"It wasn't a surprise--that's why I bought puts," Krupitsky says. "When you play as volatile a market as now, you realize that you're going to have drops like this and run ups like this--100- and 200-point swings are just part of the game."

Holmes echoes that belief.

"What we are going to see in the future is more reality and stability in the market," he says. "This means no more no tech sector IPOs that triple on the first day."

A dose of cold water to the high tech world might have disastrous implications for the Harvard seniors flocking to Internet start-up companies.

But according to William Wright-Swadel, director of the Office of Career Services, few students have changed their career plans just because of last Friday's market fall.

"I am sure that the recent downturn in the market has affected how some students are thinking about their plans," he wrote in an e-mail message. "However, we have seen no immediate evidence that individual students have altered specific plans they have made or anticipate making."

But that doesn't mean seniors have ignored the changes.

"I suspect that the career conversations with peers, parents and potential employers will have a little more content around 'security' issues than they have had until now," he adds.