<p>“Wow, what a forward-thinking and professional student! I would like him/her?”
or
“Pretentious.”</p>
<p>???</p>
<p>neither…just oh, look, a business card</p>
<p>and if the student is pretentious: oh, look, a business card from a pretentious student.</p>
<p>I don’t see why a business card would be pretentious, but my school’s alumni center prints them for free for students so students having them isn’t exactly unusual.</p>
<p>A lot of at-home mothers have business cards that they use to exchange phone numbers / e-mails. It’s just a practical thing. I don’t see the big deal.</p>
<p>I think that the student thought well enough in advance to have one (and that’s a good thing).</p>
<p>I printed my own business cards when I was in college. When I went to a conference, it was important to have in order to hand out. </p>
<p>As soon as I found out I had passed my big test and was going to be a professional in my field, I ordered business cards with that information on it. I have two boxes of them sitting in my desk drawer right now. At the moment, I am waiting for my business cards for work to arrive…</p>
<p>Hasn’t it been customary to exchange info with hand held devices for years?</p>
<p>^^Not in Japan. Although Japan tends to embrace technology and innovations much faster than the US, the Japanese still exchange paper business cards (and god forbid you shove the handed to you card in the back pocket of your jeans without even looking at it! 
).I worked for a Japanese co. Even our part-time lab assistants who washed dishes and cleaned mouse cages had company-issued business cards. I see no problems with a student having business cards.</p>
<p>Newly graduated son, who is job hunting, showed off his business card he ordered online for cheap money. He seemed quite enamored of them…</p>
<p>I wouldn’t have thought paper business cards would still be relevant but son claims they are still standard in his group.</p>
<p>I would exchange contact info electronically on a handheld device with a client or colleague, but it would seem odd to me to do so with a student or applicant. Like he’s kind of nosing his way into my contacts list.</p>
<p>As a business person, I welcome the business card, but also appreciate the electronics communication as well. It doubles my chances of having your information in my contact list for future reference. For the charity event I run, I would also love it if a volunteer (many students) was able to give me their info such that I could add them to my thank you list. Ideally, I would want their name, phone (mobile at least, possibly a home or work too), address (where a thank you note could be sent) and email.</p>