Student complains about the HBS party scene

A HBS student indulges in self-righteous whining about the "excessive" partying scene at HBS and the lack of an intellectual culture. Is this guy freaking kidding? First, he doesn't have the courage to reveal his name since he knows his classmates will rightfully make fun of him. Second, did this guy not do his research on what b-school is about and specifically, what goes on at HBS? B-school is ultimately very little about grades and classes. Not saying that you shouldn't learn, but most MBA classes are quite frankly worthless. Spending so much time prepping for them is a huge waste. If this guy can't afford to party with the rich HBS ballers, he can still attend other social events, network, establish lifelong bonds, and improve his social skills.

http://poetsandquants.com/2014/11/26/a-harvard-mba-assails-the-party-cu…

 

Yup. Definitely a socially awkward loser who can't fit in with the charismatic alphas at HBS. He's bitter that he can't fit in and in a lame cowardly manner, wrote this article anonymously.

There is a guy in my learning team who actually cared a lot about grades despite GND. We made fun of him and thought he was uber lame. He definitely did not take advantage of all that the school offers.

 
mbavsmfin:

Yup. Definitely a socially awkward loser who can't fit in with the charismatic alphas at HBS. He's bitter that he can't fit in and in a lame cowardly manner, wrote this article anonymously.

There is a guy in my learning team who actually cared a lot about grades despite GND. We made fun of him and thought he was uber lame. He definitely did not take advantage of all that the school offers.

Quoted for emphasis.

Dude sounds like a herb that thinks being successful is just about good grades and being the smartest person in the room.

I hope he wises up and gets his stuff together... Because those 2 years can go by pretty quick.

 

As if grades matter in a top 5 bschool, your classmate is beyond lame. So is the article poster. Bschool grades are based on people riding each other. And ultimately getting a job is networking oriented. Seriously, what do you learn in bschool?

 

You don't learn that much in the classroom, although some of my finance electives this year have been quite interesting and useful. To be fair though, this classmate is an anomaly. The vast majority are super laid back and are very well aware of what b-school is about.

 

Poets and Quants is basically Business Insider for colleges. Aka trash. I'd chalk anything I read on that up to a whole lot of nothing.

1) Harvard is not the best party scene. C'mon.

2) Nothing is excessive if you have self control.

3) Spending $100K or more to "party" is beyond lame.

MBA is about branding, education and yes, experience. But far too many people overweight the experience part. Probably because people shit out kids and get married shortly after business school. That is their choice though. Have a group of friends, meet new people, make time for yourself and life should be fun and enjoyable until you are six feet under. All without paying six figure admission to a party.

 

I think for these kids, the combination of having money AND tons of free time leads to them having more fun than otherwise. If you have one but not the other it will be tougher. Also the best b-school parties and trips are not available to everyone. The rich kids clique have their own social circle and keep everyone out of the loop. For example, I was in Rio in late August with 60 of my classmates. A group of rich European kids only hung out with each other and planned their own social events and dinners. My guess is the author of this article is not rich and feels left out, thus explaining why he chose to lash out anonymously. Life isn't fair. If you don't have the cash you gotta tone down your partying and travelling.

I actually think the MBA is overrated in many ways, but that's a different topic altogether.

 
mbavsmfin:

Also the best b-school parties and trips are not available to everyone. The rich kids clique have their own social circle and keep everyone out of the loop. For example, I was in Rio in late August with 60 of my classmates. A group of rich European kids only hung out with each other and planned their own social events and dinners.

Which countries in Europe were they from? Are they like Eastern European / Middle Eastern money types or ppl from continental Europe / the UK w "old money" backgrounds?

 

I mean I am sure MBA students have some coin, but if you are racking up six figure debt on the reg I would assume a lot of them aren't rolling in the cash. Especially the non-IBD/PE finance students.

Either way bitching about too much fun is a rather lame move.

 

Brady is back under a new name, and he got into Wharton? What has this world come to.

The answer to your question is 1) network 2) get involved 3) beef up your resume 4) repeat -happypantsmcgee WSO is not your personal search function.
 

Not everything has changed. He's still holding on to his v-card like it's from his favorite Magic the Gathering deck.

Under my tutelage, you will grow from boys to men. From men into gladiators. And from gladiators into SWANSONS.
 

Do you think that HBS switching from GND to showing grades will change this atmosphere?

Also if you've been following news about HBS, it seems like Nitin Nohria and Co are determined to change things. They're focusing on reducing Finance people and bringing in "nicer" people.

I think this stupid Dean might end up changing HBS.

 
snakeoil:

Do you think that HBS switching from GND to showing grades will change this atmosphere?

Also if you've been following news about HBS, it seems like Nitin Nohria and Co are determined to change things. They're focusing on reducing Finance people and bringing in "nicer" people.

I think this stupid Dean might end up changing HBS.

Kellogg has grade disclosure, and the vast majority of students don't care about grades here anyways. 90% of employers don't ask for GPA. Even if they started to, you'd only have to try for your first quarter or semester.

 
OpsDude:
snakeoil:

Do you think that HBS switching from GND to showing grades will change this atmosphere?

Also if you've been following news about HBS, it seems like Nitin Nohria and Co are determined to change things. They're focusing on reducing Finance people and bringing in "nicer" people.

I think this stupid Dean might end up changing HBS.

Kellogg has grade disclosure, and the vast majority of students don't care about grades here anyways. 90% of employers don't ask for GPA. Even if they started to, you'd only have to try for your first quarter or semester.

What about MBB?

 
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