美国金融专业教授如何看中国申请者

下面是一位教授对于申请经济学硕士及金融学硕士的申请建议，解答了同学们的很多关于金融学专业申请的很多疑问，比如个人陈述重要吗，或者推荐信有多大的作用，希望以下的信息可能帮助同学们的2014年美国金融学申请。

FAQs about Applications for Graduate Schools in Economics (and Finance) The following describes what I regard as the most important considerations in applications of admission to graduate programs overseas. Application materials Statement of purpose This is the least important. To me, a bri description of what gets you interested in economics (or finance), which area of economics you find most interesting, and what preparation you have made for the study will suffice. Unconvincing statements may serve you badly. So don t brag about pursuing an economics PhD so as to save your country (or all mankind in the world for that matter).

Academic records

This is highly important-but only if they are written by someone whom the schools concerned know and whose judgment they trust. To be usul, the letter has to be filled with enthusiasm and with evidence that the reree knows you well. Lukewarm letters are enough to kill you!!! So DON T request rerence letters from professors, however famous, whom you are not sure are high on you. Sometimes the reree can even use his/her personal connection to give you an extra push-thru e-mails or phone calls. As her/his reputation is at stake, the reree will seldom exercise this option unless s/he is truly impressed by the student. Writing sample(s)

Be realistic and try to diversify You have to understand that you are competing with the best students from all over the world. In practice, you will be grouped together with students from Mainland China and Taiwan, and only a quota of 1-3 will be allotted to this group by each school every year. Obviously, most students from the mainland are technically stronger and are thus more welcome than those from Hong Kong. (These days, the technically strongest are from Eastern Europe.) You should apply to 10-15 schools and diversify your portfolio by applying to different tiers of schools. If you really want to raise your chance of entering the top ten, you may want to first obtain a master s degree (say, from LSE) or get admission from a lesser school and apply for a transfer later. Research interests? Even bore you start your graduate study, you may already have some idea about what you would like to specialize in and may want to choose the schools (and even future thesis advisers) on such basis. In many cases, however, your research interests would change as you learn more about different fields. So don t try to confine yourself too early on. You should also realize that academics today are highly mobile. The professors you want to study under may have lt for some place else by the time you start your doctoral thesis. So your optimal strategy should be to get where you can into the best schools with the largest proportion of talents in the profession (like Chicago, Harvard, MIT, and Princeton). 在教授的解释中，金融学专业申请中语言成绩和专业成绩都是非常重要的，而且如果申请者有不错的实习实践经历，并且在文书中得到充分的体现，将大大增加成功筹码。