I forgot about this path, you're right. A friend of a friend graduated from Penn with a degree in some fairly specific humanities field. English Comp or something like that (the point is that it was much more specific than "Psychology" or something). He worked at the school for a brief time, maybe a year, then got a graduate degree then went to Wall Street.

Actually, the prevailing trend at Ivies the past few years is the following:

Graduate --> 2 years at Wall Street / Management Consulting --> MBA --> Silicon Valley / Startups

The data show quite the opposite: the degree matters more than the institution. An engineering degree from a top 50 school has a higher return than an arts/humanities degree from a top 5 institution.

http://cdn.static-economist.com/sites/default/files/images/p...