Top 20 students in chemical engineering went into tech and finance.... two professions that at the first sight have nothing in common with chemical engineering... Tech and finance must really be looking for a lot of employees....
If Boeing was paying $500K+ TC for engineers in their early/mid career, you'd see a lot more expertise enter the field. Instead you basically have to go into tech or PE/IB to see that type of compensation fresh out of school. Especially when students are taking on hundreds of thousands in debt, the payback period becomes really important when considering career paths.
I know a few people who changed careers from biology to finance - but that was only after going back to school and getting some business degree....