ClickNSmart Team

Are you frustrated because you have a low GPA? Are you struggling with getting good grades in school.
No worry, I have been in your situation before. Now I want to share some success secrets and traits of an A student.

My Success Secrets :
- Time management is crucial;
- Focus, don’t wander around when studying with all the hype social networking sites;
- Study efficiently : read all the reading materials before you do assignments;
- Hard work and persistence.

Some Traits of an A Student:
- Persistence;
- High level of curiosity;
- Hard-working;
- Never give up attitude;
- Like challenges;
- Hardly procrastinate;
- Passionate with the classes.

You may try to follow my success secret tips and pick-up some of the traits above in order to perform better at school and to become an A student.

Good Luck and remember that “Hard Work always pays off at the end“.

Written by ClickNSmart Team

ClickNSmart Team

Best Job Search Sites
Job Search sites have gained a lot of popularity among job seekers in recent time.
There are thousands of career sites on the web, but only a few of them are really good.

What you should know:
1.Before you begin your job hunting, you should refer back to your skill, interest, preferences, and personality.

2.Get an idea of what kind of jobs you want to look for.

3. The more specific in your keyword search, the more targeted the resulting information will be.

Below are the 5 best job search sites:
- CalJobs at www.caljobs.ca.gov
- Campus Career center at www.campuscareercenter.com
- Career Builder at www.careerbuilder.com
- Career Resources Center at www.careers.org
- Hoover’s Online Business Network at www.hoovers.com

” Now, It is your chance to be in touch with thousands of career opportunities”

Written by ClickNSmart Team

ClickNSmart Team

I am writing this article due to many demands from our dear blog readers and also friends of mine who are business majors both undergraduate and graduate students. I I’d like to share my educational background with you all. I am currently an MBA student with a 4.0 GPA concentrating in Finance and Marketing at California State University Long Beach. Is it difficult to get a 4.0 GPA in the top business school? I believe not, in fact any student can get a 4.0 GPA given he/ she follows the right strategy. In this article, I want to share the strategy on how to get a 4.0 GPA in top business schools.

1) Always attends lectures, listens attentively and also participates in the class discussion
If you’re like me, a student with an average IQ, then try not to miss any lecture. In class, you should listen to professors attentively and engage in class discussion

2) Don’t just read the textbook! Try to relate the textbook concepts to real business world events/ experiences
As business students, you need to constantly read Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Bloomberg (for Finance majors), and other business periodicals. This way, you can relate any concepts you learn from textbook or from class lectures to real business events that are going on real-time.

3) Work in groups to solve case study/ homework and to prepare for exams
Business students, unlike other majors, should work in groups to discuss any case studies or to study for exams. In the real business world, managers usually work in teams to solve company problems, so you better get used to work in groups. In addition, working in groups enables you to see other people’s point-of-view/ approach to problem solving that can help expand your knowledge.

So, the good thing is that there are only 3 things-to-do that can help you achieve that dream GPA (4.0). Having a 4.0 GPA in top business school opens up many career opportunities once you graduate. In addition, during your college year, you can potentially receive many scholarships. During my stay in the MBA program at California State University Long Beach, I have received numerous scholarships, which sum up to $10,000. Not only I am able to use this scholarship to pay for my college tuition, but I can also be a full time student without needing to work part-time to earn extra money. Good Luck and Be Confident that you can also achieve the same success.

Written by ClickNSmart Team

ClickNSmart Team

Got frustrated? Got confused for bad grades and low GPA? Do not abandon your dreams of becoming an engineer, scientist, medical doctor, MBA’s, accountant, computer programmer, etc.

I have a Bachelor degree in Mathematics and a Material Engineering Master degree from UCLA, and also an MBA degree from California State University, Long Beach. I want to share some of my tips for solving problems:
1) Read the problem carefully;
2) Think of any physical example of the problem that relates to your day-to-day experience;
3) Do the easy problems first and re-do examples from textbook and lecture notes;
4) After you do the problem, ask yourself a question: Does my answer make any sense at all? If not, what’s wrong with it? By answering these questions in your head, you will sometimes uncover new concept. This is the key to success in problem solving.
5) Do group study with your classmates and go to Professor’s Office hours to ask for help if necessary

What are the traits of an A student?
1. Persistence;
2. High level of curiosity;
3. Hard-working;
4. Never give up attitude;
5. Likes challenges;
6. Study diligently;
7. Hardly procrastinate;
8. Passionate with his/her classes.

Written by ClickNSmart Team

ClickNSmart Team

I want to share and recommend some courses you must absolutely have to take in college before graduation. Employers like to see job applicants with skills gained from the following courses:

1) Interpersonal Communication
Many colleges and universities offer this course under Speech & Communication department and other colleges include this course in the business administration curriculum. By taking interpersonal communication course, you can gain “soft communication skill” that many employers look for. Those of you who major in science and engineering major, you may think that this course is a waste of time, but this course will give you a competitive edge over other science and engineering graduates who have only “hard science engineering skill”, but cannot communicate effectively in a group setting. Other major also need interpersonal communication course as well. Being able to communicate effectively with your colleague, your manager and your boss is very important in the following cases: asking for a pay raise, work in a team, giving a presentation during company’s meeting, etc.

2) Basic/ Principle of Accounting
Almost all colleges and universities offer this basic accounting course. This course is important for your personal and career. For your personal life, this course will teach you how to budget your money and expenses so that you can control your financial future. For your career, this course will teach you how to evaluate your company’s financial health. If you can read financial statements of your company before you actually work for the company, then you will know whether it’s a “Healthy” company or not. What I mean is that you better know if your company will soon go bankrupt or will layoffs many people anytime soon because they don’t have enough money.
Of course, you want to work for “Healthy” company in order to build your career with the company. Those of you “would-be entrepreneur”, you absolutely need this course because the top reason of most failed start-ups is due to financial mismanagement (i.e. not enough money/cash to operate)

3) Introduction to Statistic
Almost all universities and colleges offer a course in statistic. This course not only will teach you quantitative skill you need for the job, but also it will be useful if you work in many areas such as: finance (financial forecasting), marketing (market research), engineering, operations management, computer science, and also “Gambling” as well. No doubt that in the finance area, forecasting methods are all derived from statistics; in the marketing area, you will use statistical knowledge to interpret market research data; if you’re a professional gambler, no doubt that you have to master statistics.

Taking all three courses above will give you a good combination of the following skills: Soft skill (Interpersonal Communication), Quantitative skill (Introductory Statistics), and Business skill (Basic Accounting). If you master all these 3 skills in addition to your major courses, then you will have a competitive advantage to get a job by the time you graduate from college.

Written by ClickNSmart Team
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ClickNSmart Team

“Can I get a 4.0 GPA and also a girlfriend at the same time?” This is a question that most of us as a student will ask. Most of the time, we meet a smart student in our class, but he or she does not have a girlfriend or a boyfriend since what he/ she does is mostly just studying; this kind of person may lack social intelligence as he or she does not socialize much with others. However, occasionally we meet a student with 4.0 GPA who is currently dating; now, this is very special and we want to know “What’s the secret to this student success?”

I had a chance to interview 5 of my friends, whom I consider geniuses from universities like UCLA, Harvard, Columbia and UC Berkeley, about the secret to their success in maintaining a 4.0 GPA and in maintaining a romantic dating relationship. Below is the summary of their secrets:

1) Time management is crucial - you need to schedule when to study and also when to spend time with your boyfriend or girlfriend, for example: maybe you study and finish all your homework during weekdays and spend the weekend with your boyfriend or girlfriend.

2) Focus, Don’t wander around when studying! - with all the hype of social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, some students may get distracted and lose concentration when studying and  update their social network account simultaneously. You need to know when to seriously concentrate studying and when to take a break. It is perfectly okay to login to your social network account after you finish studying.

3) Study Efficiently - It sounds like a common sense, but many student missed this point. You should read all of the lecture and reading materials first, before you attempting to do your assignments. If you get stuck, seek help from your teacher, professors or classmates. This will save a lot of your time.

4) Communicate Often everyday - It is important to communicate to your boyfriend or girlfriend often everyday. Brief communication via text message, twitter, phone call, or other media can signal that you care about your partner. Notice that often does not meat excessive; excessive contact may distract your study and also bother your partner as well.

5) Have Faith and Trust your partner - this maybe difficult in the early stage of dating relationship; however, it is extremely important that you trust your partner. Jealousy can creates conflicts. Resolving conflicts can consume a lot of your time and thus affecting your performance at school as well. Point number 4 above “Communicate often” can help to build trust and faith in your dating relationship.

I have shared with you all of my friend’s tactics. Hopefully this article will motivate and answer some of your questions and doubts about getting good grades and maintaining a dating relationship simultaneously.

ClickNSmart Team

ClickNSmartTeam

How can an average student ever get a perfect 4.0 G.P.A? How can I earn good grades for all of my classes? Well the good news is that it is possible for an average student to earn good grades and thus also earn the perfect 4.0 G.P.A that every student is dreaming about. Today with hard economic times and lots of unemployed people, graduating from schools/ universities with an average G.P.A is not enough to get you an entry level job. When you’re graduating nowadays, you may be competing with 100,000 applicants (undergraduate, graduate students, and experienced unemployed professionals) nationwide for a single job opening. So the questions will be “How am I going to differentiate myself among the crowd to get hired?” I would say that work experience is no longer enough, since there are many of unemployed experienced job applicants are hunting for jobs. Graduating from a reputable universities may give you an edge, but a 4.0 G.P.A certainly distinguish your resume among the crowd especially if combined with some related work experience and related academic background.

To get a 4.0 G.P.A you don’t need to be a genius. In fact, all you need are hard-work and persistence. The difference between a genius/ smart students and an average student is that it may takes shorter amount of study time for a smart student to get an A, whereas it may take a longer study time for an average student to get an A. What matters is that you get an A and thus that 4.0 G.P.A at the end of the quarter or semester. Of course you need to make tradeoffs if you’re an average student wanting to get a 4.0 G.P.A; tradeoffs such as: studying hard over the weekend instead of partying, listen to class lectures attentively, be actively participate in class discussion, read textbook/ class materials ahead of the schedule, and so on. A 4.0 student has a clear objective (e.g. get an A) and always relentlessly work hard to earn his/her objective by the end of the term.

Don’t trust people that say you can’t get a 4.0 G.P.A! They’re just telling you a lie. Anyone can get a 4.0 G.P.A and there is no secret formula in getting that perfect grades. The key elements, as we all know, are HARD WORK and PERSISTENCE. Recently I conduct interviews with many top executives enrolled in the Executive MBA programs at my school. Almost all of these executives agree on one point, “A student with a 4.0 G.P.A shows courage, hard-work ethics and intelligence; these attributes are what we’re essentially looking for when hiring new employees.”

Written by ClickNSmart Team

4 STAR* refer to students who get many 4.0 GPA’s. I always wonder what’s on the mind of these amazing students, what moves them, and of course some study tips from them will be nice. So I want to make some interview with them. Next is Mr. Jefery Kusnadi, my best friend and a writer for this blog (we don’t make this up, honest).

Jefery Kusnadi is attended UCLA for his undergraduate where he graduated with highest honor in Applied Mathematics/Phyics. He is now attending California State University Long Beach to earn his Master in Business Administration (M.B.A). By now (4/26/2010), he receives 4.0 G.P.A during his first year MBA having taken an average of 6 courses per semester. He is a recipient of a Phoenix scholarship (USD 4000) two years in a row in 2009 and 2010 and also he is currently representing CSULB MBA team to compete in the International Business Strategy Competition in San Diego on April 2009.

Me: Please tell us a little more about yourself Jefery

JK: As an international student from Indonesia, I grew up and attended schools up to senior High School in Indonesia. As a kid I was never like studying, in fact the only 2 subjects that I “studied” are mathematics and physics; I spent most of my time in the field playing basketball. Basketball was my life and my childhood dream was to get into UCLA and played on their basketball team. Well, only part of this comes true, which is getting into UCLA part, but the other one goes unfulfilled.

Me: What do you found so different between the system here and Indonesia?

JK: In Indonesia, you learn how to look at a subject from the textbook and to take lots of exams. During my times, there were shortages of qualified teachers. In fact, even in the physical education, my teacher was trying to teach us play basketball, but turns out he called me to teach “practical” basketball in the field instead; however I travelled back to Indonesia one and half year ago, the education system is much better now. In America, one thing I notice is that you need to “learn by doing” meaning that the instructor/ professors often challenge us to think “outside the box” not only based on the textbook; therefore, the learning process comes not from the exams, but by actually “working” in the projects.

Me: From your scholarship and GPA, I think you’ve done it really well so far. What do you think is the key of your success?

JK: Thank you, but I would not consider myself as being successful yet. But if there’s anything to share, I would advise “Don’t worry making a mistake. Be persistent in pursuing your goal.” Most of the time, I learned a lesson the hard way (making lots of mistakes). Some people are afraid of failure and making a mistake, but this is part of the learning process and success in life.  Other thing is that “Try to do more than you have done today.” If you always do more, then you will make an efficient use of your time. I always study more than my instructor assigned me to do, for example: in my international business class, we were assigned to state the challenges of doing business internationally; I was not only searching on the possible challenges, but also go ahead and apply my findings into a specific country, Indonesia, and find out whether foreign companies doing business in Indonesia are actually facing these challenges.

Me: It is easier said than done though, how do you manage your time?

JK: Right now, I am in the middle of these activities: doing research in Marketing “What role does Second Life, Facebook, MySpace and other social media play in building a company’s brand”, preparing for the international business competition, and also starting up a company. I mean it’s a tough thing to do all at once; however, somehow by cutting most of my leisure times and allocate these times for work, I can still manage to make progress in all these activities.

Me:  Tell me more about the International Business Competition that you are involved currently? How proud are you having to represent your school in this event?

JK: Well, to tell you the truth, I am nervous about this competition. Last year, our school won the second place in the competition. The competition is a simulation game competition, in which more than 40 business schools from the United States, Canada, China, Japan, Europe, Saudi Arabia, India and other countries are participating. Each time is assigned to manage a company that operates in both United States and one of the foreign operations (Asia, Latin America, or Eastern Europe). The winning criteria is judged based on the quarterly managerial decisions and how profitably the company is at the end of the game.

Me: Is there any study tips you’d like to share to other students, in particular since you have studied both science and business?

JK: When you work on homework, try to do it yourself first, before you look up other student’s answer for comparison. Go to office hours and ask lots of questions for clarification when you have done reading textbooks and lecture notes; you never know if you missed any concept unless you ask questions to your professors, TA’s and classmates. Try to get together for group study after you do your individual study; this works very well for me since group study requires us teaching each other in the group and the best way to test whether you know the material is by teaching others.

Me: Now, what advise would you give to students interested in getting their MBA?

JK: Ask yourself, “What Good an MBA will do for you?” If you can not answer this question, then I would suggest that after finishing your undergraduate, go find a job to work in any field you’re interested in, doesn’t have to be related to business. In fact, almost 45% of my classmates in MBA, like me, do not have any business background at all. In an MBA, you will find most of the teachings are more relevant when you have some sort of full time work experiences; this way you can better relate the business lessons to what you have done or are currently doing. Also, an MBA is not a guarantee for success; after all, Bill Gates of Microsoft, Richard Branson of Virgin, Sergey Brin and Larry Page of Google, and many successful entrepreneurs do not have an MBA degree. So before you commit yourself into expensive tuition, you better know what you can get out of an MBA education.

Me: Just out of curiosity, do you have a girlfriend?

JK: haha.. (he chuckles) I am actually in a relationship with a girl, whom I met at UCLA. We have been dating almost 2 year now. She gives me lots of motivation and comforts when times get tough.

Me:Thanks for you time to share with us Jefery.

JK: “You’re welcome. I am glad to be able to share my experience to others.”

That is all everyone, a glimpse of Jefery Kusnadi, our second 4.*, a very hard working students with many achievements but yet he keeps a low profile.

I hope you like the tips and I hope his stories inspire you. What did you guys think? Which part of the interview ‘touched’ you? Is there some questions that are unanswered? Ask me, I’ll ask Jefery when I met his again later. There is no login required to leave a comment

Written by ClickNSmart Team

How many of you guys are having a G.P.A of 4.0?

How many of you ever get some sort of scholarship?

How many of you have both 4.0 G.P.A and also receive scholarship?

Excellent student are a group of motivated and passionate students; as a result, it is no wonder that many of these students score high on their exams, have a perfect 4.0 G.P.A and also get scholarship during their academic career. 

I would say that if you’re clever and have not yet received scholarship, you should try to search and apply for one; the reasons being, why not apply for free money to pay for your tuition and other expenses if what you need to do is just write a compelling personal statement that genuinely show about who you are, what you have accomplished, and what you will be doing that will make meaning in other people’s life. If you think you get all these qualifications, I think you should start to look for scholarship available both inside your school or from outside sources. The truth is that there are many scholarship for residents and non-residents out there that are available every year. Ironically sometimes, the scholarship donor do not give scholarship funds to anyone not because of lack of qualified students, but rather there are not many people are applying to these scholarship.

I would like to share my experience in having a both 4.0 G.P.A and receive a scholarship fund of 4,000 USD as a graduate student pursuing Master in Business Administration. Having not only good grades, but also actively involved in the volunteering activities in various non-profit organization helps in crafting a compelling essay for scholarship applications. Such volunteering activities includes, but not limited to, the followings:

- Become a Student Leader Representative in the International Student Inc (ISI Orange Country Branch), a non-profit organization with a mission to introduce American cultures to international students; . I have been involving in this organization for 5 years already, and now my current position in the ISI is Student Representative Leader, in which I am responsible for giving counsel and advice in planning activities for international students with leadership team. 

- Volunteering in tutoring College students and High School students in mathematics and physics every Sunday evening; 

- Mentoring young K-12 students that want to pursue higher education, such as: going to universities and pursuing graduate education or professional school.

-etc..

In my case, I wrote in my scholarship application that using this scholarship money, I will pay for my school tuition so that later after graduating, I can make meaning in other’s people lives. This is what a success in life meant for me; this is the kind of quality that most Excellent students are striving to achieve. The motto of Excellent student is “Hard work and follow your passion in pursuit of excellence and success.”

For more information about how passion can drive success, you can check the following articles:

http://mathforsuccess.clicknsmart.com/?p=145

My advice is: “Start looking for many scholarship opportunities out there and apply for one that is most suitable for yours. In addition, work hard at school and volunteer in your spare time to make meaning in other people lives. My guess is that if you do all these, then success is not far away from your reach.”

Written by ClickNSmart Team

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Many people talk about whether or not it is important to get a 4.0 G.P.A in school. While getting a 4.0 G.P.A at school and being recognized as a valedictorian (highest honor) on the graduation ceremony, can be self-rewarding; however, in the school of real world, it is generally not required.

What do I mean by getting a 4.0 G.P.A at the school of real world?

School of real world is the environment in which we are all living after we leave school (after graduation). At this environment, we work to fulfill our daily needs. All of us went to school to become successful in the real world; a success in the real world setting is what I meant by getting a 4.0 G.P.A in the school of real world.

Several distinction between REAL WORLD vs School:

1) Grade Report Vs. Credit Report

In school (universities/college), we students are judged (by other students, professors and our parents) as smart or not by our grade report; however, in real world, we are judged (by our bankers that lends us money and other people we interact with during the course of our life) by our credit report. If we have good credit history then we can easily borrow money from the bank to buy cars, houses, etc. Success (4.0 G.P.A) in real world often directly related to a good credit history

2) There is no professors/ teachers and no classroom in the school of real world

People learn from past mistakes and learn from their colleagues/mentors (or even their parents) in order to be successful in the school of real world. Do not expect other people teach you on a regular basis like what our professors do usually in the classroom. The exams are usually events in your life that requires decision making process. The homework is personal development process to get better and gain more knowledge day-by-day.

3) Real World is very competitive

Universities will not terminate students unless students severely violate the universities regulations. Real world terminates people all the time (even with no apparent reason sometimes). For example, we see many people get terminated from their jobs due to the economic downturn, which has nothing to do at all with the persons ‘work’ performance.

4) 4.0 G.P.A at school Vs. 4.0 G.P.A in Real world

Many people know that 4.0 G.P.A at school means getting all A’s in all classes. However, 4.0 in real world means being successful (however people define success is). Some people may define success as making lots of money; some people define success as fulfilling their dreams/goals; others may define success differently.

There are many books out there that teaches you about how to become successful in the real world; however, below I have tips gathered from many advices from my mentor, parents and previous employers who are all getting a 4.0 in the real world:

1) Learn from your past mistakes and do not repeat in the same mistake in the future;

2) Read many newspapers to get updated about what’s going on in the world;

3) Get a work experience and gain some hands-on practical knowledge;

4) Find a mentor and ask for guidance and advices;

5) Network and build connection through joining organizations and other means of networking;

6) Commitment to a continuing education (your education should not stop after you graduate; many successful people continually keep up and polish their knowledge and skill sets to stay competitive in the marketplace);

7) Lastly, HAVE FUN in whatever you do (this makes you a productive person);

Good luck and let’s work hard together to get a 4.0 G.P.A in the school of real world.

Written by ClickNSmart Team