<p>To Potential, Current, and Past Students from UCR:</p>
<p>To Potential, Current, and Past Students from UCR:</p>
<p>I graduated from UCR in 2006 and will be matriculating into the MBA program at USC Marshall School of Business this fall. </p>
<p>I wanted to share with everyone my experience going through the graduate school applications process as a UCR Grad. </p>
<p>A little about myself:</p>
<p>I graduated from UCR as a Business Administration Major and Poli. Sci Minor. Decent grades and pretty active in the school (clubs, Career Center, Greek Life, Internships). After graduation I immediately got a job in a management trainee program at a large company and have been there since. (To those graduating now: i graduated at the tail end of the peak of new hiring at major American corporations and I know that the job market now is nowhere near what it used to be.) </p>
<p>When thinking of UCR, have SCOPE. In the eyes of most people in the country (especially outside of CA) and graduate admissions board, UCR is on the same level as every UC except UCLA and CAL. I recently got into the MBA programs at USC, Northwestern, Columbia, Pepperdine, Cornell, UCLA (WL), and Georgetown and no one cared where I did my undergrad. (Obviously business schools take a holistic look at an applicant but from my Med School and Law School friends, they tell me quality of undergrad institution does not matter) With that being said, your experience at UCR will be what you make of it. I truly feel that the resources, faculty, and campus UCR provides is great, if you take advantage of them. If you choose to put your head down because you feel inferior due to the insitution you attend and look to transfer every year, you are wasting some potentially precious years of your life. Whi</p>
<p>In case of UCR Business and Med majors. Embrace the school and its resources. I can tell you that I got into some of my MBA programs because the institutions I applied to liked that fact that I did well in Business Classes (only CAL and UCR have undergrad business administraion degrees). And for the Med students, of all the programs UCR has, the Health Sciences are what they are known for. Be proud of that. </p>
<p>The “ranking” of the undergraduate institution you attend is a very low predictor of how successful you will be. What you accomplish during that 4-5 years of your life is much more important. The only way UCR’s reputation will rise is if current students and graduates represent the school with pride and not be so insecure to let other people dictate their value of their education. In the MBA application process I have met people who studied at the gamut of American Universitites and realized that there are smart and dumb people everywhere. I am not a “rare” UCR Grad that has done well after graduating. I have friends and know of alumni who are at some of the best Med, Law, Business, Education, Engineering, etc. graduate schools in the country. </p>
<p>At the end of the day I am very proud of graduating from UCR. It gave me the tools and the opportunities to succeed during and after school. I made some amazing friends and had great memories. It is also great to know that I have no school debt and the ivy league grads and others at the same grad program I am in will still be $xx,xxx amount of debt. : )</p>
<p>Cheers,</p>
<p>USC MBA
UCR Alumni</p>
<p>good for you!
thanks for sharing.
i agree with you.</p>
<p>Thank you, UCR already has offered me an apartment before half my friends have even got their acceptance letters from the other UC’s . I like to plan ahead , far ahead . When the Cal-states have SIR deadlines of May 1st , April 30th is way to late to know if you’ll be accepted into your school of choice . </p>
<p>Anyway, since I’m a poli-sci major I’ll have to do graduate school( I’ll try to go straight to PHD after my B.A. ) , so a UC will look great for grad school .</p>
<p>Congrats and thanks for sharing. I love UCR a lot and I’m just glad to be a part of the UCR family.</p>
<p>Since you’re a business major, did the school provide you with connections you needed to get that first job and internships etc.?
How would you say the outlook is for someone graduating today in business administration from UCR, is it quite competitive to earn a job considering other universities around, do employers like that you are a graduate of business administration at UCR?</p>
<p>I would not say that UCR handed me any connections, but did however provide the opportunities for me to take advantage of.</p>
<p>Obviously, the economical climate is different now than in 2006 when I graduated but here are a few tips:</p>
<p>1) use the career center! Get to know the people and the companies that come on campus. I had too many friends that would complain about the lack of employment opportunities but when I asked them if they had been to the Career Center, they would say no.</p>
<p>2) Go to the job fairs! I believe they have one or two a year. Dress nice, come up with a 30 sec commercial to sell yourself, and bring tons of clean resumes.</p>
<p>3) Join organizations. It can be a business fraternity or the American Marketing Association. Those avenues provide multiple outlets to employment and are resume builders.</p>
<p>4) Intern. Sure, jobs are scarce, but I don’t know many companies that would turn down free work. Internships lead to jobs and at worse, they are a resume booster.</p>
<p>5) Start your career search early! Don’t think college is going to last forever and you can wait till the last minute to look. </p>
<p>6) Follow Up! Follow Up! Follow Up! You want something, go get it.</p>
<p>In conclusion, think of the job search as a competition. Lets say there are 100 open spots and 1000 applicants. What are you going to do to beat out those other 900 applicants? If you don’t have the grades, you better be a personable individual who can market and sell. If you got the grades, but no experience or personality, you better be able to prove that your quantitative skills and intellectual capacity can translate to the real business world.</p>
<p>UCR will provide the opportunity but be fair warned that you have to do most of the work and follow up. Also, take into account that most of the jobs may be regional to the IE. UCR is not a CAL or ivy league where companies from all over the country go recruit. Most of the employment opportunities may be local. So, if you want that nice job in your home area…like I did… you have to work harder. When I graduated I had 5 job offers, three of which were local. Merrill Lynch in the Palm Springs office, Glaxo Smith and Kline in San Bernardino, and New York Life in San Bernardino.</p>
<p>How would you compare the programs of USC and UCR? I know that one is undergrad level and the other graduate level for you, but I’m interested on what you think of both and their quality</p>
<p>I would definitely say there is somewhat of a difference between a private school and a public school. I have just started at USC and already I can say that the alumni support, faculty, and overall student body is more enthusiastic and giving. With that being said, SC is probably Top 5 in the nation in regards to those categories so it is definitely a skewed spectrum.</p>
<p>In terms of quality of academics I would have to go through some more of my MBA program before I can give a proper evaluation. However, I can say that the curriculum, texts, and faculty at UCR in business administration were top notch. Many professors were SC, UCLA, CAL, Ivy League MBAs and PHDs. You can be rest assured that the way they teach business at UCR is no different than any other institution in America (except maybe at Wharton or Stern in NYU). Those two programs are just notches above any other undergrad business program. </p>
<p>Have fun at UCR and get involved. Career Center, clubs, greek organizations. They will help you land that job and fill out that ever so important resume!</p>
<p>how many years of work experience did you have prior to getting in USC Marshall?</p>
<p>I’m going into Business Admin at UCR and thinking about doing my Masters in Business Taxation at USC. Do the SoBA advisors help with getting into a Masters program at a private school like USC?</p>
<p>I had 4 and a half years of work experience. All at the same company. </p>
<p>I don’t know about what the SoBA advisers do to help with Grad school. I am sure USC being a Private School would not matter.
I do know that the masters of taxation program at SC is pretty popular and I have spoken to a couple of professors that crossover and teach at the MBA and they are very good teachers. </p>
<p>Nothing against the UC program but if anyone is considering a Masters Program, I would highly consider going to a private school in this day and age. Especially in CA.</p>
<p>i thought UCs are supposed to prepare students to go to grad school since they are UCs. What’s different about private schools?</p>
<p>Here’s a question I’ve had for a while:</p>
<p>When applying to grad schools, did you have any of your past professors at UCR write a letter of rec from you? I’m currently a senior, about to graduate in December in Business Admin. I do have a couple of professors as contacts but by the time I apply to grad schools in 3-4 years, quite frankly, I don’t know if they’d be able to help me or not.</p>
<p>Just curious how you went about that process. Did you need past professors from UCR to write letters of recs or were your bosses from your place of employment all that you really needed?</p>
<p>Thanks and congrats on SC</p>
<p>@linoch - i don’t quite understand your question. UCs and private schools are supposed to help you graduate and move on to higher learning, a job, etc. The resources available should be the same. The quality of the resources is another story. </p>
<p>@houshyomamma - It never hurts to get a recommendation from your professor. Especially if you have a strong relationship with one and he/she will vouch for your academic prowess. With that being said, all my recs to grad school were professional recommendations from Supervisors and Peers. If you want to go to business school, you will need 3. You can definitely use a academic recommendation for one of those three but if you have successfully worked well for the last 3-4 years after graduation, chances are you will have stronger work relationships. But like I said, get what you can now to start branding yourself and building your own “personal portfolio”. You never now when you are applying for a scholarship, promotion, organization, when you need a teachers rec. </p>
<p>Hope that helps!</p>
<p>Sorry if you didn’t understand my question. I should’ve rephrased it a little better.</p>
<p>“The resources available should be the same. The quality of the resources is another story.”
I was wondering how they are different in terms of quality of resources.</p>
<p>USC and most private schools have a stronger alumni network. If you look at the Universities with the Top Endowments, it is no surprise that all of the top schools are private schools. </p>
<p>Part of the reason why there is such a strong alumni connection at private schools is bc there is a culture of school pride and involvement. The Career Center/ Alumni Organizations on campus know that if they invest the time to make you successful during your undergrad experience and once you graduate, the more likely you will give back to the school later on.</p>
<p>The UCs don’t really take that approach. They are at the core, a research based institution that generally focuses on grants and pure academics. That is why they don’t offer the resources that a USC may offer. Hence the whole UC system only has a endowment of 6billion. </p>
<p>For example: When I was a Bus Ad undergrad at UCR, the career center, school counselors, business clubs, local businesses, etc. rarely contacted me directly for opportunities. </p>
<p>I have been at SC for three months and literally everyday, i get a alumni job posting, a internship opportunity, a career center event, a alumni fundraising charity, etc.
The school just spends more money on the people and curriculum to reach out to their students to make them successful after he/she graduates.</p>
<p>Don’t worry though. The resources at UCR are quite capable of helping you get to where you want to be. You just have to go after them and be proactive about it.</p>
<p>thanks for the info USCMBA 
and good luck at USC!</p>
<p>“When I graduated I had 5 job offers…Merrill Lynch in the Palm Springs office.” </p>
<p>-Good thing you didn’t put all your eggs in that sinking ship.</p>
<p>@dcagle</p>
<p>I totally agree. So happy I didn’t go into finance. ML was in trouble back in 2006 when I interviewed.</p>
<p>Now, I am facing the same atmosphere in Bschool. So many top MBA students fighting for the same openings in the big IB, PE, VC, and hedge fund firms. </p>
<p>Finance is definitely lucrative but so volatile and cut throat. Plus, to make any serious money in Finance, one is going to have to move east sooner than later.</p>