"The learning environment at the Merage School is one that values synergy, promotes teamwork and inspires critical thinking on an individual and group level. Its focus on strategic innovation has prepared me to be a strong and innovative leader."

Vital Statistics
	Graduating Year: 2009
	Hometown: Taipei, Taiwan & La Palma, California
	Undergraduate and Previous Work Experience: Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, University of California, Riverside, Manager, Deloitte Consulting
	Major: Computer Science
	Internship while in the Program: Finance Intern, Mattel
	Extracurricular Activities: President of Merage Consulting Association (MCA) and member in Healthcare & BioPharma Association
	Just for Fun: Basketball, traveling, sleeping
	OC Favorite Places: The Yardhouse at Triangle Square in Costa Mesa and Hennessy’s in Laguna Beach. UC Irvine itself is also a really nice campus. We have a huge park, Aldrich Park, right in the middle of campus. It’s a beautiful place to bring your laptop.

Clubs Promote Career Opportunities As president of the Merage Consulting Association, I have the opportunity to work closely with various consulting firms as well as our alumni for campus events. There are many career-oriented clubs at Merage, and they all have the goal of advancing students’ careers by providing additional learning opportunities and introducing them to industry professionals. The Merage environment makes networking easy, and all students have access to well-connected alumni, industry leaders and organizations on a local, national and international level.

We Launched the BMW 1-Series There have been many challenging projects in my classes at Merage. My favorite one so far was our project in Marketing Management, where we developed a mock comprehensive U.S. marketing plan for the launch of the BMW 1-Series.    It was my favorite not only because it was academically challenging, but also because it was the first project where our group members really got to know each other. The backgrounds and diversity of my peers, in combination with professors of wide-ranging expertise, made this project unforgettable.

"I was able to get an admissions decision within a week after my interview." James Lin

The Merage Staff is Extremely Responsive My first encounter with Merage was my interaction with the Director of Recruitment and Admissions, Mary Clark. I was able to get an admissions decision within a week after my interview. She was very helpful and made me feel comfortable by addressing all of my questions and concerns.   The accessibility to the Dean is also amazing. Every quarter, the Merage School hosts a lunch with the Dean where four to five students from the Merage Student Association dine with the Dean and discuss where the Merage School is headed. I must say, this is especially unexpected. In a bigger school, you wouldn’t have this kind of opportunity to connect with the Dean on such an intimate basis.