Ive never really been able to make friends before. Im worried that will hinder my experience at b-school. Especially the ones that are full of social extroverts or cool introverts. Any advice?

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Hey! I really appreciate your vulnerability with this post. If I could give one piece of advice, I’d say to empathize. If you can show other people you see where they’re coming from or what matters to them, you can connect and develop a friendship :) B-school is intense, but if you can be authentic, confident, and giving, you’ll attract people to you! Have fun out there!

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Make sure you’re active in post class discussions/engagements. Don’t be the “know it all”. Be humble and truly show that you’re there to learn and grow. I’ve come across some folks who throw their resumes at you and boy were the lonely! Also make a tight group of friends (tip: your breakout rooms/ class cohorts). also participate in clubs and get out of your comfort zone

Stop being a weeny and go have fun. Do a couple keg stands at welcome weekend and practice your beer pong for yacht week. Problem solved.

Be open to the experience, open to different opportunities that come from school. I was honestly kind of intimidated when I started school, and had a lot of that imposter syndrome to deal with. However the more you get yourself out there the easier it all becomes.

Find a few close friends and go to all the events with them. That way you have someone to talk with and you can make an exit plan together. Trust me, at every program there will be a few loner/awkward people that you can make friends with.

As someone very similar who went through that, all I can say is just do your best. Get comfortable being uncomfortable, say yes to things you’d normally say no to. It’s not just social gatherings with classmates but recruiting as well, especially if you go for something like consulting or IB that is super social heavy.

One of the things that made it easier for me was joining clubs and being active in them. At the program I was at we had “sections” that split the class up, and we did a lot of events within our sections and there was a bunch of competitions between the sections, so just make sure you stay active with stuff like that if available.

I had a lot of fun and made a few friends while I was there but having said all of that I still did not make any close friends and haven’t really kept up with anyone since graduating. I’ve always been kind of a loaner and while unfortunate, I’m self-aware enough to know that’s just how I am and I’m ok with it.

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