<p>i'm a mechanical engineer at ucla, just a first-year and I was wondering am i supposed to start looking at research or internships or something? I see alot of people doing this but frankly I dont know why and what advantages it provides? can someone educate me on this type of stuff? thanks</p>
<p>Research opportunities and Internships are critical for med school, law school, and particularly grad school. In some cases, having too much research exp and an avg gpa beats the high gpa no exp. Think about it, are you going to spend the rest of your life reading textbooks and taking exams? Most likely, you're going to work in an environment that requires many skills such as networking, personality, iniative, ability...skills that don't have anything to do with reading textbooks. Research opp and internships are like the stepping stones for adapting to the real world.</p>
<p>I feel like internships are critical for employment right out of college. I don't know much about professional schools.</p>