Welcome to another edition of Trivia Tuesday, our ongoing series exploring the programs, resources and opportunities available at the leading business schools.
Although most of our columns have focused on the academic options schools offer, this week we turn our attention to students’ opportunities for socializing with classmates. Since creating a strong network of friends and future colleagues is one of the lasting benefits of business school, prospective students may want to examine the ways in which schools help classmates get to know each other and build relationships. One popular method schools use to bring students together is program-wide happy hours. These events are usually held at the end of the academic week and tend to be organized by the MBA student government.
For instance, a staple of Wharton social life is Pub, held Thursday evenings throughout the academic year. MBA students pay a $100 membership fee at the beginning of the year for access to all club events as well as all the rotating wines and beer, pizza and non-alcoholic drinks they desire. Other Wharton clubs take turns sponsoring the weekly pubs; previous themes included Japan Night, Pink Pub: Wharton Women in Business, and Europa Oktoberfest. With over 85% of Wharton students typically joining the Pub, it is one of the best ways to meet Wharton classmates.
MIT Sloan’s Consumption Function happy hours (C-Functions) are also a popular part of student social life. Held most Thursday evenings during the academic year, the C-Functions are a great way to get together with classmates and other members of the Sloan community in a relaxed, nonacademic setting. The events are organized by the Sloan Activities Board, but are usually sponsored by other clubs on campus and have weekly themes. Past themes include the 1970s, Brazil, Meet the Faculty, Oktoberfest and the Canadian C-Function.
In a similar vein, the Chicago GSB hosts weekly Liquidity Preference Functions each Friday afternoon (the name, like Sloan’s Consumption Functions, is a reference to a theory developed by John Maynard Keynes), Columbia Business School hosts Thursday Happy Hours in the Uris Hall deli (with rotating post-Happy Hour destinations), and Kellogg students gather each Friday in the Atrium for the Kellogg TG (reputedly short for “Thank God it’s Friday”).
Most schools invite prospective students visiting campus to drop by the happy hour, and attending one of these events can be a great way to talk with current students and learn about the campus culture.
For more information on the social side of the leading MBA programs, be sure to talk with current students or to check out the Clear Admit School Guides!
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