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But others express reservations. Michael J. Mauboussin, chief investment strategist for Legg Mason Capital Management, worries that a premature narrowing of focus could hurt future employees. "If you are specialized too early, there is a risk you will be less innovative because you have fewer building blocks to combine in new ways," says Mauboussin, 44, who majored in government at Georgetown.

Most Globalfund partners speak a second language, Greene explains later. "We can often do more-thorough due diligence than Wall Street analysts because we can interview management in their native language." The fund's initial $800 stake in the gas company nearly tripled over four months last year, and the students sold their shares for a profit. A more recent $2,300 position in China Natural Gas has slipped slightly in value, but Greene assures the group it will bounce back soon. After graduation in May, he plans a short stint with a software company before heading to an investment banking job.

Some veterans in business and finance worry that increasing student fascination with pre-professional clubs bespeaks a lack of appreciation for the perspective afforded by a liberal arts education. Etched high on the stone wall of the grand room where Yale's Globalfund holds its weekly meetings, a quote from poet Edgar A. Guest urges the precocious partners to value life's intangible joys:

High-revving students scoff at advice they sometimes hear about intellectually browsing before settling on a narrow employment path. "Many of my fellow classmates have been planning out their college choices since middle school, so to tell them not to plan for a future career during freshman year is illogical," says Janet Xu, 22, a senior at Yale and editor of the undergraduate magazine Yale Entrepreneur. She is heading off soon to be an analyst for Sears Holdings (SHLD) in Chicago.

I am afraid that this is particular problem with blacks, Hispanics and other minorities that are under-represented in technical careers, perhaps because the students and their families don't have the role models that would give them a more complete view of what technical careers are really like and the many choices available to them.