Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!
When I started this blog, the intent was to relay the student life while at Booth. Most know Booth is a world-class academic institution but in reality, this is only part of what makes Booth such an amazing place. Although less discussed, the network and friendships you build are just as important as the academic preparation and is also responsible for making your two years at business school one incredibly enjoyable time. This week, I want to get back to the root intention of this blog and talk a little bit about the social life while at Booth.
There is probably no better occasion to start off this discussion than Thanksgiving. I have generally thought of Thanksgiving as a family holiday; while this perception still holds true, I have since expanded my definition of “family.” This year I decided not to go home over the holiday and instead stayed in the Chicagoland area with approximately 100 of my classmates. During the holiday, students decided to get together and celebrate Thanksgiving with our other family – my Booth classmates. Despite 3 or 4 different student hosted events, there was truly a universal invitation for any student at any of the places. This may not seem like a big deal, but it is amazing to have a class that is so close that there is always a standing invitation regardless of how well you know each other. Aside from eating some great food, the 20ish of us that were at one of the house parties also had a great time well into the night.
Social life at Booth isn’t limited to special events or holidays, however. At least twice a week there are two major events that all students are always invited to. Every Thursday a group of 5 second year students arrange a get together in a new location in downtown Chicago. During this event about 200 to 400 first and second year students take over a venue and spend the night hanging out, dancing, or just having a good time.
On Fridays there is a school-sponsored event called the Liquidity Preference Function or LPF (it is actually a play on words referencing a finance term) after classes end. At this activity, Booth opens up the Winter Garden (a giant communal area inside the Harper Building) for several hours and students and their families are invited for free food, drinks, and stories.
While these are just two events, this type of interaction, socialization, and fun are common at Booth. With a combined 2011 and 2012 class size of ~1140, it is great to have so many opportunities to get to know each other as well as so many opportunities to have a great time. At Booth I know I have both the academic backing to make me successful and a tight network of the world’s future business leaders beside me. While I can’t really articulate how close you will be with your classmates and how great the Booth experience is, I can promise that if you are able to visit Booth, you won’t need me convincing you… you will most certainly experience it for yourself.
In short, Booth is an amazing place to spend the next two years. If you have the ability, I highly recommend you come to Chicago for a Booth Live event or if you receive an offer, one of the Admit Weekends. I can all but guarantee you will not be disappointed.
Until next time, happy holidays, and good luck on the applications (below is a picture for a recent LPF).
Todd
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