MBA friends vs. undergrad

When I ask people about their MBA experience, they rarely speak about the job they attained or the academics, but rather they simply talk (with stars in their eyes) about the network they created, but what they are really referring to is the new close friendships they established.

I'm curious to know how these newly formed friendships differ from that of undergrad. For those of you who went through the "MBA experience", would you say that your MBA friends are closer/stronger than that of your undergrad? Does the closeness of MBA friendships tend to fade and dwindle as people move/migrate and enter new phases of their life (similar to undergrad?). Or perhaps will experiences vary, depending on how geographically close you are to your classmates.

2 Comments
 

Numbered to match your questions:

1) I'm closer to my MBA friends than my undergrad friends, for various reasons.

2) Yes, you could probably say this about most friendships.

3) Location obviously helps.

My general take on this whole thing is that in b-school, you're older and have done much more growing than when you were in undergrad, so the people you tend to meet are more like you, and the "you" that you will be for the rest of your life. Most people have spent some years working and are eager to take some time off to learn, network and have fun. On top of that (and especially during your first year of b-school), you pretty much live with some of these people. While I don't think b-school is rocket science, they still throw a lot of stuff at you so you end up going through a lot with those around you.

 

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