Graduate School Application on Finance - Personal Statement Example

Personal ment for Graduate School Application Table of Contents Essay 3 Essay 2 6 Essay My interest in finance began when I was in high school when I studied the basics in fields such as accounting, economics can mathematics. With the right knowledge, financial managers can impact global development by directing investments efficient strategies that seek to maximize returns while controlling investment risk. My immediate aspiration is to work as a portfolio manager. To achieve my dream, I have sought the knowledge, experience and attitudes needed to be an effective and world class manager. I took my undergraduate education at Rice University and obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematical Economic Analysis and Computational and Applied Mathematics with a GPA of 4.01/4.33. The course work included a double major in “Computational and Applied Math and Mathematical Economic Analysis” with a minor in “computational finance.” By conducting these studies, I successfully developed a vast knowledge base in relation to the similar subject matter. Likewise, undertaking courses in the areas of social science, natural science and engineering, have certainly provided me with the capability of perceiving problems from both social and technical perspectives. I also attained knowledge in the areas of Mathematical Modeling, Financial Management and Economic Analysis. My handwork, dedication, team work with fellow students, and interest in gaining the relevant knowledge enabled me to get A’s in all my major subjects and I was in the President’s honor roll (ranking of the top 30%) in all the semesters at Rice University. Additionally, I was also awarded the ‘L.J. Walsh Scholarship’ for Academic Excellence during the period 2013-2014. In addition to the educational knowledge, I have skills in C, C++, Matlab, STATA, R, and AMPL. These skills have expanded my capacity to conduct research and analysis which is the basis of portfolio selection and management. These skills have given me new tools to solve problems. For instance, computer programming in C and C++ languages encourages the programmer to break down a problem in to smaller problems which can be solved using algorithms. Combining the solutions of the smaller problem gives a solution to the bigger problem.. I am fluent in Mandarin, Japanese and the English language. In finance, these skills are useful in solving problems, and working in an international arena especially in the developing nations where financial management skills are in high demand My first research experience under the guidance of Professor Elgamal turned out to be much beneficial for me in the form of enhancing my quantitative analysis skills. The research work also boosted up my confidence level of solving complex problems and working with other people in a group setting. Under professor Elgamal, I conducted an extensive study of the Bayesian model with the help of which I attempted to analyze the relationship prevailing between religion and economic growth. I evaluated the data attained from multiple questionnaires that appeared from 32 countries. Each of such questionnaires comprised 100 questions and there were over 1000 respondents from each country. Besides, apart from collecting valuable data, I also spent considerable amount of my leisure time in learning and implementing the Bayesian network, which was totally a new concept for me. I structured the network for the above stated 32 countries by using hill climbing model so as to find the optimal solutions. Eventually, I started understanding the causation relationship persisting between the answers and the questions by using the Bayesian network, comprising hundreds of jiedian and pointers. The causation association identified to be prevailed between the answers and the questions of a questionnaire denoted how the rate of a nation’s economic growth can be influenced by demotic religious beliefs. After evaluation, I realized that such a research can be applied to a broader area. For instance, obtaining the knowledge about how religion can impact a country’s economic growth can be used as a reference in bond trading, which is correlated with the development of economic conditions of a nation. Such kind of ideas gradually led towards developing my career as a portfolio manager. This also helped me in developing a unique and effective investment strategy. The experience under professor Elgamal was eye opening. I enjoyed learning new things and sharing my learning experience with other students. For the first time, finance was more than numbers to me. It became a powerful tool that impacts ordinary day-to-day activities for people. Another experience that has turned my way of thinking and application of financial knowledge was working as a teaching assistant at Rice University under the guidance of Professor Brown. While taking Prof. Brown’s microeconomics class during my freshman year, he totally changed my way of perceiving economic problems. Justifiably, he projected a creative and inspiring technique of teaching and explaining various problems. Realizing certain students to face much difficulty in understanding Prof. Brown’s approach, I decided to be his teaching assistant without having any sort of hesitation. I want to share this unique and inspiring way of perceiving economic problems with the intention of attaining my predetermined targets in future. Essay 2 Part of the course work at Rice, involved statistics during which the professor encouraged us to develop strategies for selecting stocks to build a portfolio. My group constructed a strategy based ob indexes such as earnings per share. However, I always hear colleagues talking about the decline in the profits in the capital-intensive industry. Considering this as a challenge, I decided to reevaluate our stock selecting strategy and use average asset life and quick ratio instead of earnings per share. My intention was to identify the factors that have resulted in declining the profits of the respective industry. My group mates supported my idea. Together as a group, we evaluated the stocks data during the period 1972 to 2012. Our strategy for every year included picking up of the top 100 stocks that had the highest AAAL. From the 100 chosen stocks, we selected the top 20 stocks that had the highest quick ratio. From the evaluation, we found that the stocks having high AAAL generally belong to heavy industries and also the companies with high quick ratio as well as bearing better financial conditions. Thus, by applying such a strategy, we can pick the best 20 companies in capital-intensive industry every year. Then we calculated the return of our portfolio and repeated our strategy again and again. After completing the section of data analysis, we found that the return of our portfolio was much higher than S&P500 during the first 20 years. However, after the year 1990, our returns went on declining until it fell below S&P500 in 2000. As a consultation, I conveyed a report to my former supervisor at NHI and he found this approach quite interesting. He told me that they were actually considering about transforming from capital-intensive to technology-intensive type of company. This experience helped me in understanding the importance of teamwork and inspiration in making effective strategy decisions. Such an experience further strengthened my goal of becoming a portfolio manager in future. I undertook a trainee program at the bond trading department of Haitong Securities in Shangai, China. The training expanded my skills in collecting news items that impact the price of securities, and developing yield curves to rank securities. I built a hedge portfolio of securities betting on an increasing interest rate. The experience enhanced my communication skills and ability to perform in an international team setting. In addition, my internship experience at AIG Beijing also helped me in understanding the importance of quantitative skills while structuring financial predictions and making effective decisions. While assisting my supervisor relating to insurance sale budget estimations, I found that the technique they use for estimation was primitive and ineffective. As per my observation, the supervisors at AIG Beijing were predicting the monthly production rates only by multiplying the amount of already finished goods with the proportion of the time period passed to the predicted scheduled time. Over the time, I also came across multiple complaints about the inaccuracy of the past budget, depending on which it became quite complex to meet the predicted budget. I used time series model to analyze the data of past insurance sales and likewise predicted future budget. I wrote a report to my supervisor and he found this new approach quite reasonable. Through this experience, I believed that a successful portfolio manager should not only remain effective at managing diverse complex situations but also maximize technical skills for reaping significant benefits. My short-term goal is to become a portfolio manager. I want to develop my own unique strategies and keep seeking alternative solutions to address as well as mitigate varied challenges. My long-term goals include promoting the flourishment of financial industry in developing or under-developed countries and also spreading appropriate application of finance techniques in different industries. In this regard, MFin program at MIT will be the first step of accomplishing my desired goals. At MIT, I will interact with the top minds in the world and learn the latest strategies in financial management. The flexible curriculum of MIT will provide me with broad assortment of choices. Meanwhile, the student activities at MIT will expose me to the real world. For example, the VC/PE conferences held every year will provide me the prospects of evaluating real business pitches, enabling me to build a bridge between theory and reality and also facilitating me to understand the financial industry from different perspectives. Highly motivated by my goals, I will contribute all my efforts to MIT. During the time at MIT, I will work hard with my friends and motivate each other to fulfill our dreams. Also, with my wide knowledge background and success at undergraduate study, I believe that I will continue succeeding in my graduate study and put my knowledge to good use. Read More