<p>My best friend from college has spent the past 5+ years sailing (slowly, with lots of loooong stops) around the world with his family on a 33-foot sailboat. Somewhere in the far South Pacific (I can’t remember whether it was around Tonga or Fiji), he developed some sort of serious infection in his hand while at sea. Using a very poor satellite e-mail connection, he was able to contact another college friend who is an academic M.D. specializing in infectious diseases. This friend was extremely helpful with diagnosing the problem and suggesting both an immediate stop gap and the long-term treatment to be pursued when he could get to a doctor and a pharmacy.</p>
<p>San Diego State U - I keep in touch w/2-3 friends but no career connections
My H went to USC and gets together w/friends every few months. He has benefitted from maintaining contacts there and he has also offered career opportunities to other alumni.</p>
<p>I went to the University of the Pacific and graduated over 25 years ago. My very best friends are still my college friends and I married my husband who graduated from there. We live in Colorado and one of our best college friends lives down the street and another college friend has moved here from CA and is in my Bunko group. I would say I have 7 college friends that I keep up with at least on a monthly, if not weekly basis and 7 more which we hear from at least once a year. My brother went to Cal Berkeley and he has 4 great friends that he keeps in constant contact with.</p>
<p>Undergraduate college (LAC) friends (all women) - in regular contact with eight of them. Five of us got together for our own “unofficial” 30 year reunion this summer when we found out that none of us could get to the official reunion. It helps that two husbands were also in college with us, and one of those was in grad school with happydad and I.</p>
<p>Home-state Public U (career change) - Still in regular contact with one old housemate (whose older sister was a HS pal), and another close friend.</p>
<p>Grad School - Happydad, of course, plus two close friends who were housemates with us, plus a spouse.</p>
<p>None of these people ever got me a single job. Neither have any of the alum networks. However, my undergrad college has a DC area club which has provided my family with a lot of interesting opportunities (dinners, lectures, tours, etc.). And, when we went to Australia two summers ago, I connected with a fellow grad living there whose brother-in-law is an expert on Aussie-rules football, and who talked us through a league semi-finals game in Melbourne.</p>
<p>My parents class of '50 at Penn State and Iowa State, each were in touch with a number of their college friends until they died. At least one old college pal turned up for each of their funerals. My father’s mom had been the president of her sorority at Iowa State (class of '20). She was in touch with her sorority sisters for her whole life by means of a round-robin letter.</p>
<p>I attended small-ish LAC in New England. I email an old roommate several times a year and send Christmas cards to 2-3 others. H attended large New England university and doesn’t keep in touch with anyone. I think part of the problem is that both schools at the time draw a large part of their enrollment from New England. We left that area 23 years ago, so its largely “out of sight, out of mind.” I wish the distance hadn’t cost us the spontaneity of some good friendships.</p>
<p>On the other hand, my 79 year old father still sees and talks to 4 or 5 of his college buddies at least weekly. Most of them grew up and settled in the same area, although not too near their college. Last week, he attended the funeral of his best friend, a grand pal of 66 years (they’d also attended high school together). Although they eventually settled about 100 miles apart, my dad and this buddy talked every single day. In this case, my dad did make his life long friends in college.</p>
<p>You know…I only keep in touch with one friend from college. BUT that friend actually keeps me well informed about our college group of friends. I occasionally send or get emails from old college friends…but not often.</p>
<p>Wisconsin. Had 5 people I kept up with over the years- all but one with same major. Since all of them went to different states after undergrad, mainly never married nor have kids I stayed in touch but less so as years went on. Interestingly, I had lost touch with a friend from freshman year who transferred out east due to better money, we just reconnected (thank you CC person from her alma mater)- some day we may meet again (the emails with pics have been exchanged). I’m the one who maintains the contact. And even I have discontinued the annual Xmas cards. Not as much news.</p>
<p>I likewise have friends from medical school I keep in contact with- we share having husbands and kids so there is more to talk about. There was a group of us middle class women (and some guys- some are spouses now) in a mostly male class who hung out together- we had fun at the reunion 5 years ago and may get together again this year.</p>
<p>Connections- none wanted or known. We have all made our way without knowing people to get us places. The college friends all made friends in grad school and I see how they have some common interests I lack, by virtue of the fact I went the medical, not grad school, route by choice.</p>
<p>I maintain a connection to an old HS neighbor, but my friends were made in college and beyond. Lost track of all roommates shortly after we parted. I’m the one who is curious about people and maintaining ties, I notice my friends are not. I’m the extrovert among introverts.</p>
<p>Attended a large private U.-I am currently in touch fairly regularly with just 2 friends from undergrad.</p>
<p>H attended a medium sized public U. and he was OOS (decent % were also OOS). He is no longer in touch with anyone from undergrad years, but kept occasional contact with one friend for a few years after his graduation.</p>
<p>Neither of us was helped by anyone from college as far as career. We do have some relatives who met their spouses while at undergraduate school, and one relative has used a couple of connections through his college to find employment (plain luck in networking helped him several times when he reached out to those sources).</p>
<p>Seven Sisters college
Keep in touch regularly with two friends who are like surrogate sisters
Keep in touch fairly often with two others
Touch base now and then throughout the year by e-mail with others–probably four or five</p>
<p>These friendships are really important to me, and at this point in my life their value is at least equal to, or even greater than, the value of my education. I never meet a graduate of my college that I can’t strike up a conversation with–any age, any place, any time.</p>
<p>Geezermom–D2 currently attends one of the Seven Sisters and I can see where the friendships she’s forming there will be long-lasting ones. I graduated from the University of Michigan and haven’t been in contact with anyone on a regular basis except my roommate. We call or email one another at least twice a month. My H went to UC-Irvine and then to Harvard Graduate School. He doesn’t keep in contact with anyone from grad school, which is probably because he is no longer an academic. His Harvard connection, however, proved helpful to him. When he wasn’t granted tenure, he chose to leave academia, rather than accept a position at a nearby university (not tenure-track). H decided to participate in a special program sponsored by the Harvard Graduate School. The program was geared toward assisting people with Harvard doctorates enter the business world. After participating in this program, H was recruited into a bank management program. After six year there, he went to work for a company that was one of his customers at the bank. From there, he started a company similar to the one he left. That provide to be very successful. His business partner has an MBA from HBS and an undergraduate degree from Princeton. H’s business partner maintains that his most helpful friends/network (in terms of assisting him in business) have not been his Princeton or HBS connections, but those to people from his prep school–Exeter. It would be interesting to hear what the OP makes of all of these varied CC poster experiences.</p>
<p>I attended Ohio State and Cornell. I still keep in touch with 5 of my OSU friends but none from Cornell. We try to get together every 4-5 years at either a reunion or other football weekend. It seemed to me that the undergrad experience is quite different from the grad school experience which emphisized research rather than classwork.</p>
<p>Princeton undergrad; Stanford and Harvard grad school</p>
<p>My two closest friends were grad students with me but in different fields. One has become my co-author and business partners. We talk almost every day. He met his wife at my wedding. With the other, we began as grad students meeting weekly to make sure that we thought about our broader values (what we wanted to accomplish in our careers, relationships, health). Over the years, we have augmented this to check in on careers, relationships including spouse and kids, health, spirituality, and the legacy we want to leave. We do a retreat for a few days every year in the Rockies to make sure that our lives follow our broad goals. He has also referred substantial business to me and has been a great help. </p>
<p>I keep in touch with one guy from Stanford. Probably pragmatic rather than close friendship.</p>
<p>I formed very strong bonds at Princeton with a number of my roommates and classmates. I see and talk to them sporadically. We email and communicate on various social/business networking portals. We see many of them every five years at reunions. A few of these people have actually given business to my firm, including one of my roomates who ran a major US company, directly and via referrals. But, I don’t spend time trying to sell my company. These people know me and think I’m very capable and some of them happen to be well-positioned. I would say that the four years was very positive and very formative whether or not I kept in close touch with my college friends or profited from it economically.</p>
<p>Went to a medium size university in the Midwest and have kept up pretty regularly with 2 close friends. I might have kept up more, but most people seemed to move to Chicago after graduation and I ended up in another part of the country. Also, both people I kept up with were sorority sisters of mine.
H graduated from one of the service academies, served his time and got out but still keeps in touch with a lot of guys and we go to the reunions. I think that’s not unusual with academy grads.</p>
<p>I went to the University of Michigan. There were six of us who lived together in an off-campus house senior year (five women, one guy). We have kept in regular contact in the 27 years since graduation, with our own yahoo group. We are scattered all over the country (one in the East Coast, one in the Midwest, one in Texas, two in California and one in Seattle). Every two years we rent a house together with spouses and kids on a beach somewhere for a week. Our spouses get along well, and our kids are like cousins. In between reunions, smaller groups of us see each other on business trips, mini-vacations, etc. Over the years, we’ve vetted boyfriends, attended each others weddings, celebrated pregnancies, and mourned at funerals together. I traveled to China with one of my housemates when she adopted her daughter.</p>
<p>I also keep in touch with other college friends, and in fact was just invited to speak at a professional conference by another friend.</p>
<p>Oh, and I married (and am still married to) my college boyfriend.</p>
<p>I am not much of a networker by nature, and hardly see anyone from my ivy graduate school. My theory was that there was something about Michigan in the late 70s, early 80s that led to some serious bonding.</p>
<p>I went to Brown. There are 15-20 people I see about once a year, and a bunch of others that I exchange holiday cards with. Facebook has reconnected me with several classmates. </p>
<p>There are fewer people from grad school that I keep in touch with – I had 3-4 close friends, and we drifted apart.</p>
<p>Because of where I live, I haven’t had to use either school for job hunting. But I am seriously considering moving to another area and intend on milking both networks for all they are worth.</p>
<p>I speak to my friends from Furman by email at least five times a week, and on the phone almost weekly…they were at the weddings, the graduations, and the christening and still showing up…we made it through going our separate ways in grad schools and cities but our children are friends with their children…</p>
<p>Until the kids were too busy, we used to do New Years as a group annually and do really corny things like reading and reciting poems at midnight and one song each to share at the party…in fact…things we used to do at Furman with our teachers.</p>
<p>Furman is a very personal campus…the faculty will still know you 30 years later which is very remarkable or at least something we value out of liberal arts colleges. Grad school friends at Vandy also still close to our hearts and we are sharing launching children at the same time and aging parent issues…</p>
<p>I view college as a place to find an expanded family and support system in life so we are looking for that for our sons</p>
<p>I went to a small, (2500 students) Catholic, coed college in upstate New York. I am still in contact with 5 friends from school even though we graduated almost 30 years ago. We get together about once a year for a long weekend and we speak or email regularly. The funny thing is that whenever I speak to one of them, even if it’s been months since we’ve spoken, it seems like I just saw them yesterday on the way to class. I suspect I will be friends with each of them till I die. When our kids were little, we would get together in the summer with our entire families, but the crowds just got too big. Now we go for long “girls only” weekends and catch up. Even though I don’t see them every day, I still consider them to be among my closest friends.</p>
<p>Back in the 1960’s I attended a top 15 private university, and my H went to a top 5. Neither of us is in close contact with anyone from college, although there are a few with whom we exchange Christmas cards. No college connections helped us in our careers.</p>