Last visit was: 24 Apr 2026, 09:30 It is currently 24 Apr 2026, 09:30
Home
Messages
Tests
Schools
Events
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
User avatar
Artemov
User avatar
Joined: 09 Oct 2006
Last visit: 10 Apr 2026
Posts: 86
Own Kudos:
8
Given Kudos: 2
Status:Post MBA, working in the area of Development Finance
Location: Africa
Posts: 86
Kudos: 8
Drinking and B-School 03 Apr 2008, 21:59
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
How are the non-smokers and vegetarians viewed?
Just a matter of individual preference, I suppose!
User avatar
agold
User avatar
Joined: 11 Mar 2008
Last visit: 01 Mar 2009
Posts: 1,577
Own Kudos:
302
Location: Southern California
Concentration: Investment Banking
Schools:Chicago (dinged), Tuck (November), Columbia (RD)
Posts: 1,577
Kudos: 302
Drinking and B-School 04 Apr 2008, 08:24
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Artemov
How are the non-smokers and vegetarians viewed?
Just a matter of individual preference, I suppose!
Show more

I would venture to guess that non-smokers make up at least 95% of the class at most B-schools, so you're in company there. I guess this isn't counting those who smoke while drinking.
User avatar
westsider
User avatar
Joined: 23 Jan 2008
Last visit: 17 Dec 2009
Posts: 498
Own Kudos:
62
Posts: 498
Kudos: 62
Drinking and B-School 04 Apr 2008, 09:14
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Artemov
How are the non-smokers and vegetarians viewed?
Just a matter of individual preference, I suppose!
Show more
I have to say in my experience there are 2 types of vegetarians.
1) Realize that they have made a life choice that puts them in the minority, and that they may be inconvenienced on occasion because of it.
2) Those that get furious when only 1 of the 3 entree choices at the party are vegetarian.

Do NOT be the 2nd kind. In my experience about 65% are the first (good) type, 30% the 2nd type, and 5% in the middle. It really is polarizing. And - by the way, the first (good) type does include people who simply make it known they are vegetarian in advance and that they would appreciate *reasonable* accommodation's. I think "reasonable" really is the key word. I don't expect everyone to be like a vegetarian friend of mine who simply "eats around the meat" but doesn't mind how it is prepared.
I realize that this isn't technically vegetarian, and wouldn't match well with religious vegetarian beliefs.

Just try to keep in mind that it can be stressful to us non-veggie event planner/friends as we search frantically for a good option for our veggie friends. After all - our planning a vegetarian choice is like a vegetarian planning a steak dinner. Academically we *understand* what it is, but we don't have a good sense of it in reality!
:-D

edit:One rule that applies to EVERYONE, but - as unfair as it may be - doubly to anyone with "special requests" on food like vegetarian, etc. is this: HONOR YOUR RSVP. Few things are more annoying than preparing a special dish for someone and having them not show. For the special requests it is much more obvious!
User avatar
branson
User avatar
Current Student
Joined: 10 Dec 2007
Last visit: 26 Feb 2009
Posts: 327
Own Kudos:
23
 [1]
Posts: 327
Kudos: 23
 [1]
Drinking and B-School 04 Apr 2008, 09:30
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Also to vegetarians:

Realize because of your diet, you lack the necessary energy and creatine to win a serious (food-) fight, so be aware of your position in the "food-chain"...

sorry...couldnt help...I know I should provide more meaningful posts... ;)
User avatar
westsider
User avatar
Joined: 23 Jan 2008
Last visit: 17 Dec 2009
Posts: 498
Own Kudos:
62
Posts: 498
Kudos: 62
Drinking and B-School 04 Apr 2008, 10:00
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
branson
Also to vegetarians:

Realize because of your diet, you lack the necessary energy and creatine to win a serious (food-) fight, so be aware of your position in the "food-chain"...

sorry...couldnt help...I know I should provide more meaningful posts... ;)
Show more
LOL
User avatar
kwam
User avatar
Joined: 09 Jan 2007
Last visit: 19 Oct 2013
Posts: 1,017
Own Kudos:
167
Given Kudos: 3
Location: New York, NY
Concentration: Analytic Finance, Economics and Strategic Management
Schools:Chicago Booth Class of 2010
Posts: 1,017
Kudos: 167
Drinking and B-School 08 Apr 2008, 07:16
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
In Iberia is very common to drink wine all over the year and beer during summers. I'm a wine and beer lover, and once and a while I like to have some crazy drinking nights with my buddies, but I remember when I was training for a half-marathon, I “stayed clean” for 3 months, and my friends many times mocked me. It was really hard to be the sober one, but it was a way they did to have fun, and as we are really close friends we had some huge laughs at that time. I’m not into heavy drinking anymore, but during college it was madness. I remember people doing the “Atomic Watermelons”: they opened a watermelon and filled it with vodka, the next day was tough.

Usually I don’t like to drink strong things in corporate events, especially because in the last 3 years I’ve been sleeping 5 hours on average, and I really feel the effect it causes when I drink. Usually before drinking – or go clubbing, because that’s when people REALLY drink – I eat well, have lots of fluids – juice or water – or otherwise next day I’m wasted. BTW I can’t follow the European pace of drinking, hehehe

You guys shouldn’t worry about this in B-school, I’m sure that people know that they will be with people from all kinds of cultures, habits, faiths: diversity.
User avatar
lepium
User avatar
Joined: 24 Sep 2006
Last visit: 22 Oct 2012
Posts: 1,359
Own Kudos:
209
Posts: 1,359
Kudos: 209
Drinking and B-School 13 Apr 2008, 21:57
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Artemov
How are the non-smokers and vegetarians viewed?
Just a matter of individual preference, I suppose!
Show more

I have a close friend who is a vegetarian and keep messing with her. For eg: if she says she has a headache or is tired I promptly reply:"Don't argue with millions of years of evolution and eat meat". She then proceeds to state how I, as a smoker, will become extinct quite soon.

But other than me picking on her she gets more accomodation than she would, on average, elsewhere. There's always veggie options at school organized events and private social events usually take this into account. You will definitely not be alone, as about 10-20% of MBAs are vegetarian or vegan.

She gets tired of on campus food options every now and then (but so do I) and walks a short distance to any of the veggie or veggie friendly joints.
avatar
Rocky
avatar
Joined: 22 Feb 2006
Last visit: 04 Jul 2008
Posts: 112
Own Kudos:
1
Location: Oxford
Posts: 112
Kudos: 1
Drinking and B-School 08 Jun 2008, 04:20
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Artemov
How are the non-smokers and vegetarians viewed?
Just a matter of individual preference, I suppose!
Show more

Old thread... but guess I will talk on it anyways....
I am veggie and non smoker....Get tough time in many parties where I end up eating cucumber, salad and dessert. Many times it is inconvenient for you and even for the organisers to arrange such food for you. But you learn to find alternatives.

But as far as 'viewed' is concerned, I guess these people are not treated as odd-man-out from the group. In fact most of the people are very accommodative to their veggie friends and help as much as they can. One of my friends from Taiwan specially learned veggie Taiwanese dish (yes, there are those type of things) for me so that I could be invited to her home party.

So I would say you could pretty much enjoy being vegetarian if you know sometimes you have to adjust.
User avatar
RVD
User avatar
Joined: 30 Jul 2007
Last visit: 15 Nov 2012
Posts: 156
Own Kudos:
26
Posts: 156
Kudos: 26
Drinking and B-School 16 Jun 2008, 09:39
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
1) I think in business school, there is usually a lot of diversity so there are always students who don't drink...especially the Mormons and Muslims. We've had events where they hand out drink tickets and the non-drinkers are pretty popular because they give away their drink tickets to the drinkers. I've never seen any peer pressure applied to anyone in business school (unlike undergrad).

2) Perhaps it's because I'm in California, but there are a lot of vegetarians around here. It's certainly not uncommon and nobody will think you're odd if you don't eat meat. All meals at school have a vegetarian option so you're not just stuck with salad and grilled vegetables for every meal.

3) Also perhaps because I'm in CA but most students don't smoke.

RVD.
avatar
perfectexamscore
avatar
Joined: 12 Jul 2008
Last visit: 17 Jul 2008
Posts: 69
Own Kudos:
4
Posts: 69
Kudos: 4
Drinking and B-School 13 Jul 2008, 16:20
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
dont succumb to the pressure. I would not start drinking.
User avatar
Audio
User avatar
Current Student
Joined: 13 Jun 2007
Last visit: 31 Jul 2012
Posts: 408
Own Kudos:
89
Concentration: Finance
Schools:Wharton, Booth, Stern
Posts: 408
Kudos: 89
Drinking and B-School 22 Aug 2008, 20:29
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
From my limited experience, I can tell you that you will fit in whether you are a drinker or not; nobody really cares. However, it's pretty obvious that the drinkers will tend to hang out together more and will become closer friends with "co-drinkers".

Also, whether you drink or not, parties are the places where most of the socializing happens.
User avatar
riverripper
User avatar
Major Poster
Joined: 10 Apr 2007
Last visit: 20 Aug 2022
Posts: 4,306
Own Kudos:
806
Given Kudos: 5
Location: Back in Chicago, IL
Concentration: General/Operations Management
Schools:Kellogg Alum: Class of 2010
GMAT 1: 740 Q49 V42
Posts: 4,306
Kudos: 806
Drinking and B-School 22 Aug 2008, 22:25
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Audio
From my limited experience, I can tell you that you will fit in whether you are a drinker or not; nobody really cares. However, it's pretty obvious that the drinkers will tend to hang out together more and will become closer friends with "co-drinkers".
Show more

Definitely find this to be true...at Kellogg I would go further and say the majority partying hard are the single students who close the bars. There are some married or involved students who drink pretty heavily but they still tend to call it a night earlier than the single folks. There are a lot of reasons for this, a significant other who may get annoyed by such antics or the fact a lot of significant others are doing the job search right now so are interviewing or chasing leads and cant spend the day nursing a hangover.

I dont drink and no one cares at all. I must say the biggest issue with drinking right now is people buying drinks they normally enjoy without really thinking about paying $10+ for a drink on no income. A $100 night out at a bar when not buying rounds has to hurt the budget a little.
User avatar
kryzak
User avatar
Major Poster
Joined: 04 Jun 2007
Last visit: 10 Aug 2013
Posts: 5,452
Own Kudos:
751
 [1]
Given Kudos: 14
Status:Um... what do you want to know?
Location: SF, CA, USA
Concentration: Technology, Entrepreneurship, Digital Media & Entertainment
Schools:UC Berkeley Haas School of Business MBA 2010
GPA: 3.9 - undergrad 3.6 - grad-EE
WE 1: Social Gaming
Posts: 5,452
Kudos: 751
 [1]
Drinking and B-School 23 Aug 2008, 11:43
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
wow... Orientation week just ended, and I've come to the conclusion that people here (and probably at all b-schools) believe that "social = drinking". I hope I'm wrong, and I've already found a crowd of people who don't drink as much, but it's a bit sobering (no pun intended) to see all the "official" Haas parties to be related to drinking, drinking, and drinking...

No one really heckles me about it (other than, "where's your drink", then I have to explain everything, and they're ok with that), but you can definitely tell that the heavy drinkers are usually in a clique and the non drinkers are in the other one...
User avatar
TL
User avatar
Joined: 11 Jul 2008
Last visit: 13 Jan 2013
Posts: 211
Own Kudos:
81
Given Kudos: 4
Location: United States
Concentration: Entrepreneurship, Technology
Schools: Haas '15
GMAT 1: 680 Q47 V37
GPA: 3.6
WE:Engineering (Computer Hardware)
Schools: Haas '15
GMAT 1: 680 Q47 V37
Posts: 211
Kudos: 81
Drinking and B-School 23 Aug 2008, 11:47
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
i drink for two reasons:

1. to get drunk (duh)
2. to build rapport with other drinkers

(i.e. i'm generally not a fan of the taste)

if #1 is the goal then pre-gaming with shots is a must, otherwise (and more commonly) i'll just nurse one or two drinks throughout the evening for socializing's sake.

i've come to the conclusion that going out sober and trying to get drunk (especially after i have food in the stomach) is just not worth the ROI :(
User avatar
89nk
User avatar
Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Last visit: 16 Dec 2012
Posts: 321
Own Kudos:
59
Given Kudos: 10
Location: Texas
Posts: 321
Kudos: 59
Drinking and B-School 23 Aug 2008, 13:56
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
I am not sure what you guys call drinking 'heavily', but I usually drink 3-4 beers and 6-7 shots of whiskey on a Friday evening after a meal of sushi. I am usually feeling pretty good, but never drunk or have hangovers.

I went to a mostly all guys engineering school where my classmates drank pitchers of cheap beer daily. I considered this to be drinking 'heavily'.

I do not like being drunk, but I like the taste of a select few beers, and liquor, which is why I drink, but I have to work out more often to keep in shape. :|
avatar
Bosley
avatar
Joined: 25 Dec 2007
Last visit: 27 Sep 2023
Posts: 17
Posts: 17
Kudos: 0
Drinking and B-School 23 Aug 2008, 16:12
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
kryzak
wow... Orientation week just ended, and I've come to the conclusion that people here (and probably at all b-schools) believe that "social = drinking". I hope I'm wrong, and I've already found a crowd of people who don't drink as much, but it's a bit sobering (no pun intended) to see all the "official" Haas parties to be related to drinking, drinking, and drinking...

No one really heckles me about it (other than, "where's your drink", then I have to explain everything, and they're ok with that), but you can definitely tell that the heavy drinkers are usually in a clique and the non drinkers are in the other one...
Show more


I used to be a heavy drinker but old age has tempered that. It's funny to see the younger crowd go out until 4 in the morning drinking, waking up and doing it all over again. I have nothing against that, my body just can't handle that schedule any more. I'm more of a dinner and a movie guy now :) In any case, I agree there are definitely social circles formed based on who drinks and who doesn't. I'm making a conscious effort this year not to drink, for the sake of saving money and a few brain cells along the way. We'll see how it goes, being in NY and staying sober is tough. I think the biggest challenge will be explaining why i'm nursing a glass of water.
User avatar
solaris1
User avatar
Joined: 05 Aug 2007
Last visit: 09 Aug 2011
Posts: 1,431
Own Kudos:
223
Given Kudos: 22
Concentration: General Management
Schools:NYU Stern '11
Posts: 1,431
Kudos: 223
Drinking and B-School 23 Aug 2008, 16:43
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
I would think most MBA students would be mature enough to accept that there are people who just don't fancy anything more than the occasional glass of wine.

I will be the first one to claim that this probably leads to a bit less socializing, since the bulk of the class is still going to be made up of single 26-28 year olds who have grown up in a culture that inevitably means drinking=fun=meeting more people. As such, anybody who is not into the TNDC party culture (think 15 kegs, flip cup, beirut - wait did I just say MBA students were mature?) must take the initiative on his own to ensure that he/she does not lose out on the incredible camaraderie and avenues for networking that business school offers.

I'll be honest, I'm going to make sure business school is like college all over again. I'm going to party like I'm never going to get an opportunity to throw down like that again, even if it leads to an extra 10k in loans. Because let's face it I'm not. :drunk
User avatar
braindancer
User avatar
Current Student
Joined: 08 Aug 2006
Last visit: 12 Jan 2016
Posts: 324
Own Kudos:
42
Location: San Francisco
Schools:Berkeley Haas
Products:
My Reviews
Posts: 324
Kudos: 42
Drinking and B-School 23 Aug 2008, 18:25
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
kryzak
wow... Orientation week just ended, and I've come to the conclusion that people here (and probably at all b-schools) believe that "social = drinking". I hope I'm wrong, and I've already found a crowd of people who don't drink as much, but it's a bit sobering (no pun intended) to see all the "official" Haas parties to be related to drinking, drinking, and drinking...

No one really heckles me about it (other than, "where's your drink", then I have to explain everything, and they're ok with that), but you can definitely tell that the heavy drinkers are usually in a clique and the non drinkers are in the other one...
Show more

I can totally second that :) Socializing at Haas mostly happens during Bar of the Week, which I attended just once. Ergo, I barely socialized at all. Most 'casual' discussions at school also revolve around how hilarious was X yesterday when vomiting on Y's pants, so I'm not an active participant of those either. :)

(Of course, I'm terribly exaggerating. But the problem (or call it a 'trend') is still there.)
User avatar
pelihu
User avatar
Joined: 31 Jul 2006
Last visit: 11 Jan 2010
Posts: 2,208
Own Kudos:
526
Schools:Darden
Posts: 2,208
Kudos: 526
Drinking and B-School 24 Aug 2008, 01:47
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
I don't think there's much peer pressure to drink, however there's no doubt that most business school social events have major drinking components. If you shun drinking and drinking related events in business school, you be almost completely excluded from b-school social life; even our section meet-and-greet with the Dean was a cocktail event. People can fit in just fine if they have a drink or two at each event, or even if they pretend to have a drink or two. You don't need to be a heavy drinker to fit in; and few people at business school drink so much that hangovers affect their lives (I think that's called alcoholism).

It does seem strange that the non-drinkers seem to be much more vocal majority in this thread, though I'd estimate that 10% or fewer of my class here avoid drinking entirely (actually can't think of anyone off hand).

A second observation I have is that people seem to be avoiding the reality (yes, it is a reality) that popular MBA career destinations tend to be fairly hard-drinking professions. If you step back and take a look at where people might end up 5-7 years after college, banking and consulting probably lead the way in terms of drinking culture - both as related to work and to basic social life. Certainly, bankers and consultants have reputations for partying harder than engineers, scientists, doctors, teachers and pretty much whatever else people do after college. I think people in sales and marketing have reputations for hitting the bottle as well, and taken together, MBAs headed to banking, consulting, sales and marketing make up 2/3 of the class at many top business schools. I'd also add that these job destinations tend to have recruiting processes that involve social drinking. It's hard to say generally how people who don't drink at all would fare in, say, banking recruiting; however I can say with certainty that some banks will in fact ding people that don't do well in the social portion of their recruiting process.
User avatar
kryzak
User avatar
Major Poster
Joined: 04 Jun 2007
Last visit: 10 Aug 2013
Posts: 5,452
Own Kudos:
751
Given Kudos: 14
Status:Um... what do you want to know?
Location: SF, CA, USA
Concentration: Technology, Entrepreneurship, Digital Media & Entertainment
Schools:UC Berkeley Haas School of Business MBA 2010
GPA: 3.9 - undergrad 3.6 - grad-EE
WE 1: Social Gaming
Posts: 5,452
Kudos: 751
Drinking and B-School 24 Aug 2008, 03:37
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
I don't "shun" drinking per se. And I don't mind people drinking a couple drinks at an event. But so far it seems that at many "bar of the night" events, people are there just to get very drunk. I don't think that's the kind of stuff banking and consulting infosessions and cocktail parties encourage either. I enjoy talking to people when they've had a drink or two (definitely the "social lubricant" aspect of alcohol), but after 4-5 drinks, only drunk people understand other drunk people. Those are the type of parties and events that I don't enjoy, simply because I am incapable of getting drunk (health reasons).
   1   2   3   4   5