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Variation earning distributions among engineers is extremely important. When we choose a major, we should care not only the growth employment but also the average starting salary.

Based on the National Association of Colleges and Employers 2009-2010 ( retrieved from www.bls.gov), the table below presents the average starting salary for bachelor degree among engineering specialty.

The update result 2009-2010 from the National Association of Colleges and Employers shows that even though Chemical Engineering has the lowest job growth (what kind of Engineers are demand), but Chemical Engineering degree commands the highest salary among all engineering degrees.

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The economy today is different than the past. In the past times, an engineering graduate could easily get a job. However, nowadays Engineering graduates are tough to get hired. Therefore, It is important for those of you that are still attending college to choose a specific engineering degree that are in demand today.

Below are the tables that show the growth in employment and job outlook by Engineering Specialty, based on United Stated Department of Labor 2009-2010 (www.bls.gov).

From this update data 2010, Biomedical engineering has the highest job growth, whereas Chemical Engineering and Electrical Engineering are tied as the lowest employment growth among all fields of engineering.
Now that you have this information, it is important to carefully choose what kind of engineering degree that you ought to pursue for your future career.

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ClickNSmart Team

“In this tough economy time, what’s the best college major that will get you the most job opportunities?” asked many freshmen entering college this year. Some of you may have dreams to become an engineer, a medical doctor, or a lawyer, and it’s definitely good to go ahead and pursue your dreams. However, if you are unsure about what you want to do after graduating from college, then choosing to major in Business Administration is going to be a safe bet. Why?

Here’s Why?
1) Business majors are always in demand, in particular: Accounting majors and Marketing majors;

2) All businesses (from small to big) will probably hire business graduates as: administrative assistant, accountant, marketing assistant, management assistant, public relation, and other business-related jobs;

3) While the entry-level salary for business graduates on average is lower than the entry-level salary for engineering graduates, but the job opportunities for business majors are wider as compared to engineering majors;

4) Majoring in Business can give you all the necessary skills to become a self-employed entrepreneur;

5) Business students acquire both quantitative and communication skills - the top two skills, which many employers look for when hiring new employees.

If you ask me, which concentration should I take if I am majoring in business? I would recommend either an Accounting or Marketing concentration. In addition, as business students you should also join professional groups such as: Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Business Society, American Marketing Association, and so on. Most business students get job offers before they graduate from networking.

This article is written by Jefery Kusnadi, an MBA student with 4.0 GPA from California State University Long Beach.

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Many of my classmates and undergraduate friends ask me: “Bunga, How did you find a research adviser? I am interested to do research, but I don’t know where and what to start with.”

If that sounds like you, then I would like to share few tips based on my previous experience doing 1 year of undergraduate research at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA):

1) Start by searching in the department website for any faculty members;

2) Find out about their research interests and see if you are interested in any of them;

3) Once you find the research area that you want, e-mail the professor to set up an appointment to meet and discuss about your interest in doing research with the professor;

4) Before meeting face-to-face with the professor, read again the professor’s research interest so that you can impress him/ her to clearly show your interest;

5) Send him/her a thank you note by e-mail after the meeting and don’t forget to leave your contact information.

6) Follow up with the professor again if after 1 week, you have not heard back from him/ her.

These are very practical tips for those of you looking to find an undergraduate research opportunities. Also notice that I make no mention of any specific major, because the tips above are applicable regardless the academic majors.

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Business major is a top choice almost for everyone. In this bad economy, the demand for business major graduates is always higher than any other major. Business is not as straightforward as many people believe; the business curriculum in general focuses more on the analytical and the critical thinking part, which are both important skill in addition to the soft communication skill . Business knowledge is a key element for your future success. There are more opportunities by majoring in business. Business majors can choose various concentrations, such as: Finance, Accounting, Marketing, Human Resources, and  General Management.

Here’s are the average salaries for these majors, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistic (www.bls.gov)

~ Median Annual Earning ~

• Management Analyst : $68,050
• Accountant : $54,630
• Economist :$77,010
• Financial Analyst : $66,590
• Human Resources : $42,420
• Marketing research Analyst : $58,829

Management Analyst : Salaries for management analysts vary based on experiences, location, and expertise.

Economist : has the highest median annual salary, but the starting salary for bachelor’s degree was $35,752 in 2007. For master’s degree has an annual salary of $43,731. And for Ph.D, the salary starts at $52,912

Human Resources : has the lowest annual salary compared with other business fields. For human resources position with a high school degree, the average annual salary begins $26,685

Nowadays, many people are getting an additional business degree on the top of their technical degrees (science or engineering degree) in order to be competitive in the job market. Therefore, I would strongly recommend adding some business knowledge, either through traditional brick and mortar schools or through distance learning (online) business degree program that many universities offer.

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Earning a degree in engineering is one of students’ proud. Nowadays, engineering major become one of the most favorite majors in various universities in USA, Europe and Asia . Many students study hard so they can get in to the University with Engineering degree. Based on recent survey conducted by students in the Department of Statistics at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), many people think that an engineering student is relatively smarter compared to students with other majors. Of course, they have to study hard ( no doubt ); feel free to argue about this.

In addition, companies generally pays high salary for engineering majors. Here’s the salary survey report for engineering jobs (updated 9 November 2008):

Q : Which engineering major pays the best and  the least with a bachelor degree?

A: I would agree that Chemical Engineering has highest paid. Civil Engineering has the lowest salary.

Q: Which engineering major has the most job opportunity?

A: I would say Electrical Engineering offers more universal opportunities. Most of companies look for EE degree, because almost every technology company, and even in biotechnology companies need engineers with electrical engineering background. Even though the entry level pay is not as high as chemical engineers, but electrical engineers with 10 or more years of experiencs can surpass the equivalent earnings of engineers in the other field

Q: Which one is the hardest and easiest degree?

A: Although all engineering majors is hard, but Electrical Engineering is the hardest major i would say. And the easiest major is Civil Engineering and Industrial Engineering (based on the student survey)

Overall :

Chemical Engineering has the highest paid with a bachelor degree. However, when you choose a major, do not only based your decision solely on the highest salary; however,  you should also consider other factors such as : job opportunities in the market, work load, and your passion.

If you want to complain about your major, this is your chance. Feel Free to argue and leave comments.

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Many students start to think after they finish undergraduate program “Master Vs PhD ? What’s the difference?”

1) In terms of knowledge and time

Master Degree : they teach you a specific knowledge in a specialized field. A master’s program usually takes you about 1 or 2 years, sometimes 3 years to complete depending on your field and your adviser. Pursue their life to get more knowledge or a better job.

PhD Degree: they teach you an extensive knowledge in a specialized
field. For PhD, it usually takes you about 4-6 years depends on your field of research and how tough your adviser is. Pursue their life as a professor or researcher.

2) In terms of the Program (taking courses are required for both)

You have an option between Thesis or Comprehensive Test

Master Degree:If you choose thesis, usually it takes longer to finish the program (about 2-3 years). Again this depends on your adviser. Some advisers only require their students to publish 1 research paper, others require their students to publish 2-3 research papers. However, if you choose to take comprehensive test, it only takes you about a year to graduate. But Remember, the test is extremely hard. You have to really know the material well. The professor will test you whether you really understand the Concept or not; Some people fail the test.

PhD Degree:First you choose your advisor and write a dissertation proposal. Then you need to take preliminary test to demonstrate you qualification to continue with Doctoral Degree. After completed test, you more focus on writing your dissertation. The dissertation has to be well published. Usually PhD requires you to publish 4 or more research paper. After you finally done, you require to defend your work in front of your committee (professor) called a dissertation defense. most of them pass their dissertation defense.

3) In terms of Financial Aid

Master Degree: usually you need to pay your own tuition. The program does not offer as much aid to master’s students. However, you can be a teacher assistance and get paid.

PhD Degree: financial Aid is available for students. The schools pay  for your tuition. Also they get more money to be a teacher assistance. The most important for PhD is be of publishable quality.

4) In terms of Career Options

Master Degree: People usually choose to go for a Master degree with a goal that they would like to go out in the industry and gain more advanced knowledge in a particular field; for example, people seeking an MBA degree to gain business knowledge needed to become a manager in a company or start their own businesses.

PhD Degree: I would say that do not apply for PhD unless you are absolutely clear on “Why you need a PhD?” As I mentioned above, a PhD education requires relatively long time and lots of dedication. Therefore, unless you really need a PhD education to advance in your choice of career, then you should not go for PhD. Do not apply for PhD program just because you like to go to school; this is wrong reason. What is next after PhD? Ask yourself this question and try to find a definite answer that suits your career goal, before deciding to apply for PhD.

Hope this article helps.

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As the businesses are more and more global and more companies expand their business operations abroad by Foreign Direct Investment, Joint Venture, and Licensing and so on. The good examples of these companies are McDonalds, Dell Co., Nike, and so on.

How does the top business schools in the country, like Harvard, Wharton School, Standford, MIT Sloan School of business respond to these globalization trends? All of these schools and other top business school in the world - that are accredited by AACSB (Association of Advanced Collegiate School of Business) - are targeting qualified international students across the globe.

Why? the answer is simply that international students can contribute their international cultural and business experience into the classroom. Not only will these benefit the domestic business students, but also the school is benefiting from the increase of graduates recruitment from companies that are constantly seeking qualified business majors with international experience.

Also these top schools usually offer some sort of international business courses (International Business Policy & Strategy, International Finance, International Marketing,etc) in their curriculum. International students would be able to share their own country’s culture and the accepted ways of doing business in their countries; not only this will make the classroom discussion more engaging, but also every students, both domestic and international, will gain these valuable information that they would not otherwise know. Some of these international experiences can not be gained just by reading business books, magazines, magazines, Wall Street Journal and such, since we know that each country has different cultures and ways of conducting business.

For example, China has a term called “Guang Xi,” which means building relationship before conducting business. This explains why McDonald first entry to China failed. In America and most Western country, there is a saying that goes “Business is strictly Business,” which means that we should not mix relationship with business. However, this is not the case in countries like China, Japan, and some other Asian countries, even in some Middle East countries as well.

If you’re thinking of going to business school, look at the percentage of their international students, most top school in the country will have relatively high percentage of international students’ enrollment

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” Try to make the best decision for your own future”. This article will help you choose which school is the best for you. When looking at public or private universities

,
there are many considerations that you should think of before you decide what is the best for you.

1) Academic Reputation

Based on US News, the private universities typically stays in the Top 10 US Rank. Private universities have higher academic reputation compared with public school.

2) Admission

“Public universities are obligated to educate all students” Therefore, public university basically wants to educate people without exception. therefore, the public university’s admission is easier compared with private universities. Private school is more competitive in terms of admission. They select the applicant who has a special talent or GPA.”Private universities does not obligate to educate all students”. So this make private university admission more competitive than public university admission.

3) Cost

Public school is much cheaper than private school one. In Private school both US Resident and International Student have to pay the same amount of tuition. However, in public school, US resident does not pay as much as International Student. International Students pay 4 times higher than US Resident.

Public universities are funded through the state and federal. Whereas Private universities are funded through fund raising, tuition, or donations from many corporations for research and development purpose. Therefore, for International student, private universities cost 6 times higher than public universities. For US Resident, private universities cost 25 times higher than public one.

4) Opportunity in research/study program

Public universities offer more programs such as foreign languages, music, sports, design, etc. However in terms of research, public universities fall behind compared with private universities. Private universities are rich and mostly funded through private grant. therefore, they have more advances in research in terms of their facility and resources. Do you ever think than most NOBEL Prize is achieved from private institution, such as Ricard Feynman from Caltech, John Nash from Princeton Universities, and many other. They are all graduated from private universities.

However, this does not mean that private universities are a lot smarter compared with public universities. This is only the matter of opportunities. Public schools does not enough money to have advance research facilities - The money, resources, and facility are limited to the State budget.

5) Conclusion

There are no right or wrong answer regarding whether private or public schools is the best. The most important thing that when making the decisions, you should consider all the factors above and which one weigh more than the other. Some people are polarized on cost. Others weigh more on the academic reputation. Really, it’s all depending on your choice. Next, How about you?

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The first thing i notice that many students have a problem when it comes to understanding the basic of science. They struggled even with the very basic concept like the concept of temperature and pressure They know only the surface; not dig it into the very base such as where those things come from and how these could happen. Most students just jump to the question and answer it without having the complex thinking. ” Do this and then that happens”. Unlike scientists, students like to think in a simple way rather than critical way. This can be a huge problem and cause average or even below average grade.

Even though simple sometimes works for understanding the concept-people still can graduate and get barely enough GPA-but the true scientists requires more critical thinking - not only you drop the glass and it falls, That’s why many students get a degree and know nothing. Ask yourself ” How much money do I spend in order to pay for tuition to good university?” Don’t you think that it is a waste of your time and money if you only aim for the grade but not the knowledge?

Einstein said, “I am just an average student that is passionately curious about things”. Einstein himself did not get a good grade, but he learned even much more physics than even his former teacher

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