With the recent turmoil on Wall Street completely restructuring the financial industry, Vanderbilt students interested in entering the sector are expressing some concerns.

Describing the crisis as "one of the worst financial calamities since the 1930s," economics major and finance minor Scott Brown predicts, "the finance industry will never be the same."

While the reform has not completely changed Brown's career goals, "it's clarified (his) desire to go to graduate school first before entering the job market, both to give the markets some time to recover and to make (him) a more competitive job candidate whether they recover by summer 2010 or not," he said.

"I would not say the current crisis has turned me off to finance by any means," said Brown. "But it has made me more aware of the complex nature of the industry and the challenges it faces.

Senior Graham MacDonald, a member of the business fraternity Alpha Kappa Psi, echoes Brown's analysis of the financial situation.

Having worked at both Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs, MacDonald said, "We are entering a new age in banking that will be marked by significant deleveraging and a reduction from the oversized profits enjoyed by Wall Street and others over the past years."

"This has not altered my career goals," said MacDonald. "However it is very possible that tighter regulations and lower profits may squeeze Wall Street bonuses, reducing their ability to draw top talent into the industry."

"We are seeing how vulnerable these highly-leveraged investment banks were all through the bull years of the market," said junior Wyatt Smith, an ENGAGE scholar of Owen Graduate School of Management.  

"As someone interested in pursuing a career in management consulting, I am thankful to be somewhat insulated from the job fallout this turn of events is causing," Smith said. "I have many friends whose career plans turned upside down last week, however, with the collapse of these major banks. It is frightening how quickly things have changed."