on clubs in business school !

I have learnt several things about clubs in business schools over the last few weeks, and my emotions have ranged from, wow that was a rip off to umm…wow…that really helps.

 

So, in the first week after college started, we had club day, the day when clubs put out stalls and you go and speak to them, find out what they offer, what plans they have for the year and then decide whether you will join the club or not. So, its rather important to prioritize, because there are many clubs, lots of very interesting clubs and you cant join them all. I went in with the mindset, Ill join 6  or so clubs and that’s it. There is another reason for this choice, CLUB MEMBERSHIPS COST MONEY, fees can range from 0-50$ (yes the wine club is very expensive). I landed up joining 9 clubs, the idea is to try them out and decide on the ones which I would like to be involved in.

 

Clubs are divided into two types, social and professional. So while the wine club and the eat club allow me to meet fellow GSBers in very informal settings, the Private Equity (PE) and the consulting club, allow me to meet folks in a very formal setting, where I can hone my skills to pursue a desired career. The PE club had its first session recently, as their activities are divided into three categories, educational, networking and social. This gathering was an educational lecture form the officers of the club, called PE101. It was indoctrination for people like me, who are members of the club but have little to no idea about what PE is all about. It was pretty much a classroom lecture like setting, listening to folks who have worked in companies like KKR, and it was incredibly eye opening. Also the pizza over the lecture was really nice. The next few weeks are packed with evenings with bbq kickoffs for various clubs, so that should be rather interesting.

 

The summary, join clubs, its not just for social reasons but there is an interesting educational aspect associated with them, especially for career switchers. Also prioritize ruthlessly, after a few meetings, I am going to decide which clubs I am going to focus on, else ill be spread too thin with my personal and educational requirements.

 

Ash