New York—More than 90% of YU graduates were employed, in graduate school, or both within six months of graduation, according to the most recent survey by YU’s Career Center.
“The fact that for the last six years, we’ve been at or above that 90% rate is impressive,” said Marc Goldman, executive director of the Career Center. “In particular, full-time employment has risen even higher than in past years, with more than 85% of those employed working in full-time positions—that number rises to more than 90% when you look at those who aren’t also in graduate school.”
That number includes new graduates starting at prestigious accounting firms, investment banks, and consulting groups, such as Deloitte, Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), as well as high-profile companies in other fields ranging from the New York Mets to L’Oreal and top educational institutions. More than 86% reported that their new positions were strongly related to their fields of interest—a 10% increase since last year—and more than 71% reported a strong connection between their positions and their majors as undergraduates, an increase of 8%.
Ninety-seven percent of law school applicants in the 2013–14 application cycle reported being admitted to at least one law school, well above the national average of 77%, including top programs such as Harvard University, Columbia University, University of Chicago, and YU’s own Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.
While the national average of medical school acceptance rates is just 45%, 91% of applicants from Stern College for Women and 78% of applicants from Yeshiva College were accepted to at least one medical school last year. Graduates were accepted into highly competitive and prestigious programs, such as Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, and YU’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine. In addition, 100% of Stern College dental school applicants and 73% of Yeshiva College applicants were accepted to dental school.
In the Career Center, emphasis on individual attention is critical to student success. “Students receive personalized, one-on-one assistance where we go over every job search tool available to them, from how to craft a résumé to how to network, job search strategy, the interview process, and social media, which is an important search tool now,” said Goldman. “We prepare them to better communicate their message, their personal pitch, and their goals to employers wherever and whenever they may get the opportunity: chance meetings, social engagements, networking events, and actually on the job interview itself.”
One of those tools, according to Goldman, is the University’s alumni network, which opens doors for students in diverse industries that range from journalism to real estate and also continues to create new opportunities for alumni to connect through networking groups such as the YU Wall Street Group and YU Real Estate Professionals.
“The alumni network is building and growing exponentially in terms of multigenerational YU grads, and you can walk into any shul in Teaneck and see dozens of alumni from every generation,” said Joel Strauss ’85YC ’92C, of Teaneck, a partner at Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP and chair of the Career Guidance and Placement Committee of YU’s Undergraduate Alumni Council, the son and father of YU graduates. “The YU alumni network, unlike any other university’s, is supercharged, because there’s this bond we all share of having experienced the uniqueness of YU, and then because of the nature of the Modern Orthodox Jewish community, we’re all still somehow connected and we stay connected…It’s fulfilling and rewarding to know that you’ve helped students in a way that might change their lives, whether it’s by helping to set them on the right career path or helping them land that first job.”
