Washington University in St. Louis

Washington University in St. Louis
My interest of finance developed since an early age. Many of my family members work in the finance field – both my parents work in management positions that are related to corporate finance. I became interested in finance when I heard them talking about their jobs. Growing up in such environment, I have more opportunities than others to get familiar with finance. I also felt interested in the complexity and challenges in financial market. Also, this interest grew after I entered college so thatI chose finance and economics as my major and minor for undergraduate study. I think I have prepared myself with solid quantitative skills and am ready to explore a career in finance. This is the reason for me to try to get into an advanced program in finance like yours, because it can give me the edge over other job applicants when climbing the career ladder.
I have great academic background that prepares me for the graduate level study in Finance. Singapore is the financial center in Asia. I have obtained the cutting edge knowledge in this field through four years’study in college here. I teamed up with people from different regions, both Asia and western countries, for projects. I was exposed to the full range of finance courses which reinforced my interest in the financial industry. To challenge myself, I often chose to study with professors who are much more demanding, both in the level of difficulties in the courses and in the quantity of contents. It was tough in the beginningsince there are problems like language barriers and culture difference. However, I gradually improved GPA over the years, which reflects my journey of conquering those problems. The experience helped me to acknowledge the depth and width of the finance knowledge
In addition, my working experience also brings me a deeper understanding about the finance market than fresh college graduates.To apply knowledge to real job, I worked inKexiang Group, which is a venture capital firm in China. I participated in private equity deals with the senior investment managers, conducted investment analysis and prepared investment proposals. One of the projects I took part in was the investment of a corporation called Lvmama, which is one of the largest tourism e-commerce companies in China. I, together with senior managers, analyzed the business with respect to management team, strategic planning, financial modeling, business models, past financial performance and forecasted the financial growth for the future 5 years under different scenarios. After that, we negotiated the price and prepared the proposal to senior directors, and an agreement of 10 million Yuan investment was achieved. The tourism company raised capital of hundred million RMB from Sequoia Capital China one year later. Through this work experience, I gained invaluable experiences in private equity segment, and fortified my interpersonal and analytical skills.
Moreover, I have fostered great leadership skills and strong adaptive capacity ever since college. I was the team leader to represent our university in 2009 Singapore CP Championship Tournament, which was one of the biggest events among Singapore colleges. Although it was just the second year after I came to Singapore, I proposed a plan for this Championship and gave a speech. As a result, my fellow students were very impressed by my performance and selected me as the team leader.In that competition, I was in charge of team member selections, supplies, and competition organization. My great efforts and strong leadership abilities contributed to the first prize we won in the end.
Ultimately I want to go to organizations like Goldman Sachs or UBS. I have done interns in stock exchange companies. In those positions, I have conducted a great deal of research in the stock market and corporation values. That was a good opportunity for me to practice what I have learnt in college in the real market. In addition, this gave me a chance to view stock market from a totally different and more practical perspective. I feel now it is a great time for me to enhance my knowledge about financial market in graduate school. This would be the right path for me to get in large finance companies and reach to the top positions after graduation.
I believe that the Master of Science Program in Financeat Washington University in St. Louis can help me a great deal to achieve my career goal. This program offers a great curriculum that can prepare me with skills necessary to develop high-level expertise in the quantitative side of financeand leadership skills as well. There are also plenty of distinguished professors that I can study from and work with. The professors there teach more than theories: they teach practical, real-life application of the theories that is more valuable than memorizing formulas out of textbooks.Moreover, I have tried to talk or contact some graduates from this program, who got great placements after their graduation. I was impressed by their praises ofthe program’s dedication to enable students to develop the advanced analytical and technical financial skills and tools needed for their career in finance and for informed financial decision-making, which I thinkis a perfect match for me. Furthermore, as a renowned program, the Master of Science Program in Financeat Washington University in St. Louis will surely attract some of the very smart and brilliant people who share the same dream with me. I am very much looking forward to knowing them academically and personally.。