Do you need to spend time on work and study for your online MBA course and you are wondering how you can possibly pass the course to get the ‘dream’ job that you need to succeed in life? What are the rules of passing this particular online exam?

Many people wonder what the rules are and the good thing is that there are not many rules, but there are some important things that you can do in order to ensure that you are better prepared than you might have been otherwise.

Here are the rules that you are longing for - the rules for your exam preparation.

Rule No. 1 - Familiarized with the exam format

Basically, you have to understand how the test is formatted. Each test that you take is going to be different and when you assume that this will be just another test you may be doing yourself a disservice. Therefore, you have to download practice tests and even take formal practice tests - these particular resources are searchable on the internet.

Rule No. 2 - Get yourself copies of practical guides and focus on every section

It is very important that you have to buy practice guides that explain all of the sections of the test to you (including the exam format as mentioned earlier). Focus on topics that are frequently asked during the exam. Do not simply assume that common questions asked will not be coming out during the exam day or vice versa. Knowing the format of the tests and what will be covered in each of the sections will give you higher chances of passing your exam with ease.

Rule No. 3 - Allocate sufficient time for revision

You need to allocate yourself at least 30 days for your revision. In this duration, you can make use of the time to:

• attend preparation courses
• buy books (you can purchase books via online)
• work with your coursemates who are taking the exam or have taken the exam in the past (you can find them by posting free online classifieds in Craigslist).

In the competitive world of college admissions, today’s parents are looking for anything that will allow their children to be on equal ground with the country’s best and brightest minds. In some cases, parents will resort to everything from individual tutoring to supplemental classes in order to better prepare their students for admission and success in college. For the parent who is homeschooling their child, the most popular option for preparing a child for college comes in the form of enrollment in a distance learning private school.

A distance learning private school often represents the most popular method of preparing a homeschooled child for college. While parents of traditionally schooled children have to supplement the curriculum their child receives with tutoring and prep courses, parents who elect to enroll their child in a distance learning program can receive a comprehensive program that does all of that and more.

Distance learning private schools come with all of the benefits of a structured and traditional curriculum, but none of the drawbacks and problems of a traditional public and private school. For starters, distance learning private schools, like their traditional counterparts, can deliver lessons that are in line with state and/or national standards. In fact, many distance learning private schools are officially accredited by the same organizations that accredit and license traditional schools. Distance learning private schools, again like traditional schools, are also staffed by highly-qualified and credentialed teachers that are experts in the particular subject matter they are teaching.

Where the two approaches to education begin to separate is in the environment in which lessons are delivered. While traditional schools are often overcrowded and dangerous, students who attend distance learning private schools deliver their lessons in the comfort and safety of the child’s home. By not having to worry about personal safety or comfort, students can better focus their efforts on learning specific information or a particular lesson.

Since they are not tied down by the same issues and problems that traditional schools suffer from, distance learning programs can focus their efforts on educating students. Programs of study can be individually tailored to meet the needs of individual students, whether that means altering the pace of the lessons or the material being taught and covered.

By avoiding many of the environmental problems that currently plague most traditional public and private schools and focusing their efforts and attention on education and preparation, distance learning private schools have proven themselves to be extremely effective in preparing students not just for admission into the college of their choice, but for success at that college as well. Today’s distance learning private schools, with their official accreditation, credentialed teachers, and individual and unique approaches to education have placed themselves at the top in terms of the factor that most prepares students for college. In fact, homeschooled children who have been enrolled in distance learning programs often score higher on standardized tests, and receive admission to the college of their choice at a higher rate than students who attend traditional schools, or children who are homeschooled without the benefits of a distance learning program.

It’s easy to lose motivation when you spend hour after hour after hour struggling through LSAT test material that all seems to be the same, and only seeing a few points improvement for all your hard work. To keep motivated, consider the following:

Consider the LSAT a motivation test, not an IQ test.

By learning the basics of logical reasoning, learning strategies on how to take the LSAT test, and doing plenty of practice on real LSAT tests, you can improve. There are no shortage of people who have improved by ten to thirty points. As such, tell yourself that the LSAT is testing how much you truly want to attend law school — if you really want to attend, then you’ll stick through the process and improve your score.

Expect score improvements to occur practice

Once you have finished an LSAT class or book, you have much of the needed information to complete LSAT questions. However, you likely do not have the mental endurance and/or timing/pacing skills to do well on the LSAT. As such, don’t be surprised if you finish an LSAT class or book, take a practice test, and discover that your score actually decreased from a practice test that you had taken before the LSAT book or class. Although this is highly frustrating and can hurt your motivation, recognize that before you complete a class or book, you likely completed a large number, perhaps all, of the questions but with a relatively low percentage of those that you attempted correct. Now that you have LSAT skills, you have slowed down and are taking significantly more time per question, and thus actually attempted much fewer questions, but, of these questions that you actually attempted, you likely have a much higher percentage correct than you did previously. Now, you need to build up your mental endurance and adjust your timing/pacing to maximize your score.

Appreciate each point

Improvement on the LSAT tends to go slowly. So, if you take a practice test and your score improved by a point - celebrate! Keep at it and you will see gains.

Plan in advance

You should plan to spend about two to six months studying for the LSAT. Too little time will likely result in insufficient time to learn all the strategies and to adequately practice. Too much time will likely result in frustration and boredom. Avoid both by figuring out when the best time for you to take the LSAT.

Take a break

If you work on the LSAT every single day, you’ll start despising the task. You should plan to take at least one day per week when you do not even think about the LSAT. Preferably, you will have two LSAT days followed by one break day. On your break days, do not think about the LSAT at all. If it creeps into your mind, shove it out. Politely ask your friends, family, and associates to not even bring the subject up on those days. Forget about the LSAT completely for a day.

Join an LSAT study group

One of the best reasons for joining a study group is for motivation. Within your group, you can discuss problems with motivation, timing, pacing, and other issues. You may even want to turn it into an “LSAT Support Group” and sit down with the intention of discussing how to deal with the pressure of studying for the test. However, ensure that your group focuses on the positive, and how to identify and overcome problems, rather than simply complaining about them. If there’s noone in your area, check out www.lawschooldiscussion.org

Profit from Commission Payments and Consultancy fees

As an education agent you build relationships with educational institutions in various locations around the world, sign agreements to represent them in your country and then market their courses.

Many students that study abroad book their course of study through an agent or consultant in their home country. Even though the internet has made direct bookings possible students often prefer to deal face to face with a representative of an agency in their home country who speaks their native language. Language schools that I work with say that approximately three quarters of their enrollments come through agencies.

Once you have enrolled students with these institutions you then receive a commission payment, usually a percentage of between ten and thirty percent of the tuition fees that your student has paid.

For students studying abroad long term these commission payments can be considerable in some cases as tuition fees can often exceed US$10,000 per year.

Depending on the market you are working in and the amount of time that you put into each case you may also be able to charge your students a consulting fee for your services.

Good Locations to set up your Agency

The ’study abroad’ industry worldwide has continued to grow at a remarkable pace and continued growth is anticipated.

The education consulting business has matured in some countries (particularly Western Europe and Japan) and become quite competitive but in other developing parts of the world such as Eastern Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America where economies have been growing rapidly in recent years tremendous opportunities are available for education agents as the industry expands with large numbers of people joining the ranks of the middle class and being able to afford to travel and study abroad.

The benefits of setting up an agency to entrepreneurs in developing countries are compounded by the fact that local salaries are lower and their income from commissions (often in US$, Euros etc) should ensure them a much higher income than average.

Schools report that student numbers from these developing regions are growing much faster then the more traditional markets in Western Europe and Japan.

Although the best opportunities at the moment are clearly in the developing countries it is possible to set up an agency just about anywhere in the world. Even countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom which have both traditionally been seen as ‘destination’ countries for students could offer good opportunities as it becomes more and more popular for young people to travel, learn languages or take a gap year abroad.

In terms of locating your business only a small office is required at first. Sharing premises with another travel or education related business is a good idea. You may even be able to start off working from home or look at running an online business.

Barriers to Entry

In most countries it is surprisingly easy to start out in the ‘agency’ business and turn it into a small part time business for yourself or even a large business employing other consultants if you are prepared to work hard.

In many countries the ’study abroad’ consulting business is basically still unregulated and anyone can set up a consultancy. In some countries such as China the government requires agencies to have a certificate issued by the Ministry of Education and in some cases to pay a bond before they can operate.

In order to prevent unethical practice by agencies some agents in various countries have formed agency associations. Members of these associations set out a service standard for their members. It is usually not compulsory to join these associations however members usually benefit from promotion of the association and the fact that some students perceive it to be safer to book with agents that are association members.

In any case before you start planning a new agency business you should check to see if there are any rules or regulations that you have to comply with in the market that you wish to operate in.

Representing Institutions

It should not be hard for you to build up a database of schools to represent. Many institutions are prepared to work with inexperienced agents and will issue you an agency agreement right away. Others will want to see that you have some experience and want you to complete an application form and give a few references from other schools that you have enrolled students with.

Getting agreements to represent Language schools and High schools is usually much easier than getting agreements to represent Universities.

It is important that you review the agency agreement carefully and understand your rights and obligations as an agent representing a foreign institution in your country. However these agreements are usually just a formality and are not often referred to.

The school should also send you promotional material to help you to market their courses in your country. This usually includes a brochure in English but can also include translated brochures, posters, DVD’s and other multimedia.

Many institutions will have representatives visiting your country and they will usually be very happy to visit your office and talk to you about the courses that they offer and answer any questions that you have.

Over time you need to look at forming relationships with institutions that are not only paying good commissions but also institutions that offer a good standard of service to the students that you place with them and a good standard of service to you as the agent. Institutions that respond to your communication, issue documents and pay commissions promptly are the best ones to deal with.

Most schools want to maintain a good relationship and reputation with agents worldwide so they should offer you a high standard of reliable service.

What Courses should I Promote?

Using many available online sources it is not hard to find institutions around the world that are looking for international fee-paying students for their programs.

There are so many study abroad programs on offer around the world that you really have to specialize. By choosing a selection of countries to specialize in you can minimize the time that you need to spend familiarizing yourself with the education systems, educational institutions and lifestyles of those countries so that you are well informed when it comes to sitting down and consulting prospective customers. You also have to learn about the visa application process for students from your country to study in the countries that you are promoting.

You may also want to specialize by targeting specific markets with specific programs. The following list is to give you a few ideas about the variety of programs that agents offer.

Language programs - English is a huge market but you may also want to offer other languages. A course of twenty-five hours of English tuition per week plus accommodation with a local home-stay family is a very popular combination and has almost become an industry standard.

Exam preparation programs - Programs at Language schools that prepare students for examinations such as IELTS or TOEFL.

English plus activities - Many language schools offer English plus sightseeing, surfing, golf etc

University placements - Many language schools also offer University preparation programs and many Universities have foundation programs designed specifically for international students.

Business Language - Agents offering Business Language usually target companies. Language schools usually offer a higher standard of accommodation for executive clients.

Study Tours for youths - Summer study tours for teenagers during vacation times are becoming extremely popular. Agents usually put together an all-inclusive package that includes tuition, accommodation, tours and activities, and guides to accompany the group. Agents can 
market such programs to schools or parents. Language schools offer groups either ‘open’ programs whereby students are in mixed classes with students of other nationalities or ‘closed’ programs whereby your students form there own exclusive classes. Reassuring parents that their children will be safe and well taken care of is the key to success in this market.

Working Visas - In some countries agents assist their customers to gain working visas and in some cases even help them to find work abroad while they are studying.

High School Placements - Many parents are not satisfied with the school system in their country. A lot of private and state High Schools around the world welcome foreign fee-paying students and have systems set up for their integration and care. Many parents just want to send their children abroad for a year to help them learn the language and for the cultural experience.

Marketing your new Agency

Depending on your background and contacts you may have certain advantages when it comes to finding potential customers. If you are working at a High School, an ESL School or a University then you will have good opportunities to meet students and talk about ’study abroad’ options with them.

Agents that have studied abroad themselves also have a small advantage as they can relate to their customers, have more credibility and also have existing relationships with the educational institutions that they attended.

Most agents find that they get most of their business through ‘word of mouth’ referrals. If you are honest with your students and they have a good experience abroad then they will tell their friends about it and refer their friends to you. It’s important that you manage your client database carefully and keep in touch with your students while they abroad and after they return.

This system of referrals works well when you are well established but a new agency will have to look at other means.

Having an informative website with information about your services and the institutions that you represent is also one of the best ways of attracting students. Of course you also have to promote the website and usually seek expert assistance to increase your page rankings with search engines.

Most agents will agree that the methods listed above are by far the best forms of marketing in the industry. However attending ’study abroad’ fairs or exhibitions, radio and print advertising, targeted flyers and referrals from teachers (pay them commission) are other ways that can be effective depending on your market.

The Consulting Process

Once you have a client interested in one the programs that you are offering it is just a matter of going over the information with them in face to face meetings and phone calls. It’s a big decision for your customers as a lot of money is involved and spending a lot of time ’studying abroad’ will be something that they think through very carefully.

Be ready to answer as many of their questions as possible and if you can’t answer right away then you can look for further information and get back to them.

Developing some kind of sales approach is a good idea and many books have been written on this subject.

Set out all costs clearly to the student on an invoice so that they can see which charges are for the institution and which charges (if any) are for your agencies services. You can always direct them to the institutions website so they can see that they are paying the listed price and that you are not overcharging them.

It is up to you if you want to have students transfer fees to your agencies account and then transfer it on to the school yourself or if you have them transfer fees directly to the school. Some schools insist on full payment and then reimburse commission to the agent at a later date (usually about 6 weeks after your student has started their course). In some cases schools can issue agents a Net invoice, allowing them to deduct their commission from the students payment before transferring the balance.

Once the client has agreed to your offer and all the enrollment papers have been submitted to the institution and the student has been accepted and fees have been paid then you can work on the student’s visa application and help them to make the necessary travel arrangements.

There are many more things to consider but hopefully this article has given you a basic idea of an industry that you may not be so familiar with and a foundation for doing further research.

A ’study abroad’ agency or consulting business could be the just the small business opportunity that you have been looking for.

Copyright Steve Sutherland - 2007

Asia, home to approximately half of the world’s population, offers prospective study abroad students many educational opportunities within colorful societies vastly different from the West.

Under the broadest definition, Asia encompasses more than 30 countries in East Asia and South & Central Asia, with some of the largest study abroad destinations represented by China, Japan, India, Thailand, Korea and Hong Kong. Asia is a welcoming, exciting and contemporary destination for students from North America. However, proper planning and good preparation can improve the experience immensely.

If you’re thinking of studying abroad in Asia, consider these tips:

Outline your goals and purpose for studying abroad. Are you looking to study language only, language and culture, or a mix of language and cultural studies, as well as classes related to your major?

Consult with your university’s study abroad office about available programs and internal requirements.

Program options may include:

Student exchange - an agreement between your university and a foreign institution allowing payment of your regular home university tuition fees and direct enrollment in the host university. (Often, best suited for independent students comfortable and knowledgeable about the prospective country and host university.)

Direct Enrollment - similar to student exchange, but allows you to apply and pay fees directly to the overseas university. (Well suited for independent students comfortable and knowledgeable about the prospective country and host university.)

Faculty-led - developed and run by your university, generally as a short-study program comprised of participants from your university. (Often appeals to students who don’t want to spend a full semester abroad and value the leadership of their own faculty and participation of university peers.)

Program provider - international education organizations providing a variety of study abroad opportunities, including language/study centers and facilitation of direct enrollment at host universities. (Often best suited for students seeking additional information, assistance and support for their study abroad experience.)

Consider your academic needs in consultation with your home university advisors to ensure your overseas studies are applicable to your degree.

Test your own cultural IQ by mentally preparing for your experience. Set your expectations against your knowledge and identify where you will face challenges.

Seek out other students who have studied in the countries you are considering and ask them for advice.

Research the health risks or recommended/required immunizations or inoculations for your intended country. A good resource is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Familiarize yourself with crime statistics, laws and penalties of the countries you are considering. This will help you avoid becoming a victim of common crimes or committing crimes unknowingly. Laws and regulations may differ significantly from those in the United States, ignorance of laws is often inexcusable, and violations and penalties can be severe. Visit the U.S. Department of State website for more information.

Begin at least a survival language program prior to your departure overseas so you develop a basic vocabulary and are comfortable navigating your local area.

Learn the destination country’s systems and services, whether money and banking, healthcare, transportation and entry and exit requirements.