Personal Statement

 By the time I graduated from Trade and Administration School of XX

University in July 2003, I faced two crucial alternatives—embarking on

a Master’s program with three-year scholarship at the Business School

of XX University in addition to being waived of the otherwise required

entrance examinations, or joining XX, the world’s leading professional

services firm. The interviews for both occasions were equally

challenging, as the applications were highly competitive. Ultimately, I

chose the XX under the conviction that I would acquire knowledge and

expertise about the standard auditing and financial principles and

procedures, as well as international perspectives characteristic of a

leading multinational company.

My professional experience as an accountant at the Assurance Division

of XX, though less than two years, has proved defining. By undertaking

nearly more than a dozen auditing projects, I have been engaged in

auditing the financial status of enterprises, issuing rigorous auditing

reports, providing innovative, high-quality and cost-effective services

like evaluation of corporate management procedures. It is true that I

studied economics and finance, among others, during my undergraduate

program. However, my knowledge largely was theoretical. It is my

auditing career that has given me a unique and insider’s knowledge of

the country’s economic and financial operations.

I become interested in Real Estate Finance simply because the very

first auditing project I undertook was closely related to real estates.

In auditing the XX Real Estate (XX) Co. Ltd, I, though a novice

employee, was assigned to perform the responsibilities of an A1

(second-year) employee—accounting the selling expenses, financial

expenses, G & A expenses, fixed assets, CIP (construction in progress),

salary payable, intangible assets, etc. The greatest challenge was that

the client used the ORACLE financial system which mixed up the

statistics of all the small items, which had the same name of selling

expenses and G & P expenses, making it virtually impossible to

differentiate between the two categories of expenses. What’s more, I

had only ten days to codify this colossal amount of statistics in order

not to affect the overall auditing of the enterprise by my Hong Kong

colleagues. Finally, I innovatively solved the problem by applying the

sorting and sequencing modules in EXCEL.

In addition to improving my problem-solving skills, I conducted a

comprehensive survey of the real estate market of China through a

comparative approaching—integrating statistics from both PRC and HK

auditing reports, which provided important perspectives for my

auditing. Together with my regression analysis on the “reasonable test

” of revenue, I was highly praised by my manager and client. 

My second most important responsibility was auditing the data from 2000

to 2003 for XX Co. which was to be listed on XX. The workload was much

more heavy and requirements were naturally more rigorous. I assisted

project manager with the conversion of the statistics from PRC GAAP

into US GAAP. In strict compliance with XX procedures, I assessed the

enterprise’s internal control and its risk management over the supply

-production-sales links. Based on substantial testing，I formulated

excessively detailed and careful auditing plans, covering the work

schedule, survey methods, sample selection, and process control. I

maintained effective communication not only with my colleagues but also

with the client, relevant organizations and government departments. I

gained insights into the operations of how an enterprise enter the

international capital market.

My greatest professional achievement came when, in May 2004, I was made

responsible as project manager for auditing China XX (XX Subsidiary) in

the first quarter. This was a great exception for me as a first-year

staff member. By communicating closely with the central team in XX, I

charted out the major accounts to be audited, and divided the

responsibilities among my team members. With due completion of our

tasks, our team was rated as the “top 3 team” in the entire project.

This unique experience allowed me to considerably enhance my ability to

work independently.

The auditing projects I have participated so far ranged from consumer

and industrial products, import and export trade, insurance,

communication technologies, real estate and property management,

involving annual and IPO auditing. I have become familiar with the

business environment and structure of different industries, the

production and management procedures of individual enterprises, and how

microeconomic activities are affected by macroeconomic policies of the

country. Under the unique XX corporate culture of professionalism, I

have immeasurably improved my skills in analysis, investigation and

judgment, the ability to apply professional knowledge and criteria, the

capacity for effective teamwork. All those resulted in my becoming the

A2 Level “top performer” for 2003 in the XX Branch.

Apart from my professional achievements, my undergraduate career at XX

University is relevant to your program in at least four aspects.

Academically, apart from top 4 ranking during my sophomore year (I

passed all the exams of the second semester through self-education

because of closed training for National English Debating Competition

and ranked top 1 in that term), I was consistently ranked top 1 among a

total of 156 students in my grade in the junior year, receiving an

allegedly unprecedented number of approximately 50 major prizes for

both academic and extracurricular achievements. As a student of

international economy and trade, I have been systematically educated in

theories of economics and finance, with supporting input in

mathematics, trade, law, logistics, management, consumer psychology and

other related social sciences. In terms of finance, I studied a whole

spectrum of core courses ranging from Corporate Finance, Monetary

Banking, Securities Investment to Investment Economics.

My thesis, though not strictly in the field of finance, testifies to my

research potential. Unlike most students who simply explain economic

phenomena, I came up a research paper XX, that applied econometrics as

a tool, based on mathematic analysis, to construct regression models.

Focusing on the development of IT as the core of the New Type of

Industrialization advocated by the government, the thesis investigates

the complicated relationship between IT, investment, labor capital, and

employment and proposes alternatives to unemployment.

Apart from my major, I did a second major in English, considering the

importance of English in the increasingly open Chinese society and in

economics and finance. This was a unique initiative among students of

my class and for two years I received comprehensive training in English

listening, speaking, writing and reading. I completed my second major

with a thesis XX which was unanimously rated “Excellent” during the

oral defense. My strong proficiency has proved immensely helpful not

only to my career at XX but also to my prospective program at XX.

My strong faculty in logical reasoning qualified me for dozens of

debating contests at university, city, provincial and national levels.

With my wide-ranged knowledge, I invariably won important prizes in

those debates that covered a great diversity of subjects. I was honored

as the “Best Debater” at the XX—A Seminar for Students from XX.” In

this contest, as well as the nationally televised XX-XX Debating

Competition and the National College Student English Speech Competition

sponsored by XX Press, I was both a team member and team leader. In

addition, I held important positions at student union, university

student newspaper and a literary society. I was used to working under

pressure and exercising effective teamwork. With such extensive

extracurricular involvements, my academic performance was scarcely

affected, demonstrating my sound time management skills.

My academic and professional backgrounds convince me that an MPhil

program at XX is most appropriate for me at this time of my personal

development. Real estate industry is undoubtedly one of the most robust

industries in present-day China but controversies abound in both

domestic and international opinions about whether China’s real estate

market is overheated or not. Conceding that it is, I am anxious to

learn how to “squeeze out” the bubbles inherent in this market. Apart

from the market mechanism itself, the macro manipulation by the

government on the policy level plays an important role.

I am interested in your program because your MPhil program in Real

Estate Finance is precisely designed to furnish participants integrated

theoretical and practical instruction in finance, investment,

economics, and law. Through your program, I can learn methods and

techniques of analysis required for commercial property financing,

investment and development. I can also learn the latest concepts in

mixed-asset portfolio analysis, risk management, financial engineering

and option-based valuation so that I may be equipped to interact with

other corporate finance related professionals.

In a competitive national and international business environment, real

estate professionals need a sophisticated understanding of finance,

economics and law to succeed. This is the most important thing my

professional experience at XX has taught me. It is imperative that only

equipped with a systematic and in-depth knowledge of real estate

finance, acquired at an outstanding intellectual environment at XX,

will I achieve competitive edge in the labor market. In finding my

backgrounds perfectly oriented towards the requirements of your

program, you are bound to find me a most worthy candidate of your

program.