基本情况：苏同学， UC San Diego， B.S. Applied Mathematics & B.A. Economics，GPA 3.2+3.59，TOEFL N/A，GRE 321

录取学校：University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign MS in Financial Engineering 

Though challenging, managing a double major in Applied Mathematics and Economics is extremely rewarding. Throughout the four years at university, I have unremittingly experimented with the broad range of mathematical and statistical tools drawn on from applied mathematics, computer science, statistics, and economic theory. Maintaining right at the “cutting edge” of modern uses of mathematics has flourished my keen interest in this field and pushed me to achieve self-transcendence through pursuing a higher degree. 

My previous academic and professional commitment and the great growth I have gained can provide the staunchest support for my academic pursuit. 

The course, Mathematical Modeling, first opened my sight to the extensive application of mathematics in both financial sector and various other aspects of daily live. Forexample, in order to solve the soaring ticket prices in some scenic spots, I attempted to build a ticket pricing model with the Analytic Hierarchy Process to help the scenic sports set up reasonable ticket prices. With the frequently happened traffic accidents, I adopted the probability model, statistical regression model and differential equation model to calculate the safe vehicles distance on the super highway. In addition, I had also used the Brownian motion process to describe the price fluctuations of the stock and the hypothesis testing to assess the validity of claimed effects of medical products. 

My rising interests in applied mathematics and statistics motivated me to select a long list of relevant courses such as Multivariate Calculus, Vector Calculus, Differential Equation, Linear Algebra, Mathematical Reasoning, Applied Linear Algebra, Ordinary Differential Equation, Real Analysis, Stochastic Process and Mathematical Statistics and broadly engaged myself in relevant workshops available. Upon the broad exposure to mathematical knowledge and techniques, I developed strong analytical skills, problem- solving abilities and an appreciation of the importance of logical reasoning and became proficient in modeling real world situations and developing solutions with mathematical and statistic tools to in an efficient and reliable manner. 

Not content with the width and depth of the knowledge provided by context book, I set my sight on the opportunities outside university to cater to my interests. 

I secured an assistant position at Beijing Sunrise Investment Management Inc. in September, 2014. Working alongside the senior investment analyst, I engaged in conducting research on various organizations of different industries such as, banking, insurance, and real estate. This allowed me to broadly involve in financial data analysis and provide key information for company in developing investment strategies. Though challenging, I greatly contributed to three eco-city housing development projects that were finally approved by company and will be carried out soon. As a result of this internship, I am more skillful in analyzing and interpreting data and making comparative analyses to provide trends and forecasts. 

My extensive exposure to both academic, practical and professional aspects of mathematics and statistics intrigued my interests in embarking on a career in finance. As far as I know, the Private Banking industry in China is burgeoning in recent years but still in its infancy, which will bring more job chances with unlimited development prospects. With enormous interest in this area, I plan to set my sight on private banking industry in the US. My short-term goal is to enter into a private banking or investment management firm and hone myself to be a financial analyst, specializing in providing constructive investment advices for high-net-worth individuals or companies. While working, I plan to complete the three level exams for Chartered Financial Analyst within three years. In the long run, I plan to return to China and set up my own investment consulting firm with the concentration on providing diversified investment portfolio for clients both China and abroad. 

As an additional value for my career pursuit, I can be more fluent technically with the strong computer skills including programming, and mathematical and statistical software packages I have accumulated. 

For example, I am proficient in conducting matrix computation with MatLab and collecting, sorting and analyzing information and data with STATA. I had also done R simulation for Normal, Uniform, Exponential, Poisson distribution, plot probability density function and plot histogram. In my on-going course, Debugging Arrays and Working with Strings, I have developed the skills of debugging a Java file with both compiler and runtime errors and writing a basic Caesar Cipher program to encrypt/decrypt text. Besides, taking more course on R language is within my schedule during next semester. I believe my outstanding computer skills can facilitate my future career path in finance. 

As of now, I have accumulated a set of skills required to be a financial professional. Despite such, I am well aware of the need to equip myself with more global practices and experiences to meet the challenging financial industry that is poised to be more competitive in following years. I am taking the MSc in Financial Engineering program at UIUC to leverage my expertise in mathematics and statistics and secure my career success in future. 

I desire the MSc in Financial Engineering program with its emphasis on mathematical modeling and on the application of quantitative techniques associated with optimization, probability, stochastic processes, and statistics to the design and operation of systems. I can cater to my academic pursuits with the rigorous courses in the core areas of Applied Mathematics, Economics, and Statistics as well as an interdisciplinary team of professors and financial industry professionals. By taking the rigorous curriculum, I aim to study more sophisticated mathematical concepts and tools and develop strong analytical and technical capabilities required to be a mathematically sophisticated finance professional. In particular, enriching my knowledge in the areas of Derivatives/Derivatives Pricing, Econometric Modeling, Mathematical Modeling, Optimization, Stochastic Modeling would be my greater priorities while studying. I desire to apply the concepts of equity research, valuation and portfolio management to a real world investment fund during capstone research projects. In particular, I am most captivated by UIUC's location and most important, its partnership with industries. With these advantages, I can have unsurpassed access to the leading-edge financial institutions and practitioners. Besides, I highly appreciate the worldwide alumni of UIUC and aspire to leverage the UIUC’s brand to find internship at leading financial institutions. 

To conclude, I believe the UIUC's experience would be a milestone throughout my financial career.