For Cosentino, the answer is a simple one.

"There are very few other industries out there that will hire liberal arts graduates and train them," he says. "You get terrific training. The skill base that you are going to develop over that time period is going to last a lifetime."

Director of OCS William Wright-Swadel sees some additional reasons for the love triangle between Harvard, consulting and investment banking.

"The kinds of roles they expect students to perform...are things Harvard students are very good at and enjoy," he says.

Show Them the Money?

Wright-Swadel also cites a reason for going through recruiting similar to the one Sir Edmund Hilary gave for climbing Mt. Everest: because it was there.

The presence of so many recruiters on campus makes applying for a job convenient, he says.

The money doesn't scare anybody away either.

Cosentino says that most investment banks pay a base salary of approximately $30,000 with "huge bonuses at the end of the year."

"At the end of the two years, a student can make $110,000," he says.

Consultants make salaries in the mid-$40,000s without bonuses but with substantial raises in the second year.

"They probably make a little bit less than an investment banker," Cosentino says.

Still, in a survey conducted by OCS, students rated pay only fourth on a list of reasons why they chose jobs through recruiting.

The opportunity to take on significant responsibilities rated first. The quality of co-workers and the culture of the work-place were second.

The prestige of the firms and the opportunity to get into top flight business schools ranked third.