MD wanted me to drink

So I’m a college student who is involved with the alumni recruiting efforts at my school. I drink a lot in college, and it’s become a problem. I’m trying to drink less or not at all when I can. I don’t really want to talk about it, but it’s a bad idea for me to drink. 

This weekend, I was having dinner with my school team and a BB dept head who kinda gave me shit for not drinking. I straight up said that I used to go hard but that I’m trying to ease off. He gave me a weird look. 
 

Will this hurt me in the future? I mean trying not to drink? I hate talking about this but it’s a real problem for me. 

29 Comments
 

You’re talking about two different things. You can drink into oblivion without being addicted to it. 

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Contrary to popular culture, people find it weird when college students talk like 50-year old alcoholics. It means something's wrong with you.

And I say this as someone who has serious problems with drinking. Honestly work-from-home has probably cut my drinking by 90% and I like it.

 

Bullshit to them. Say you're on an antibiotic you can't mix alcohol with. Easy go to if they ask follow up question, had a hangnail that got infected or something similar.

Side note, would never tell someone higher on the totem pole than yourself that you "used to go hard" while you're still in school. That sounds ridiculous. If you're gonna take that route, just shoot straight and tell them you've struggled with alcohol in the past and at this point in your life prefer not to drink. Been where you're at before, wish you luck. If you need anything, always here. 

 
Most Helpful

I wouldn't open up explaining that you've struggled with alcohol in the past to simply prevent someone from pushing you to drink. Though some may relate / appreciate the honesty there is certainly a contingent of people in the U.S. that will immediately look down upon you for admitting you have potential addiction / alcoholism issues (consistent with how addiction is criminalized / negatively perceived in U.S.). It's also personal information that could be a bit premature to share at basic networking events -- just say you prefer not to drink during the week / weekend when you have a lot going on (if they find issue with that that's on them as most adults can relate, as I've noted below -- any mature adult will usually drop it, as you start working you'll find some closer coworkers may jest with you in good fun but general coworkers typically don't aggressively push in the U.S. -- different story for APAC working cultures with your boss). I find it rude when people push further to involve themselves as to what your reason may be.

It frankly just sounds like this MD is an odd / immature individual and this was an outlier event. Telling a bunch of college students he wrecked a boat while driving under the influence / giving a college a weird look for saying I don't want to drink? I've yet to have been at a networking event / firm function where not drinking has caused someone else to negatively perceive me -- order a seltzer with ice and people will just assume it's a gin & tonic or vodka soda as it helps blend in (vs. not having anything in your hand).

 

No don’t lie about it. 

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

>working from home

>not having to drive literally anywhere anymore

>not having coworkers around to snitch

>only have to visibly keep your shit together during meetings

>cutting back on drinking

That's like, the opposite of what you'd expect to happen.

 

Yeah lmao good luck getting a job going around with that attitude. Fact of the matter is to get most things in this world, you gotta suck up

 

Anonymous Monkey

So I'm a college student who is involved with the alumni recruiting efforts at my school. I drink a lot in college, and it's become a problem. I'm trying to drink less or not at all when I can. I don't really want to talk about it, but it's a bad idea for me to drink. 

This weekend, I was having dinner with my school team and a BB dept head who kinda gave me shit for not drinking. I straight up said that I used to go hard but that I'm trying to ease off. He gave me a weird look. 

 

Will this hurt me in the future? I mean trying not to drink? I hate talking about this but it's a real problem for me. 

This was very common when I lived in England, less in the states. I still do not drink and do do not plan to start. I just change jobs because I am not going to put with peer pressure.

SafariJoe, wins again!
 

Et dolorem est molestiae enim itaque minima in. Quod nobis aut qui repellat. Ipsam ipsum corporis est laudantium. Inventore corrupti eveniet suscipit facere quo possimus. Repellat et fugiat dolorum quo sed non.

Suscipit voluptatum blanditiis ea rerum. Et aliquid et quaerat vel sint voluptatibus.

Aut quo delectus provident vel expedita aut ut vel. Et ea aut libero cumque doloribus omnis. Ab fugit voluptatem odit veritatis.

Cum autem atque molestias voluptates voluptatem nihil eligendi nihil. Eaque recusandae cumque maxime voluptas inventore ipsum sed. Minus pariatur aut molestias repellat et. Debitis eum a enim dolore.

Namaste. D.O.U.G.
 

Sint in ratione consequatur. Odit quod nam id facilis aut. Nostrum necessitatibus nesciunt ad quidem molestiae qui. Rerum dolorem ullam expedita excepturi tempore. Exercitationem veritatis ut pariatur veritatis accusamus. Quia ducimus eos sit voluptates qui.

Quo explicabo exercitationem beatae illo autem harum animi. Nemo quia dolorum maxime laboriosam quia aut et perspiciatis.

Career Advancement Opportunities

May 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

May 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

May 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

May 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (65) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”