[pigbucket]

>Honestly, should the consulting thing confuse or worry anyone?

I think the author did a pretty good job of explaining why she is worried, and while your two points are compelling, neither really addresses that explanation. You've got people who wanted to be artists, or public servants, or writers, or filmmakers, or non-profit workers, giving up their dreams for the sake of the security offered seductively by professional recruiters. That's a trade off for them, and perhaps liable to elicit a general shrug, but it's hardly a radical position to view so many making that trade off as potentially a loss for society or, say, humanity. Maybe the Shakespeares of this world always end up being Shakespeares. But maybe every once in a while they end up in finance or consultancy. I think it's fine that they have to freedom to do that. I think it's a shame that so much of the risk is on the side of "I'm going to be the next Shakespeare."

[kapilkale]

This is so rarely the case. At my firm the percentage of people in consulting who wanted to be artists, public servants, writers, or filmmakers is less than 10%. The way you've described it makes it sound like all these Yalie beatniks are selling out for the prospect of a stable paycheck.

Many of my colleagues weren't lifelong consultants, but they were lifelong businesspeople. The ones who left went on to start tech companies, open restaurants, work in VC, work for non-profits, etc.

No one quit and started writing plays.

[jbooth]

Well, whatever their passions were, writing powerpoint decks in order to justify internal power moves at another company, because someone wanted something done so they hired you to provide post hoc rationalization for it.. I mean, really? This is what we're doing with "the best and the brightest"? Expert MS Office users?

[jessriedel]

Again: if so, this is a problem with the consulting market, not Yale. You're not going to change anything by pleading with Yale grads to turn down lots of money.

Much more interesting is the argument that consulting, though productive, takes advantage of college student's fear of risk in order to win out over riskier options which are actually in the students best interest. (I'm skeptical.) Then, indeed, it would be beneficial to talk to these students about the problem.

[jbooth]

I wasn't criticizing anything so specific as either Yale, students, or a particular consulting firm. Everyone's going to follow the incentives.

But why are the local incentives so stupid in the larger view?

[bane]

This is what we're doing with "the best and the brightest"? Expert MS Office users?

Maybe it's time to stop thinking of top-tier schools as producing the best and brightest.

After all, Google was started by a couple of state school undergrads.

[intended]

The Yale undergraduates who did get in would inevitably be influenced by the environment they're in.

Second point - I know of talented people who want to get out of PE/IB and join a startup but can never do it because of their regular paychecks and current levels of wealth.

The benefits/numbing comfort of a regular (and very large) pay check are extremely hard to leave, especially for a downgrade.

Once on the treadmill, its hard to get off.

[ig1]

On the counter-side I know plenty of IB people who founded startups because their paychecks and level of wealth made it possible to commit several years of their lives to a startup.