If you have recently been accepted into a business program or are still trying for a spot at a school of business, you may have realized the extent to which electronics are needed. Not only do most business programs officially require laptop computers and advanced calculators, many make life without a smart phone or other devices nearly impossible. These ten gadgets will certainly improve your day to day affairs as a student of business.

1. EPOS Digital Pen

This is the new, more convenient type of USB flash drive. The handy tool combines digital pen with USB flash drive to create a writing tool that records trace movements into the USB flash drive, freeing you from the hassle of keeping track of paper notes.

2.Apple  iPod

Okay, so most current students and prospective students already possess an iPod or some other type of mp3 player. If you don’t, you really ought to consider investing in one. Not only can the music you download to it provide you a relaxing reprieve from your studies, classical music can actually improve your study sessions! This is only a good edition if you are committed to a mobile platform other than Apple or a provider other than AT&T. If not, then just spend a little more for the new iPhone 4.

3. HP OfficeJet all-in-one printer, fax, scanner, copier

As a business student, chances are you’ll be writing a number of papers. There is also a good chance you’ll need a scanner and copier in many situations, perhaps even a fax machine. The HP OfficeJet all-in-one printer, fax, scanner, copier is convenient, reliable and easy to store in even the tiniest of dorm rooms. Models are updated frequently, but look for one with Wi-Fi to make things even easier to connect to your network.

4. Kindle 2

Amazon’s newest version of the Kindle is great for those who love to read, or simply have a huge load of readings for college. It is easy to use and offers super fast internet access. Users can choose from a collection of over 400,000 books, newspapers and magazines and the online Kindle store. Best of all, the device’s ability to hold 1,500 books at once is definitely appealing for the business student, given how difficult it is to find storage space in dorms and college apartments. MBA students can use the available library to help them with test preparation on the go, without the hassle of carrying their hardback books along.

5. RIM Blackberry Presenter

If you own a Blackberry Smartphone, you should consider investing in the new RIM Blackberry Presenter. This gadget connects to the Blackberry Smartphone through Bluetooth and hooks up to monitors and projectors. It can be used to present PowerPoint presentations straight from the Smartphone.

6. Apple iPad

This revolutionary device bridges the gap between laptop and smart phone. The mix of both allows students to consume massive amounts of media and information in interactive new ways. Companies are continually coming out with new ways for students to interact with this device and their software. Things like games, movies, books, music, test prep materials, courses and communication are now not only portable, but easily viewable.

7. PowerSquid

Dorm rooms and college apartments often lack the number of outlets required to charge various types of gadgets. The PowerSquid solves this dilemma by providing several extra places to plug in a variety of devices. The power strip is also environmentally friendly-students tend to forget to unplug gadgets when heading out for the day, but the PowerSquid allows you to turn off everything at once and therefore save a great deal of energy.

8. Light Touch Projector

Like the Blackberry Presenter, the Light Touch Projector connects via Bluetooth and is useful for presentations. The Light Touch Projector is unique in that it projects a touch screen to any surface, which means that you can use it to connect to social networks and other applications. Additionally, the Light Touch Projector can connect to the internet using Wi-Fi, an ability that proves handy for those who lack access to Bluetooth.

9. Magnadyne Multi-use Car Charger

Many college students do not have access to car while on campus, but for those who do, a multi-use car charger can be a life saver. Magnadyne’s version lets you hook up four devices at once. This gadget is very useful for college commuters, especially those who balance their class load with a full time job.

10. Apple iPhone 4

The yearly reboot of the ever prominent and market dominating iPhone. Updated hardware includes dual front and rear facing cameras, 960×640 display resolution, better antenna integration for less dropped calls and significantly increased battery time over previous models. Load this phone up with all of the educational apps that you need to make test prep and studying much easier.

By taking the GMAT, otherwise known as the Graduate Management Admission Test, you’ll be able to enter a MBA program at a number of schools. The GMAT test is used worldwide to measure the ability of students to demonstrate successful traits that will statistically allow them to succeed in an MBA program. The school that you are able to addend is dependent on the score that you are able to achieve on the GMAT. The score that you achieve on the GMAT, typically correlates to the prestige level of the business school that you are able to get into. Simply put, the higher you score, the better the school you can attend.
Over the past few years, it has become apparent that degrees tied to business, management, and the financial sectors tend to have higher job placement rates than regular degrees. Therefore, building upon your bachelor’s degree with an MBA will greatly increase your marketability.

In comparison to the general salaries of those graduates that earn bachelor’s degrees, graduates that attain an MBA tend to make at least $12,000 more per year than their counterparts. This amount often increases in many fields, usually greatly exceeding the route of completing a double major at the university undergraduate level.

Besides this increase in average salary per year, business school graduates tend to have a higher rate of consistent work in comparison with conventional degree holders. This is because the business, management, and financial fields tend to remain more constant in terms of employment when compared to other fields.

Therefore, college graduates can literally change their lives by adjusting their financial opportunities through earning a degree from a business school. In order to do this, scoring high on the GMAT test is a necessary component. The majority of business schools will only accept GMAT scores as a benchmark for potential applicants, so preparing for the GMAT is the essential step towards acceptance into a strong MBA program.

First of all, go to class. It sounds simple, but it’s easy to get distracted or to think you don’t need to go. Attendance helps your grade, and when the professor learns to recognize that you attend regularly, he or she might be more inclined to let it slip when you finally miss a day.

Secondly, be honest with your roommate. Your first year in college will involve living with one or more new people, and being honest will end up paying off when finals roll around. If you state early on that you’re a night owl, you won’t have to deal with complaints that you’re up too late.

Next, be sociable but responsible. There will be lots of events, academic and social, and you’ll get to interact with many people. Making responsible choices means you won’t earn yourself a reputation that will follow you for the rest of your time at college.

Also, understand the importance of studying. Some classes may be easy, but others will require extra time and effort. Setting aside time daily to study areas that need improvement will help you do better in class and prepare you for the rest of your academic career.

A fifth tip for surviving your first year in college is to keep a planner. Usually professors will issue a syllabus, but it is common for them to change assignments and due dates. Even if you have an excellent memory, mapping out your assignments in writing will improve your time management.

Next, ask lots of questions. This goes for classroom situations and when you have general questions about college life. Remember, nearly everyone around you has gotten lost or confused before, so there’s no reason to shy away from asking for help when it’s needed.

Tip number seven is to set a sleep schedule. You could have class early in the morning one day, and then the late afternoon the next. While the temptation might exist to stay up late or nap, you’ll perform better if you have a fairly regular sleep schedule. Professors will certainly notice if you sleep in class!

Next, make smart choices about your diet. Dining halls, cafeterias, restaurants, and delivery are all options, but pizza and soda every night will wreak havoc on your body. It’s fine to indulge now and then, being away from home, but keep yourself in check.

Tip number nine is to know your academic requirements. Many colleges have intense general education programs for incoming students, so staying on top of these and thinking ahead about your schedule will help you during registration.

Finally, be prepared to experience new things. Even if you’re going to a local college, you will be exposed to new ideas and new experiences every day, and keeping a positive outlook is essential.

One of the most important assets to possess when applying to business school is time. You’ll need plenty of time to research different business schools, visit campuses and speak with current students and faculty, ready yourself for the GMAT with GMAT practice tests, prepare your application, and ask for references. While studying for and taking the GMAT may initially cause you concern, there are several excellent online GMAT prep options that make studying more convenient than ever.

Another important asset is patience. Take the time to thoroughly research a number of business school programs. Consider whether you are willing to move far away, or whether it is important to you to stay close to home or your current job when attending business school. In addition to considering the ranking and reputation of different business schools, you’ll also want to get a first hand take on the program by speaking with current students. How satisfied are they with the program? What are some of the most common career paths for alumni? How well do they fit with your own professional goals? Take the time to meet with faculty as well. You’ll be working closely with them while attending business school, so you’ll want to get an idea of which business schools have faculty members whose interests best fit your own career goals.

The application and recommendation process also takes time and patience. Get started early and work little by little on your applications. This will give you time to ask for recommendation letters ahead of time. If you’re asking previous undergraduate professors for recommendations, make sure to avoid doing so near the end of the semester when they are busy with writing other recommendations and grading exams. The same goes for your application. Start outlining your response to the questions well in advance. Also be sure to thoroughly edit your application. You might even ask a friend to read your application over before your submit it to catch any orthographic or grammatical errors.

Be sure to give yourself plenty of time for GMAT prep. The best resources are online GMAT courses that offer you a wide range of studying options from GMAT practice tests to interactive training sessions. GMAT courses help you identify the best strategy for studying for and taking the GMAT test. GMAT courses are a great investment, particularly online options that allow you to study at your own pace and effectively prepare you for the computerized test. Applying for business school is certainly challenging, but the process is well worth it in order to reach your career goals.

This section is meant to assess the students’ skill in constructing an argument and evaluating one that is presented to them, but they will not need any previous knowledge of the topics being covered. Instead, they must weigh the answer choices presented to them carefully, so that they can detect even the slightest error in reasoning. One of the incorrect choices will suggest something that is totally opposed to the argument maintained in the passage, a choice that is really not covered in the passage, and a choice that completely distorts the facts.

To complete the section successfully, candidates should:

● Read the question before reading the passage. This is called “working in reverse order,” and doing so will help them in finding the correct response.
● Look for the evidence and assumptions presented in the passage, and the conclusion that is at the heart of the question.
● Become familiar with the basic concepts being covered in this section. If a question seems particularly difficult, they should try translating it into simpler language and work from there, remembering that some of the questions are hypothetical and that they should only deal with the facts presented in the passage.

The various types of critical reasoning questions contained in the GMAT include:

● Numbers and statistics - Students focus on ratios and numbers because they have to distinguish between them and take the data at face value as well.
● Studies and surveys - Experiments may also be included here, and candidates are asked determine if the results have been misinterpreted in some way.
● Scope-shift - Here they will detect a slight change in emphasis. (For example, “first-time home buyers may be changed to “recent homebuyers” later on, and this is a sign of faulty argumentation.)
● Causation - In this case, the “result” is mistakenly presented as the “cause.” The passage may state that a problem arose because of a particular factor when its development was actually far more complicated than that.
● Alternative explanation - Here, the argument presented in the passage is incomplete and another solution is needed.
● Explain-a-paradox - In this case, they have to choose the response that fails to meet certain standards, and words indicating a contrast of some kind (however, but) are especially important.

Preparing for the GMAT

For online test preparation, students can visit: http://www.blinetestprep.com/gmat, and choose from one of the three unique programs this company offers to suit their specific needs and circumstances. Also, as part of their overall test preparation, candidates should develop their personal studying strategy and sharpen their professional writing skills at the same time. Taking classes to prepare for the GMAT may involve some expense, but they also provide the motivation and support that many candidates need. Many often find that by signing up for an online test prep class fits into their schedule and provides a good foundation before you take the test.

Regardless of why you’re taking the GMAT, you will probably want to spend at least a month on test preparation to ensure that you get a good score. This is especially true since the cost for taking the test is two hundred and fifty dollars. That’s quite a bit of money, so you’ll want to make sure you’re well prepared. Fortunately, there are plenty of great online test prep websites like B Line Test Prep that will help you to make a great score, regardless of what you think your weak areas are.

One area of the GMAT where people often have trouble is the sentence completion part of the test. These questions aim to measure your knowledge of key grammatical points. Subjects covered may include the passive voice, mismatched subject/object pairs, incorrect verb tenses, and so on. Sentence Completion questions are a part of the verbal section of the quiz, and there are usually between sixteen and eighteen of them. Since the verbal section is only about forty questions, that makes this a very important part of the test that you’ll want to focus on in your online test prep studies or in whatever other test preparation method that you use.

The GMAT’s structure gives you four hours to complete the entire test, with two timed breaks of ten minutes each to give you a bit of a breather. This means that you have a little over three and a half hours for the test, or an hour and ten minutes for each of its three sections. Since the sentence completion part is about half of the exam’s verbal section, you’ll probably be using up somewhere between thirty and forty-five minutes completing and correcting sentences.

An Example Question:

The idea on the GMAT sentence completion questions is taking the sentence given to you and replace part of it with one of the choices listed below.

A) to take the sentence given to you and replace

B) taking the sentence given to you and replacing

C) take the sentence you were given and to replace

D) to taking a number of sentences you are given and replace

E) No change is required

Choice E is a popular one, and makes this section especially tricky, since not all sentences are actually incorrect.

Key statistics for the GMAT sentence completion:

* 16-18 questions in the verbal
* Verbal section consists of roughly 41 questions
* Aim to spend somewhere between half an hour and forty-five minutes on this portion of the test

Remember, sufficient test preparation is vital for success in this and other portions of the GMAT. Fortunately, there are great online test prep sites like B Line Test Prep to help you through your study period.

There are usually three areas that the reading comprehension section focuses on. They are Science (biology, etc.), Social Sciences (history, politics), and Business. The Science section usually has the factual questions, while the Social Sciences and Business sections usually contain the more difficult inference-type questions. A student may be asked to infer an author’s mood from reading a 200-400 word passage. These passages can often be filled with obscure words to further confound the test-taker.

Some useful tips for getting the optimum score on the GMAT include preparing as much as possible for the test. A student that uses multiple study methods such as flashcards, workbooks and an online test preparation course will be much better prepared than a student who does not utilize those methods. Studying over the course of three months is definitely favorable to studying for only three weeks. During the test, the test-taker should pace them self accordingly. Jot down notes in order grasp a certain concept. If a particular question is presenting a problem, then moving on to the next question and returning back to the more difficult question later is a viable option. Spending too much time on any one question can interfere with the ability to finish the test, therefore lowering the test score considerably.