Personal Statement
Applicant: XX   Program: Accounting and Finance / Law and Accounting, XX

On May 30, 2004, an high-level forum in the field of Chinese humanities and social sciences was held at my alma mater—XX University of China. Entitled “China in the World Economy and Financial System: Challenges and Opportunities”, the forum attracted not only leading scholars and specialists of finance from China itself but also a number of leading theorists from American universities, distinguished professors and Nobel laureates of economics like XX and XX, the founder of the “Theory of Optimal Currency Zone.” With my outstanding academic performance at the School of Finance, I became a student representative, participating in the organization of the forum and having the privilege to listen to the enlightening lectures by the masters.

Employment, inflation and the sustainable development of economy, are they mutually repulsive or reciprocal? China’s position in the 21st –century world trade framework—how a win-win result can be created both for China and the world? The international money interest—Risks and Pathways—will China’s RMB become the world’s third most important currency? All those topics were subjected to the most fierce debate at the forum and I found myself irresistibly drawn to them and unconsciously contemplating on their possible answers.

Naturally, my efforts proved largely fruitless because such complicated issues have gone far beyond the existing knowledge taught in my textbooks. In terms of its breadth and depth, an undergraduate education is quite limited, hardly able to satisfy my yearning to probe truly deep into complicated issues. This has led me to the decision to seek a Master’s program in accounting and Finance (or in Law and Accounting) at XX of the UK, often regarded as the center of international finance. Through an in-depth study of western finance, accounting and law, I may become equipped with the knowledge to interpret the international and domestic financial markets, the legal issues involved in finance and accounting, and the decision-making processes on the macro level. This academic foundation may put me in a good position to work at either government agencies or private corporations across financial and legal fields.

For nearly four years, I have received systematic and rigorous academic training in finance at XX University of China, the country’s most prestigious university of humanities and social sciences. With a close correspondence between my university and XX, between my current program and my proposed program, I have strong qualifications for your highly respected program. My academic transcript indicates that I have excelled particularly in a number of foundational and specialized courses, including Western Economics, Linear Algebra, and Calculus, as well as Financial Management, Corporate Finance, and International Finance. My strong interest in finance, combined with my effective study methods, has enabled me to achieve a 86/100 GPA in this highly competitive specialty.

One thing special about my undergraduate program is that most specialized courses have been taught by our university’s senior visiting scholars to the UK and American universities, or by those who completed Ph.D. programs there. From the very outset, I have been exposed to western input. The openness of our program is incorporated not only in the advanced financial knowledge that our teachers brought from the west but also in the textbooks. We have been using many classical textbooks in unabridged English version by western authors. For example, Corporate Finance (6th Edition, by S. A. Ross, R. W. Westerfield, and J. F. Jaffe) differed considerably from China’s conventional textbooks on corporate financial management. It focuses on Capital Budgeting, Long-Term Financing, Capital Structure and Dividend Policy and, by means of a large number of case studies, diagrams, explanations, allowed me to gain insightful knowledge into financial theories and the practical application of decision-making approaches. I also became exposed to a variety of concepts prevalent in modern corporate finance and capital market operations, like Mergers and Acquisitions, Financial Distress, and International Corporate Finance.

I have also endeavored to develop case analysis skills , especially in those subjects related to accounting. In a research reported I completed for Management Accounting, I did a case study concerning the feasibility and profitability of launching a café bar by the Caribbean Coast.  In preparing the report, I applied my knowledge in management accounting, statistics, financial management and even principles of political economics. In addition, I have achieved the score “Excellent” for the two term papers I submitted for the second and third academic years—Perspectives on China’s Life Insurance Market, and Multiple Factors Governing the Adjustment in China’s Interest Rate.

As I set to write my Bachelor’s thesis XX, I will further enhance my research ability. I have collected all the relevant data and consulted a large amount of bibliography. In the wake of China’s WTO accession and with the dramatic economic growth, to allow interest rate to be determined by market forces has been has become an important priority on the government’s agenda. However, in initiating this marketization process, there are a number of factors to be considered—the commercialization of the bank, the reform of China’s state-owned enterprises, the construction of social credit system, the development of the spreading & value maintenance market. I will carry out detailed analysis over those issues in my thesis.

My extracurricular practices have all been related to my specialty. In the summer of 2003, I interned at the Credit Card Department of XX Bank and succeeded in promoting 3,000 credit cards. In the process, I gained important understanding concerning the criteria of card issuing, the prevention of the moral risks of the card bearers, and the growth of credit card business in China. In this summer, I interned at the Department of Claim Settlement of XX Corporation where I applied my knowledge of international finance and settlement when dealing with international claims and recoveries and the use of credit letters. All those practical experiences have added importantly to my overall knowledge of finance.

My undergraduate education is important in having given me general knowledge of accounting and finance. Only a program at graduate level can help me become the kind of specialist I wish to be. I am interested in studying the hypothesis of Efficient Capital Markets and Capital-Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). As classical topics in finance over the past decade, they aim at unveiling the mechanism of the capital market operation. Recent scholarship has produced some interesting research results, although some people tend to deny the existence of efficient capital market. I am also interested in studying law and accounting as courses like Fundamentals of Law, Economic Law and Taxation Law have been part of my curriculum. During my internship at XX, I learned about international law in international trade and insurance. With this necessary foundation in law, I believe I will acquit myself equally satisfactorily the Law and Accounting program.

If admitted by your esteemed university, I can contribute to your student community. As vice director of our school’s Cultural Development Center, I have been responsible for launching a number of large-scale dancing and singing contests. I was the hostess of two evening art performances. In charge of the class’s publicity, I have been editing a publication circulating class-wide, which has won a gold medal in the school’s competition. Those experiences will make me an activist on your campus too.

XX fascinates me with its strong faculty, rationalized curriculum, comprehensive but pioneering research. At such a university, it would be absolutely wonderful to learn the subjects I am interested in. It is even more exciting to envision how important my prospective education at XX will mean to my future career development.