Friday, April 3, 2009

DC Happy Hour

On thursday night, I attended an informal CBS happy hour in DC for the local admits. This was an informal one organized by a couple of the admits which was nice cuz the only DC happy hours before this were sponsored by the CBS Alumni Club of DC. This one was admits-exclusive which hopefully meant for more debauchery. The location was Bar Louie, an upscale-ish sports bar in DC's Chinatown. It was also underneath the Verizon Center, where LeBron James and the Cavs were visiting that night, so the place was packed. Luckily, we had a few tables reserved.

It started at 7 and the turn-out was good. Considering there are around 35 local admits (an alarmingly large number at first glance but then you gotta consider that DC probably contends for the second largest applicant region next to NY), we had a turnout in the low 20s which seemed pretty good. I got there early and met everyone except for 2 chicas. I had already met half of the people previously so there was the comfort factor, but the newbies were all very cool. Fun crowd.

The drinks/ordering was terrible since the waiter put up a real fight to do separate tabs (understandably so) when the bar's management said that it wouldn't be a problem. Most people paid in cash anyway. People started clearing out around 10 and by 11, the five or six of us who were left decided to go to a club which was okay. On any other night I probably would've liked it a lot (though I've historically hated clubs but not so much since I learned to "dance") but I had work the next morning and hadn't really expected a clubbing night. Highlight (or lowlight) of the night was probably getting hit on by a so-called senior cougar (not just a cougar, but a senior cougar) who immediately slipped and fell on the floor after making her advance. I wound up taking a taxi home around 1:30.

All in all, good times. Funny enough, there's about 5 or 6 other admits from my company in DC! Granted, my company is humongous (can we say oversaturated?) but still. I guess CBS wants one of us in each cluster hehe. The second Open House is in 2 weeks but I'll be back in NY this weekend to see family primarily.

9 comments:

xlick said...

Tieny, livin la vi la loca : )

JulyDream said...

Sounds like quite a night! I remember the first "informal" happy hours. They were fantastic!! :D

Caroline said...

As you may have seen this weekend, your MBA applicant blog has been nominated for consideration in this year's Clear Admit Best of Blogging awards. Congratulations! If this is news to you, feel free to visit the nominee announcement post at http://blog.clearadmit.com/2009/04/best-of-blogging-nominees-2008-2009/ for a bit more information.

By design, the BoB results are based largely on the input of the nominees themselves, so we'd would love to have your opinion as we compile the ranking. To receive your ballot simply contact us at bob@clearadmit.com. Ballots are due by April 24th, so don't delay!

Anonymous said...

tieny! just got in off the waitlist!!!! woohoo!! only guess what? since i thought i wasnt going to get in i spent the past two months convincing myself that chicago was a better school and now i think i really believe it! even though my boyfriend lives in new york im so confused! help!

TienyChesney said...

Anonymous,

Congrats! That's wonderful news- I'm only sad because the Open Houses are over. If you were able to attend the last one in early April, I guarantee that you would be choosing CBS- it was ridiculously fun. Booth is really a great school and I can think of a ton of reasons why people would choose it over most any other school (Chicago location, astounding finance program, entrepreneurship, prestige, push to have cooler students and reject the "socially awkward" nerd label, and of course the recent endowment gift helps). I think Booth is really committed to being a top 5 b-school. Of course, I would choose CBS over any b-school except HBS (but that's just me). Personally speaking, the fit and culture was too perfect for me. This is why it sucks that you couldn't visit. The students are genuinely cool and laidback. They're people you wouldn't mind showing up to each and every thursday happy hour to hang out with! Every school has smart, ambitious people but are you going to have a blast for 2 years? New York is also the best city in the world in my opinion but again, I'm biased being a native. There's just too much to offer in terms of entertainment, nightlife, cuisine, etc. Culture is important to me and the diversity is off the charts. Don't forget the social parts of the MBA! If you have any specific questions that you think would aid your decision, definitely email me. I'd be more than happy to help persuade you. And to be completely fair, I definitely recommend finding a huge Booth supporter to persuade you for their side as well. Then you can weigh. You're in a fortunate position with 2 top admits- relish it! I'm here if you need me.

Unknown said...

Congrats mate on the BoB win. Time for some champagne ;)

Normandy House said...

Have you thought about the subject of your next blog? I think you could become an ex-pat whistleblower of the federal government consulting industry. I wish the government would take on federal government consulting firms as its next target after the investment banks, as our tax dollars are funding expensive consultants to twiddle their thumbs or make unnecessary matrices instead of making government more effective by offering higher salaries to talented candidates. Or you could blog about NY veg restaurants. Yum.

- One ex-pat government consultant to another.

TienyChesney said...

Hi Normandy House,

Wow, do you know me? It sounds like you know a lot about me (tho I obviously haven't been the most anonymous of bloggers). How did you choose your username, btw? I'm interested because it has significance to me.

As for your idea regarding my next blog, I think it's a great one! I've considered that exact theme not for a blog but for a one-time essay that I'd post online on it's standalone site. It really is terrible what this industry does. So I've thought about it but don't know if I will. I would like to make an impact (however small) but sometimes I think I should expend positive energy instead of negative, y'know? The NY veg food blog is actually a great idea too which I haven't thought of. The problem is that I'm not that adventurous with food. I basically eat at carnivore restaurants and get whatever I can aka the tasty food that's terrible for you (fried stuff like fries, onion rings, cheese sticks, etc.).

And I do want to enjoy b-school and drink every day with my classmates. I feel like I spend too much time on the computer already so maybe I won't do another blog. I feel like I got lucky with this one in that it got a few readers but I know I'm not really a writer so maybe I'll just leave it to those with more interesting things to say :)

RuninDC said...

Best of luck with Columbia. I decided on GWU.