Study Of Purpose Personal Statement

In a fast developing world of job opportunities, there are only few careers that remain as extremely important as they were even few centuries ago. I am strongly convinced that Finance can be considered one of those areas of study that will always be a clear direction to take when choosing a career path – in fact, money makes the world go round, and unless you know how it works, you are not able to be a part of the world’s driving force.
I am inclined to believe that my interest in Finance was sparked by my mother. Since she was interested in investment products, I was able to observe her buying bonds, stocks and other securities and, thus, learn how securities market works. Surely, I was too young to learn much about such financial affairs back then, however, my dream was clearly defined and I decided to dedicate my life to exploring how financial world lives its own life.
Undoubtedly, I realized that in order to go any further in finance, I had to acquire as much knowledge as possible in Math, Economics, Finance and Statistics. So the first thing I did when I entered the college was dedicate all my efforts and attention to learning this disciplines inside out. I suppose that my greatest achievement in college was that I could apply the knowledge I acquired in practice – first, I analyzed 5 years of monthly closing price data and estimated the value-at-risk of the chosen mutual fund, as well as did the rolling analysis of Constant Expected Return Model Parameters in my final project – in such a way I was trying to find the best mutual fund investment combination to minimize the risk. The project required much more than just using formulae – I had to do a detailed analysis, applying a lot of my economic, financial and mathematical skills. As I always strive to improve my knowledge and get to know something knew, this was also a good chance for me to do so. Moreover, my profound knowledge of Risk management and Investment helped me to make my own investment combination of different securities – it clearly defined my next goal that is to find the best combination in order to maximize the net value of the profile by a thorough research of different stocks, bonds and treasury, as well as other securities.
Taking into consideration the latest and current computerization in every area of our life, it is needless to say that Finance was influenced by it as well. This is the reason I am so interested particularly in Financial Engineering. Thus, I believe that the Computational and Mathematical Engineering program at Stanford University would be a perfect opportunity for me to achieve my ultimate goal that is to attain one of the following positions: a risk manager, an investment banker, an asset manager, a derivative trader or a developer of specialized securities in one of the world’s leading commercial and investment banks, insurance companies or corporate and public treasury departments. Additionally, I have already taken the first important steps to carve my way to Stanford’s Computational and Mathematical Engineering program: first of all, I have taken a lot of math and economic courses and my grades are quite good (about GPA 3.9 overall). Secondly, I have been in the Dean’s list for all years of study, from 2010 to 2013, - in fact, it was not particularly my goal, but I did enjoy studying, and when I like doing something I make all efforts to be the best in that area. The last but not the least is that I passed two Actuary exams (Society of Actuaries) – in Financial Mathematics and Probability – this proves I have got intellectual faculties, as well as enough theoretical and practical knowledge to study Computational and Mathematical Engineering.
What is more, I have quite extensive experience in Computer Engineering. In fact, I have developed numerous programs and applications that include but are not limited to: Interactive Multi-media Presentation System and its working platform, Built-In Lottery system, Inserted Audio and Video Player, DIY Jigsaw-puzzle game, DIY Digital Photo-Album and other programs. In fact, my Interactive Multi-Media Presentation System was even included in the computer software copyright by National Copyright Administration of the People’s Republic of China. This software was tested and highly rated by ShiJiaZhuang’s Guang Hui Culture Advancement Co. Ltd, which is the General Agent of this software in PRC – seeing the result of my hard work and creativity together with winning the recognition in IT inspired me to go ahead and combine the areas I am good at – studying Computational and Mathematical Engineering is exactly the program I could ever dream of.
Furthermore, I also possess some minor, but significant experience in the financial and mathematical field: I have worked as Math grader at University of Washington, and Data Analyst in Industrial and Commercial Bank of China – working there I gained very valuable practical skills of applying Economics, Math and Finance to the real business. Besides, I had an opportunity to demonstrate my leadership skills in combination with my knowledge – I am a founder of the Actuary Club aimed at extending actuaries’ field of study and exploring new areas for research. I suppose that my self-confidence and ambitiousness, as well as full accountability and tolerance make me a good leader who can make a team out of a group and unite them for a shared goal.
Describing my personality, I should definitely mention that I am the kind of person who is always ready to face the challenges on the way to making a dream come true. I realize that in order to work in the world’s largest investment bank or a capital fund company, I will have to make a lot of efforts getting a perfect educational background, that, I am sure, Stanford University offers. However, I am not scared of working hard and spending sleepless nights burying myself in books (or the Internet resources) or of whatever it takes to make my future the way I want it. I also plan to get an MBA degree in few years and I am strongly convinced that the knowledge I gain in the Computational and Mathematical Engineering along with my future experience of working in the international company will contribute greatly to fulfilling my expectations and achieving my goals.
Among my personal qualities, I could also single out my perfect communication skills and creativity. I am an outgoing person and get along with people quite easily – this is definitely a very useful skill in business, studies, as well as in personal life. Apart from this, I am a decisive, self-confident and hard-working person. I strive to get an opportunity to demonstrate all my positive personal qualities along with improving my theoretical and practical knowledge while studying in Stanford – for now being enrolled in the Computational and Mathematical Engineering program is my biggest dream and, hopefully, it will come true.