In a 2001 interview for German television, the late author David Foster Wallace was asked about the state of fulfillment in American society. In his response, he observed:
“I know that there’s a paradox in the U.S. The people who get powerful jobs tend to go to really good schools, and often in schools you study the liberal arts, philosophy, classical stuff and languages. It’s all very much about the nobility of the human spirit and broadening the mind. These kids go on to work in jobs which are financially rewarding, but don’t have anything to do with what they were taught, persuasively taught, was important and worthwhile in school. I’ve never really thought about it in those stark terms, but that’s a bit of a paradox, isn’t it?”
Over the last three months, this observation has come rushing back to me as just about everyone I know has become knee deep in the same process: investment banking recruitment.
Class of 1953 Commons tables are plagued by sophomores discussing first-round interviews. Fraternities are noticeably quieter on Friday nights as my peers lock themselves in to drill technical questions. On the surface, it seems to be simply what you do this time of year, a tradition of sorts. One that Dartmouth does not advertise, yet one that exerts a dominating grip on sophomores every winter.
I do not write this to pass judgment on the profession itself, nor to shame anyone for pursuing banking as a means of financial security. However, I contend that the culture underlying the recruitment process is directly at odds with the spirit this institution seeks to champion and, more broadly, with the intended purpose of a liberal arts education.
What drives this mania? Is it primarily the promise of economic stability, or a genuine passion for financial systems? Does it stem from peer pressure, or is it already embedded in the type of students who gain admission to a school like Dartmouth? Most importantly, what does this trend mean for the value of a liberal arts education?
Salary is the chief elephant in the room when discussing motivations for going into banking. NBC News reports that top analysts at major firms can expect total compensation approaching $200,000 in their first year out of college.
With money comes selectivity. Most banks take fewer than one hundred students each year to serve as analysts. At the same time, jobs are becoming increasingly scarce. Financial News reported that this past year, JPMorgan received 630,000 internship applications, a 25% increase from the year prior. Of those applicants, only about 4,100 were accepted in 2025, a success rate of roughly 0.6%. As this country produces more and more college graduates each year, this competition will only intensify.
Yet, I contend that the banking craze at Dartmouth is not as much about money as it appears on the surface. Prestige is the silent motivator. Part of the appeal of banking lies in being able to tell yourself that you achieved something fewer than one percent of college students could. It is the same appeal that drives 17-year-olds to apply to a school like Dartmouth in the first place. It is the same logic that pushes freshmen to dedicate hours of their free time to student-run pre-professional societies. It is the perceived obligation to make the most out of a Dartmouth degree.
This is where Dartmouth’s mission and the culture surrounding investment banking collide.
Dartmouth takes pride in its liberal arts focus. We are the only Ivy League institution to retain the title of “college” rather than adopting “university.” On Dartmouth’s official website, the opening statement reads “The liberal arts imperative informs every field of study and crosses departments, programs and schools. Our students learn to ask bigger questions and apply more perspectives to the answers.” However, this emphasis on liberal arts education is complicated by Dartmouth’s reputation as a highly selective school. The feeling of exclusivity becomes addictive, perpetuating a culture of students bent on chasing it wherever it appears. I see banking as the clearest manifestation of a much broader social phenomenon that characterizes this school. Whether through investment banking, consulting, law or medicine, Dartmouth both attracts and fosters an immediate desire for prestige. Prestige through power. Prestige through money. Prestige through recognition.
I see how this may come across like I am just shaming hard-working people for pursuing high value industries. I have no shame at all. I myself am bent on making the most of this degree. What I want to get across is the idea that we too easily become what we worship. To quote Wallace again, in his 2004 commencement address at Kenyon College: “There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship.”
In the spirit of Wallace, I encourage us all to take a step back and think about what we really worship. The pursuit of prestige can easily creep into our lives and become a form of worship. It can become a never-ending climb to an imaginary top that will never be reached. At Dartmouth we become incredibly vulnerable to this condition. All day we are surrounded by success. Ivy League professors, rich alumni, classmates scoring competitive internships. When we worship nothing else; this setting alone makes it easy to fall into the trap of worshipping the highest rungs of society.
That doesn’t have to be the case.
To fight against this trap, requires introspection as well as exploration. Think about what really drives you out of bed for your 9L. Think about what pursuit never seems to run out of fuel. If you do not know, explore. Try everything Dartmouth has to offer. When you finally discover your passion, do not look back.
That passion may very well end up being in financial systems. It may simply be an instantaneous drive to rack up enough money to one day own a yacht on Martha’s Vineyard. The “passion” may never feel like it comes at all. That’s okay. What’s important is that we walk through these four years conscious that the world outside of Dartmouth is large, and opportunities are boundless.
The liberal arts education is here to foster this exact understanding. Let’s use it for that purpose.
Opinion articles represent the views of their author(s), which are not necessarily those of The Dartmouth.
