Thoughts on crashing MBA-only networking events?

Sure, why not.

I do on-campus recruiting for MBA students and have seen this a few times. Definitely doesn't convey ambition, but rather poor judgment and a lack of appropriate social behavior (traits we look for). I wouldn't take the time or effort to formally "black mark" your name to my firm, but I would auto-ding if I somehow saw your resume again in another capacity. This is also true for EMBA's or part-time MBA's that crash full-time MBA events. Also consider that some schools would blacklist you from other formal OCR events, as well as the more nebulous potential social hit you'll take that may affect future networking with your classmates.

Hope that helps, not trying to be judgmental, just sharing a viewpoint from the other side of the table.

I think if you framed it correctly it could work. More along the lines of exploratory and maybe foster the relationship with the recruiter over a long period. To @NIUBI's point, don't walk in there and start handing out your resume. Talk about other opportunities they have or state that you wanted to learn more about the industry. I like to have faith in humanity and think most people would be receptive / willing to chat with you if you approached with the right goals.

I'm going to agree with Niubi here. I do not recruit but would roll my eyes if I met someone at this sort of event that clearly ignored the invitation, so to speak. There have got to be other, more appropriate ways of targetting the firms you want to work at. Of course, I am entering a full time MBA this fall, so I may be biased in that regard. It does seem a bit tacky though.

If you're in doubt, at least call whomever is hosting the event and see if they would mind if you attend. If it's all under the same campus umbrella, they may say sure, why not. Or they'll clearly tell you otherwise. Then you have the added benefit of explaining your presence with "I have an interest in x y z after graduation, and the University was open to my attending this event to explore my candidacy". I think that's a lot less awkward. Same approach if it is a non-university event.

im with corp finance guy- its all about communicating and building relationships. go for it. talk about checking out both the school and the firms at the events.

Go for it OP, I did it at my school and got flamed (on the spot) by MBA students . But I ended up getting invited to interviews for every single employer's event I crashed. Almost all the recruiters I spoke to were at least receptive (some were impressed). But I do agree that you need to frame it correctly i.e. not just hand out your resume but engage in a conversation about your background etc.

I would take Niubi and BreakingOutOfPWM's comments with a pinch of salt. They are current/incoming MBA students and clearly shun this kind of behaviour as it is infringing upon their vested interests. So what if you piss off some MBAs?

A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.