Personal Statement for Admission - Essay Example

Personal Admission ment As a BA Economics college I discovered a liking for quantitative s and enjoyed college units on quantitative financial engineering and analysis. I was particularly drawn to the blend of finance and mathematics that has made a difference in my life ever since. My Financial Engineering class was probably the point in college that I knew what I wanted to pursue for my masters, especially after reading and reviewing Paul Wilmot’s Paul Wilmot Introduces quantitative finance.

It was and still is my favorite non-fiction book, especially because it introduced me to the technical aspects of trade analysis. I have always been interested in finance and made some of my college money trading on futures stock and the forex market. I interned at a family owned home appliance business and was able to observe some of the aspects covered in quantitative finance. On graduation from college, I was employed by HSBC private bank, working there for four great years. I believe my appreciation for Quantitative Finance was cemented there, as I was able to observe multi-national organizations and their take on finance derivatives.

However, although I enjoyed corporate finance, financial engineering remained my passion. My best friend and I, therefore, left the bank mid last year to start a privately owned company, VevoTrader. I believe I have acquired sufficient experience as a professional to enroll for a master’s degree that hones my quantitative skills. With academic qualifications analysis, calculus and linear algebra, as well as experience in linear and differential algebra, C++ programming, and statistics, I believe this is the only logical step.

I hope to get exposure to best practices and current techniques, and a derivatives market theory expert to push our company forward. My partner and I have been unsatisfied with the extent of derivative instrument use in Hong Kong. The current system is almost a copy of the US one, despite the differences in law regimes. We also took issue with the number of experts to work within the HK derivatives market. In fact, no university offers quantitative financial engineering at master’s or Ph.D. level.

This is one of the reasons why I have applied for the program at Stanford University. I also would love to be accepted at Stanford for the internship, faculty, and especially the curriculum. From my research, I found that the curriculum offers broad mathematical studies that should be of much use to my prospective clients. I believe the curriculum offers me the opportunity to succeed in a diverse range of ventures as it blends with my background in finance. While the location will ensure I have to be away from the everyday running of the company, I feel that I will gain invaluable experience from interning at a company in the US.

The faculty’s blend of researchers and practitioners can only make me better for my position when I get back to HK. I would also like to study under some of Stanford’s impressive faculty members like Professor Gerd Infanger and Professor Peter Glynn. Their classes on the application of stochastic optimization to finance will be hugely enriching to my future career plans. Finally, I also look forward to my internship where I will test myself on what I have picked up from the faculty.

The Stanford Quantitative Finance program, I am certain will prepare me for success at our startup company under a myriad of challenges. I sincerely hope you grant me this opportunity of a lifetime.