“I was sitting with a friend who is and was quite wealthy, and I was imagining the impact on him as we were listening to all this happen,” Smith said.

AN UNCLEAR FUTURE

The uncertainty immediately after the financial downturn led some students to reconsider their post-graduate plans.

According to a Crimson article in December of that year, many students interested in investment banking were considering a shift to the fields of consulting and commercial banking.

The article reported that investment banking information sessions that fall were sparsely populated, while those for consulting and commercial banking were packed with interested undergraduates.

However, some former students believe that the crisis had a greater impact on those who had already graduated, compared to those who were still in college.

“I had heard it might potentially hurt my friends who had graduated and were in training classes,” said Robert O. L. Lynn ’88, a consultant at Morgan Stanley.

And although students interested in the financial services industry may have been rattled by news of the crisis shortly after it happened, Lynn said that the recruitment process—which occurred later in the year—was not significantly affected by that fall’s stock market crash.

“By the time interviewing season rolled around... [the investment banks] went back to business as usual,” Lynn said. The trouble in the markets did not ultimately stop students in Class of 1988 from seeking employment from the same prestigious firms that garner much attention on campus today, according to Smith. “The hottest tickets on campus were to get Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley,” he said.

Smith said that despite the severity of the 1987 crash, the long-term economic impact was limited. In fact, graduates today may actually face a more difficult job market than the one in 1988, he added.

“I see much more impact today than in the crash of 1987.

“[Black Monday was] exciting, but we recovered quickly,” Smith said. “[Now, we are in] year eight of what is a very long down cycle.”

—Staff writer David W. Kaufman can be reached at davidkaufman@college.harvard.edu. Follow him on Twitter at @DKauf.