"What we're finding is that for every 10 jobs we offer, seven to nine are accepted," Clarkson says. "We have to be cautious in making offers. There's an extremely high chance they will be accepted."

Wai Yin Leung '91 says that of the approximately 50 people she knows who have sought jobs through on-campus recruiting, only four have actually received offers.

As a result, the cutthroat corporate scene is pushing many potential applicants away.

"I'm not planning to find a job after I graduate in January," says Walter J. Hryshco '91-'92. "I'm just kind of scared of corporate recuritment. I just think I'm going to try to apply to law school or maybe study in Europe."

Graduate Schools

Ninety percent of Harvard graduates say they plan to attend graduate school, but Leape says that many of these students seek direct employment after college. Many seek to escape academics, find self-sufficiency and financial independence and gain experience working full-time in a chosen career path. But this year, such opportunities aren't always available.

As a result, Leape says, graduate schools across the nation are seeing increased admissions rates.

"The numbers are really up at grad schools," says Lynn Wehnes, an OCS assistant director for careers in government and politics. Wehnes says that admissions committees are reviewing "in some cases twice as many as applied there prior to the recession."

Leape says that nationally, this year has seen a 50 percent increase in medical school applicants, as well as a marked increase in law school applicants.

And OCS counselors have noticed this increase.

"More students have sought advice about graduate study this year, starting in the fall," Leape says. "I anticipate that in the spring we'll learn on the senior survey that more have gone directly to grad school."

Leung says that many of her friends applied to law schools as a last resort in the absence of any good employment opportunities.

"Many of my friends haven't gotten any jobs, so the've taken the law school options," Leung says.

In addition, about three times more students than last year have come to OCS seeking advice about Ph.D. programs, Leape says.

"Clearly there's an increased interest in academic careers," Leape says. "I think that is because there has been a lot of publicity about the fact that there will be more jobs open in academic careers in the late 1990s, and many Harvard students are scholars, they would like to be scholars."