ClickNSmart Team

GRE or GMAT score can be very important to improve your chance of admission to graduate school. A GRE test is usually required if you want to apply to most graduate programs, whereas a GMAT test is required by almost all top Business Schools in the country. A low GPA and a higher than average score on GRE or GMAT test score can increase your chance for graduate school admission. The ideal case is a combination of high GPA ( >3.5) and high GRE or GMAT score. Top universities like UCLA, Harvard, Standford require high GRE or GMAT score and high GPA. Some of my classmates with a relatively high GPA were not admitted to top graduate schools just because of a low GRE/GMAT score. This is so sad. GRE/GMAT test is not as easy as SAT or TOEFL test. I took one myself and got a high score on the GRE test. A combination of average GPA and high GRE scores got me into M.S. in Material Engineering program at Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, UCLA. I want to share my success experience with you all.

Below are some advices on the GRE/GMAT test preparation:

1. You should train yourself with adequate GRE/GMAT preparation. You will be confident taking the test when you are fully trained yourself. Confidence will make a difference in your test score. That’s true!

2. Get GRE/GMAT practice tests inside the GRE/GMAT preparation book and spend lots of time to practice ( ~ 4 hours a day).If you have a discipline and motivation to prepare, you will be ready for the test.

3. You should practice at least 5 months before the test day. Last minute preparation does not work for GRE/GMAT test. A lot of my friends start study 2 months before the test and they all get low score. My experience, I started 4-5 months before and got a really good score. Practice! Practice!

4. Good preparation book is very important. Some of the test question will be similar with the book. Not all the books are helpful. The three preparation books I’ve used are: Kaplan, Official GRE/ GMAT prep book, and Barron.

Suggestion: study really hard, be confident, and prepare ahead of time.

Written by ClickNSmart Team

ClickNSmart Team

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.

Written by ClickNSmart Team

ClickNSmart Team

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.

Written by ClickNSmart Team

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.

ClickNSmart Team

If you are looking for a job internship, here’s are the following to-do-lists you should prepare:

1) Prepare a resume in advance
If you need help in preparing a resume, here’s an article about tips on writing a good resume http://mathforsuccess.clicknsmart.com/2009/06/resume-writing-tips-for-recent-graduates/

2) Go to career center at your university
Make an appointment with a career counselor and discuss about your interests and the kind of job internship you’re looking for. In addition, don’t forget to ask for career advices to your counselor. Some universities allow their students to have access to the online career center, so take advantage of this opportunity.

3) Sign up for career-related workshops
There are many career workshops available throughout the semesters, so be sure to attend these workshops: resume writing workshop, job-search workshop, etc.

4) Go to Career Fair
You should attend all career fairs available both on-campus and off-campus because the more company representatives you meet and talk, the greater the chance for you to get an internship. In addition, networking with company representatives may also help you secure a full time job offer once you graduate.

5) Use the Internet for job search
There are many career websites such as: Monster, CareerBuilder, LinkedIn, and others that you should explore. Nowadays, more and more employers are hiring many qualified applicants via online because it’s less expensive to do so. Therefore, you should also use online career sites when looking for an internship.

Good Luck and Be Confident that you will get an internship.

Written by ClickNSmart Team

ClickNSmart Team

Life as an undergraduate is more organize than life as a grad student. As a grad student, hours spent in the classroom is much less, but research work is greatly increased. Good life as an undergraduate, such as joining sorority or fraternity, everyday party, and so on are long gone. Laboratory becomes your new home. Even though grad student has more workload compared to undergrad student, you will find your own excitement by doing something that you like. Be creative with your idea! You don’t need to study and follow the textbook, just do research you like about, get the result and then “Boom” (publish the paper and patent your result).

Graduate school gives you a new life and freedom. Graduate school is flexible and free. You can come anytime to the laboratory. Most people spend their time to do research around 8 hours. However, I spend an average of 12 hours/ day during weekdays and zero hour in the weekend (i.e. Have fun over the weekend!). Research is not easy. you need to be patient and work hard. You don’t always get what you want. Don’t be afraid of failing! Learning from failure is the best learning method possible.

In terms of courses, grad classes are flexible. On average you just need to take 9 - 12 classes. But the professors (and your research adviser) have high expectation on graduate students, unlike undergraduates. You really need to have more study hours for every class. No teaching assistant and sometimes no office hours available. A grad student is totally independent. They need to self-study and use your knowledge for your research. The basic idea to take class so you can use your knowledge(theory) for research purpose.

The Key : Research and Publish !!!

ClickNSmart Team

ClickNSmart Team

Going to college is becoming more and more expensive today than ever before. College education is also becoming more important than ever before as most high-paying jobs require applicants to have some college education in their resume. If you’re coming from a wealthy family, Congratulations! Your parent will pay for your college tuition and you don’t have to worry about choosing to go to public university or private university anymore because either way, you’re covered! However, if you’re like most of us that come from an average income family, then you need to find a way to pay for your college tuition. Below are some popular ways that students finance their own education:

1) Apply for Scholarships - It’s surprising that students sometimes do not take advantages of various university-sponsored scholarships or private-sponsored scholarships available to them. Go look for scholarships available at your college or university. Best way is to go to your school’s website and enter “Scholarship” in the search bar. This will direct you to various link related to scholarship search.

2) Work Part-time - some students choose to work in-school due to time-flexibility, whereas others choose to work outside for slightly higher pay. Either way, some sort of part-time work is popular among students to get additional income to pay day-to-day expenses. It would be great if you can work full-time while going to college in the evening simultaneously; however, some students may feel overwhelmed.

3) Apply for Government Grants or Financial Aids - Depending on the states of your residency, you may qualify for different government grants or financial aids. For example, in California residents with average GPA are qualified for CalGrants; however currently California cut significantly CalGrants due to state budget problem.

4) Apply for Student Loan - I put this the last option since student loan is one type of loan that is almost unforgivable, meaning it will accumulate during your lifetime until you pay it off; moreover, even if you declare bankruptcy, this student loan will stay with you. Some student loans, not all, are forgivable if you join some type of non-profit organizations like Peace Corp, Red Cross, etc. However, you should really consider your option before borrowing from student loan.

We hope that you find this article helpful when you are thinking of some ways to finance your college education.

ClickNSmart Team

ClickNSmart Team

Have you ever wondered and tell yourself ” I am a busy professional and work all day long; I have a family and kids at home and I don’t have time to continue my education even if I want to.”

Nowadays, you can continue your education while keeping your full time job. One advantage of continuing your education is that you maybe able to get promotion and a salary hike from your company. Many of the top universities offer distance learning programs that are designed for a busy professional like you. Many of these online degree programs can be completed in anywhere (from home or work) and anytime at your convenience.

The purpose of this program is to enabled employed businessman, engineers, and other professionals to enrich their knowledge beyond the bachelor education level. This program is designed for high qualified employee, who do not attend the on campus MBA or Master of Science education yet still have interests in the learning cutting edge knowledge in business and technology.

There are two prestigious online programs offered by the TOP universities like University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Columbia University of New York. Students in both of these programs have the same equivalence educational rigor and experience as with their on campus counterparts. The transcript degree will read as Master of Science degree and will have no “online designation”.

Written by ClickNSmart Team

ClickNSmart Team

When choosing a major, we often think about which major will earn the most money. According to the university survey 2009, “Financial Engineering, Industrial Engineering, and MBA”  are among student’s top excellent choices for earning lots of money after graduation. But which one provides the highest Return on Education Investment (ROEI) among the three majors above. They  are all business-related; however they are very different in terms of the scope of education. The details are as follows:

1) Financial Engineering

This field of study involves Finance, method of engineering and applied mathematics, and  also computer programming practice. This major provides training for students who want to get a job in banking, financial management,consulting,corporate treasury,  corporate finance, and/or investment banking.

2) Industrial Engineering

Industrial engineers design and improve a method that provides goods and services for the society. One needs to be aware of information issues in the system improvement include people, material, information, and energy. After graduation, student may get a job as production engineer, supply chain manager, operational analyst, information system. Industrial engineering  broad curriculum may provide ample opportunity for a diverse  job opening in any for-profit company,goverment, service enterprise that want to  improve operation system and decrease cost. Basically, Industrial Engineering deals with System and Information.

3) MBA

MBA study focus on leadearship  and management within ever growing and changing world of business. Students in an MBA program will get the leadership  and management skills in business and beyond. Many MBA program geared students toward critical thinking instead of technical stuff.  Depending on the business school, an MBA student may choose to specialize in the following areas: general management, information system, finance, accounting, international business, human resources, and healtcare management.

www.indeed.com

Average Salary 2009

Now, It’s your choice to decide your own major. Please write a comment what do you think?

Written by ClickNSmart Team

ClickNSmart Team

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.

Written by ClickNSmart Team