Student Reception this evening-what to expect?

Question

Hey guys- am heading to a Chicago Students event this evening- what to expect? 

Is business casual an acceptable form of attire for such events? 
Do people make mental notes or do you actually write down stuff?
Exchange visiting cards with the students?
Any other tips?

riverripper · Answer

I went to one in jeans and a button up shirt. It was half people straight from work dressed very well and the other half ranging from business casual to a current student in a t-shirt, jeans, with flipflops on. The student events are a lot more relaxed so wear whatever you want. Students wont hold it against you if you are wearing a poloshirt.

I didn't take notes since I was looking more at what the people were like, their impressions of the school, and just overall fit. I didn't want to take away from things just to take notes.

I didn't get business cards though the one female current student was making a point to hand them out to the other females there...she pretty much aimed at talking to the other females.

Like I said I went to the event more to gauge the people and their views of the school not to get lots of inside info. I am planning a school/class visit so I think thats where I will pick up some details for my essays. This was more of to see if I could see myself attending the school. It was actually a far better experience than anything with adcoms, since people weren't trying to put on a show. I learned a lot about the school, the people, and the city...much more than I had thought I would.

dabots · Answer

i've been to 2 of the Chicago student events, the Baltimore and Wash DC ones

they were VERY helpful, got tons of tidbits for my essays, and the students have been responsive to emails

it is business casual

are visiting cards the same as business cards? you can ask for business cards, although i dont think the interns have them

but DO NOT try to give them your business cards, you will be rebuffed. i saw a kid trying to push his card onto a current GSB student.

i didnt write anything down other than names and emails

what i liked best were the personal anecdotes and stories that i could weave into my essay. focus on their personal experiences which you can later relate to your own.

CookieMonster · Answer

- Business casual is appropriate
- note taking depends on the bar setting
 most likely people wont take notes..it is more casual
- there was some business card exchanging going on

CookieMonster · Answer

i agree with this for the most part, but it depends on the situation.
A GSB alum asked for my card, but i didnt bring any cards to give

However i guess being asked for your card is different than offering your card.

either way, IMO its not a big deal as long as you dont try to push your card onto someone.

dosa_don · Answer

Thanks for the tips guys

aviroop · Answer

Went to the one in LA in a t-shirt and jeans..didnt see any dress codes.

Definitely do not hand out business-cards unlesss asked. 

A lot of gender segregation occurs (dont know why but I believe its a psychologocial effect), but try to break that barrier and approach both sexes of GSB students. 

You will get different perspectives.

riverripper · Answer

I brought my wife who is considering applying to b-school next year because she was curious about what the people would be like and also to get a sense of schools. The girls did seperate themselves but I guess it was mostly because they were asking how it was to be a girl in b-school and all sorts of stuff related to that...probably not a conversation that is going to really benefit many guys. She was very into telling my wife to apply, that schools love female applicants and so do companies since its hard to find enough qualified women.

There were people that came across as very strategic and not genuine...one kid in particular was really obnoxious he would interupt people to introduce himself to the students, not really waiting for the right moment he just barged in. He appeared very sure of himself and while confidence is key at times you could tell he really annoyed some of the students and a bunch of the other potential applicants with his self promoting attitude. I was talking to two students when he approached and one actually said I have to go, I can't handle this kid again and walked away. He also was guilty of the business card, he asked for theirs and then when a few former students were giving him theirs he would hand them his. So basically be yourself unless you are like that.

kryzak · Answer

avi: haha, I generally like talking to the girls more

but I don't discriminate! river: WOW... what a jerk! I hope they got his name down and forwarded his info to the adcom, hee hee hee :twisted:

aviroop · Answer

+++++1

There are a bunch of those people hell bent on making others lives miserable.
At the Chicago student session, there was this kid who would go up to everybody and ask where they are working, how long they have been working, have they given their GMAT, etc and some borderline personal questions. He had a really obnoxious attitude and he just wanted to show off his superiority complex.
He was trying to gauge what his competition was but in a very very unappropriate way.

Just be cool and ask questions that are relevant - dont end hogging bandwidth.. :wink:

dabots · Answer

i had a pretty decent experience with the other prospectives...most were very friendly and we even did some networking. i do feel bad about one thing though. i was talking to a very nice lady who said she was on maternity leave and for some reason i assumed she was on leave because she was due soon, and i asked her when her delivery date was...but really she had given birth 3 weeks ago...i think i made her very self-conscious. felt like a jerk :oops:

aviroop · Answer

I am sure she pardoned you. The world of maternity and feminity is an alien territory for us males.

aurobindo · Answer

sure abt this? :wink:

rhyme · Answer

What I couldn't stand were the insanely stupid obvious "I know the answer" questions that kids would ask so they could follow up with a retarded comment in front of the adcom...

Something like:

Idiot: "Uhm, How many nobel laureates does Chicago have?" 
Adcom: "Actually, we were the first school to have six"
Idiot: "Oh I knew about Stigler, Merton Miller and Myron Scholes, probably most famous for his work in Black-Scholes, but I didn't know the others" 
Adcom: "Uhm. Yes, any other questions?"

dosa_don · Answer

Just a quick debrief of last nights reception. It was quite different from what I had expected- there was ONE 2nd year student who was present and around 10 prospective students sitting around a table. Later another girl who was just admitted joined us. While it was interesting to listen to their thoughts on GSB and the application process, I did not learn anything new about the school. One of the things that struck me was the lack of "selling" on part of the second year student. The new admit was more excited and was raving about the incredible people she met on her Random Walk but the second year student had very subdued answers to some standard questions.

riverripper · Answer

Thats suprising there was only 1 student...he might have been overwhelmed by that. When I went to the one in boston there were porbably 5 2nd year students and 3 or 4 who had just graduated. It was probably a 1 to 3 ratio. One of the guys said the school had only arranged for two of them to be there but when the sign ups were going so well he started recruiting help from interns in town and anyone else they could think of in Boston.

kryzak · Answer

Hmm... sounds like the others ditched him that night

I'm talking to a 2nd year this Friday on the phone... we'll see how excited he sounds. btw rhyme, I loved the Google video about Kellogg students, "I want to be a brand manager for Frosted Flakes!"

riverripper · Answer

Kryzak how are you finding all these students...you seem to know people at every school.

kryzak · Answer

Haha, I'm very persistent (in a polite way). I look on websites to find student clubs, I talk to friends of friends. I have a lot of connections at Cal and Stanford and I sometimes ask the alums there to refer me to their friends at other B-schools (they always have a few). I also use some of the diversity culture club websites to get names. So far other than UCLA (which has been difficult for some reason), I've gotten at least 1 student/alum from each school I'm thinking of to reply and talk to me on the phone or in person. Just search around the websites, be persistent, and really leverage your connections if you know a top B-school alum. I'll try to relay all the good info here so everyone can benefit! That's what GMATClub is about!

Hope that helped!

dabots · Answer

ive been having great luck with our company intranet searching through resumes

Student Reception this evening-what to expect?

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