MBA IB Recruiting Question: Networking?

Hypothetical scenario: attended NYU Stern for undergrad and starting MBA at CBS/UChicago Booth/UPenn Wharton in the Fall

Questions:

1.) Should we begin cold emailing and networking w/ bankers on our own as soon as we hit campus in August/September or wait for banks to come to us, wait for career centers to open up coffee chat scheduling, etc. I remember for undergrad IB summer analyst recruiting it was an absolute bloodbath and the norm was to reach out to hundreds of bankers and send out thousands of cold emails/no-response follow-ups. However, I heard that the MBA summer associate recruiting process is lot more structured and streamlined so wasn't sure if this is still necessary.

2.) If we are to cold email/network, should we stick to reaching out to associates and above and not analysts since they're not involved in the associate recruiting process?

3.) Is there any benefit in networking with alumni from one's undergrad school? For example, let's say I'm attending CBS for MBA, should I only reach out to CBS grads as they're the one's involved in the recruiting process for the X number of spots reserved for CBS candidates or will it be helpful to coffee chat with Stern alumni as well?

Asking for a friend