22.4 percent undertook other endeavors, compared with 18.6 percent the previous year. The response rate to the Career Services survey was 69.3 percent, Sparrow said.

"Cornell students use their initiative, flexibility and outstanding abilities to compete successfully in difficult times," Sparrow said. "The Class of 2002 responded to the slow economy by entering a broad range of career fields, accepting employment in diverse geographic regions, going to graduate school directly and using a wide variety of job-search techniques."

Statistics reported represent graduates' activities at the time they completed the survey during the six months following graduation. Detailed survey results are available at http://career.cornell.edu/general/postgradreports.html.

The average starting salary for the Class of 2002 was $39,429, compared with $41,895 in 2001 and $41,197 in 2000. Within business and industry, students entering the technology sector reported the highest average salary, $51,370, compared with $56,588 in the same sector in 2001. The average salary in the manufacturing sector was second at $48,214, compared with $47,170 the previous year. The lowest average business and industry salary went to those in paralegal positions at $34,892, but this was up from $32,506. In 2001, the financial services sector offered the second highest average salary at $51,444, but that dropped to $47,615 in 2002.

Sparrow said the percentage of graduates entering the nonprofit/public service sector increased slightly over the previous year, from just over 22 percent to just under 23 percent.

The highest average salary for those entering the public/nonprofit sector in 2002 went to those in the government, at $32,531, compared with $31,353 in 2001. Next was education, at $27,733, compared with $27,446; labor, at $27,600, compared with $30,700; and other nonprofits, at $26,075, compared with $26,983.

Members of the Class of 2002 went to work for a variety organizations, including Abercrombie & Fitch, American Express, Boston Museum of Science, Daimler Chrysler, Intel, Memorial Sloan Kettering, Nabisco, New York Post, U.S. Department of Justice, United Way of Dallas and the Whitney Museum of Modern Art.

The acceptance rates to law and medical schools for Cornell students continued to be exceptionally high when compared to national rates. The acceptance rate for Cornell graduates to law school was 86 percent, compared with 62 percent nationally. The acceptance rate for Cornell graduates to medical school was 81 percent, and 88 percent for those with a 3.4 grade point average or above, compared with 52 percent nationally.

Engineering was the top graduate/professional studies choice for Cornell graduates, at 20.6 percent. Law and medicine followed, at 17.8 and 12.9 percent, respectively. Other choices included biological sciences, 8.9 percent; computer and information sciences, 5.4 percent; physical sciences, 3.6 percent; education, 2.9 percent; other health fields, 2.9 percent; veterinary medicine, 2.8 percent; and architecture and environmental design, 2.5 percent.