What is the benefit of being a surgeon?

What are some useful things I can do for the collective benefit of my future MBA cohort, before I begin business school?

• I have seen people create groups on Facebook or Google+, or make a new blog where a bunch of admitted students all blog together. What else can I do differently that will benefit the whole class, or even the program, if I have about 3-4 months before starting b-school? Thank you.

• Answer:

  Thanks for the A2A. I'm not a business school student but I'll give you my best shot: When I was going into my freshman year at Stanford there was a student who started the fb group for our incoming class. I think it worked out great for her. She remained visible on campus all four years I was there and served on elected boards. She was very good at networking and used her skills to add value in a visible way to advance her goals and connect people at the same time. That's just who she is....she's a community builder. This was when Facebook was new and cool though, plus we were 18 years old and most of us leaving home for the first time. She saw a legitimate need and rose to meet it. Business school students are more independent and mature than undergraduates. Their needs as a group are harder to anticipate. Since you asked for my specific advice, if I were you I would think about the presence you want to have and the impression you want to make, instead of doing something nice for the community upfront. You don't even know these people yet, or what they need, or if you even like them. Business school is your time to grow and develop. It may be easier to just get on campus and play it cool. That's what I would do. The school hires people to foster community. Your job as a student at first is to get there, settle in, figure out what you want from the experience, and then make moves to make that happen. Sometimes that includes community building (as was the case for the girl I mentioned above), but sometimes it doesn't. If an idea comes to you naturally, great. If you force it, you'll stress yourself out and make friends with the wrong types of people.