What careers do music majors from top music schools like Juilliard pursue after they graduate?

David Leigh's answer is excellent, so I'll just add a few things. He brought up an excellent point that I'd like to emphasize: there are too many schools awarding performance degrees that shouldn't be doing any such thing. I used to teach at one such school, and quit when it became clear that I couldn't give students less than an "A". Why? "We don't want them to get discouraged." Translation: "we have to justify having a music department." The sad reality was that most of those students were completely unqualified as performance majors, so their degree wasn't worth the paper it was printed on. I graduated from Eastman many moons ago, and in my graduating class only 5 of us immediately landed performing positions. Some of the others did later--whether 3-5 years later, or 10 years later, I don't really know. Some became teachers, some went into other professions (many employers look kindly on a music performance degree because it shows discipline, attention to detail, etc. I've heard anecdotally that med schools love musicians). A trombone player in a class ahead of me went to work for Amtrak after he graduated because working for a railroad had always been his "real" ambition. I knew a viola player who went to work for a bank---she had never liked practicing. A violinist I encountered many years after graduation became extremely successful in banking. She realized after years of trying that she'd never win an audition, but she knew she was smart and had other skills. Juilliard has a large number of foreign students. My son (a Juilliard grad) became friends with a young Korean woman who left her performance ambitions behind while still a student because she realized she'd never be able to satisfy her parents' expectations...I suspect she's not the only one who took that route. She now works in arts management. Are there students at Juilliard who are slackers? Of course there are, just like there are students at Unknown University who work their backsides off and succeed in spite of impossible odds. As for jobs, I think there are fewer full-time jobs, and more part-time jobs in music than ever before. (I'm not familiar with the current scene in either SF or LA, but on the east coast, NYC is definitely the best city for free-lance musicians.) Those students who literally can't live without music don't give up. A lot of them form their own groups and become very entrepreneurial at marketing themselves. Look at the lineup at (le) Poisson Rouge for any given month. Musicians who live in NYC often play in several such groups, or they travel to other cities to fill in as needed. If one is willing to travel, there are no end of opportunities because orchestras all over the globe hire American musicians: Caracas, Dubai, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur---I know people who have played or are playing in each of those cities. And no matter where you go in the US, no matter how small the town, you will find excellent musicians performing and teaching and actively creating new opportunities.

As someone that went to many top schools (Juilliard and New England Conservatory) I must also note that careers aren't only based on classical music.  While the goals of my peers were to audition for symphonies and play chamber music, I took a job working for Cirque du Soleil, then I toured with major pop artist; I became the musical director of six nationally released recording, and a staff orchestrator for a major record company.  The best way to have a successful career isn't just about the schools but its about being able to deliver on the spot; and versatility helps.  None of those high profile jobs cared that I went to Juilliard or NEC.  They cared about me having a solid track record as an instrumentalist. Top schools don't decide careers.  Talent does. ...unless you just want to teach.

David's answer is very true, Many people not intimate with the classical world don't understand how difficult the odds really are. I went to a top school within my region. SUNY Purchase, the only bonafide conservatory in the state system, sharing teachers with Julliard, Manhattan and Mannes. I majored in performance but since I was a lyric soprano the odds were extremely stacked against me. It was very difficult to work a day job all day, and then go to work practicing afterwards, on weekends, on vacation. After all, I was still 20 something. (To this day, I still feel like I missed out on a lot of fun when I was a young adult because I pursued this path.)  It was also very difficult to finance my lessons, which at the time and my level could easily run $100/hour. And then there are coaches, accompanists, and apprenticeships. First you have to be good enough to get a role, and then you have to pay to do it. Such is the perverse life of opera singers. A few of my colleagues got through those years by being supplemented by their parents for their lessons etc.  They were able to continue in the field and eventually make their way into teaching.  Since I always had to finance these activities on my own, I had less options. I regret not teaching, but at the time, I simply didn't think I had what it took to be a GOOD teacher. I have met so many hack voice teachers doing it ONLY for the money destroying singers voices. I didn't want to be one of those. In retrospect, I would have been a very good teacher. I miss music to some degree, but I also enjoy having a life that isn't 100% work without any play and with very little to show for my efforts and expenditures. The worst part of it is that my collegues who never heard me sing think I wasn't very good. I know this because on very few occassions, they got the chance to hear me sing and were blown away. I guess my word and the fact that I went to a pretty well known school known to be selective and rigourous isn't enough. Once they hear me sing, they push me to pursue it again without the understanding that the conditions that made me give up have not changed. Oh well.

Well I just graduated from the New England Conservatory and I'm unemployed, unable to get a job at Starbucks. Most of my friends just stay in school. Some of us get jobs, but I'm looking into grad school and trying to get a day job, supplemented by freelance work. Almost none of my friends have win jobs. I haven't taken a real orchestral audition yet because I'm too inconsistent in my playing. I still hope to someday get a job, but most of us won't.[UPDATE] I wrote this when I was very down on my luck. However, as I mentioned in the comments, I’m happy to say that I won a full tuition scholarship to return to school across the country. I also already made it on to several sub lists for the big orchestras in the area of my new school. I’m getting the chance to continue practicing, develop a trumpet studio to start teaching, and do some serious freelancing. So I’m packing my bags and starting fresh.The life of a musician is hard. We can’t expect to get a job as easily as other professions and most of us can’t get one at all. A lot drop out. I’m one of the only three brass players from my graduating class at NEC to continue pursuing music at all. The best tools we can possibly have in order to be successful is creativity, passion, unwavering dedication, and a rock solid work ethic. We also have to be down to earth enough to not only be able to recognize problems in our own work, but recognize that sometimes, people just aren’t cut out to do it. That’s why I’m planning on using my scholarship to its full potential and take classes in some sort of computer programming or software development on the side just so I have someplace to fall if my big dream fails.

All the answers are excellent. And they don’t just apply to classical musicians. The problem of skilled musicians finding a way to make a living is universal in all genres. There are simply too many people (even at the top level) for the relatively small number of jobs in music. I’ve composed, arranged, or produced 20 albums, only one of which ever paid a penny in royalties. As a professional (studio) composer in LA, I spent 15 years before finally succeeding (e.g., being able to pay the rent consistently), mostly scoring TV commercials. I did this for about 5 years until a recession hit the agencies hard, and then I was again scrambling for work. Schools don’t help; you are pretty much on your own. And it doesn’t matter a whit how good you are. Everyone at this level is brilliant. About the only road to financial security is college teaching, which can be rewarding, but is not being a professional musician. (And then, of course, you are helping to produce still more musicians to add to the glut already out there.)