Master of Finance Personal Statement
Explain your short-term (immediately post MSF) and long-term career goals. Combined with your background and interests, how will the Vanderbilt MS Finance degree help you reach these goals? (no more than 500 words)
I would like to pursue a career in investment banking or capital markets immediately post MSF. Currently, mergers & acquisitions is the division that I want to go, although I do not hold any preferences for groups or industries yet. A few years after my graduation, I can visualize the scene of starting my own financial advisory business, or getting promoted to a Vice President or even higher positions. Unlike many other people who start to find ways out of investment banks the moment they step in, I enjoy the thought that I can work for a company for a very long time, and grow to be a senior-level employee. And all of this shall be done with the help of Vanderbilt MS Finance.
The first thing I like about the program is its small size. Communicational and networking skills are essential in the business world. The small class size creates the environment where students can know all his/her classmates, interact with them, build connections and friendships with them, and help each other professionally in the future. The small class size leads to the intimate, but versatile alumni network that Owen has. Furthermore, MS Finance students have chances to take classes, interact and get peer coaching from MBA students, which is extremely conducive to their professional growth, both as job market candidates, and people. Some of them might have had investment banking experiences to share with me, enriching my knowledge and understanding of the industry. The second specialty I like is the course structure. I have perused the websites of many MS Finance or MS Management programs. Most other programs allow students to take elective courses, to enrich the student's knowledge with a tinge of customization, but Vanderbilt MS Finance gives students two entire mods to take elective courses. This differentiates Owen from its peers because the program really awards students with opportunities to build their own course structure, choose their professional paths, and become the individuals they want to be. I can visualize an exciting prospect where I have the freedom to take courses that are intimately related to investment banking, especially financial advisory and capital markets, to prepare me for my technical knowledge.
A career-oriented program is good for graduate students who need powerful assistance into the job market. But a career-oriented program that has career center staff who focus on helping students perform mock interviews, organize workshops, hold networking trips to major financial hubs, know each of the students and customize career goals and plans, is even better. That is the third forte that I like about the program. In order to know the career services and the program better, I had the pleasure to speak with Jimmy Hu, a student ambassador of the program, through a brief phone call. Jimmy was very patient and helpful. He strengthened the unparalleled, one-on-one career guidance, a networking trip to the New York City, strong network in the NYC and Atlanta area, and alumni panels. What impressed me more was about the alumni response rate. Jimmy mentioned that when an MS Finance student reaches out to alumni with well-crafted emails or courteous phone calls, most of the times the student will receive quick and amiable responses from alumni. In the world of investment banking, networking is indispensable. Despite its small class size, Vanderbilt MS Finance perfectly illustrates the point that, it is not about how many alumni a university has, but how many alumni are willing to help.
However, none of those three points appears to be the program's most impressive advantage to me, but the story of Ms. Vanessa Arndt strikes my mind the most. She first thought corporate finance was the path she wanted, but then with the navigation of career center, she turned to the investment banking industry, where Owen has a great many alumni. Nevertheless, investment banking was not her destination. She switched her orientation towards management consulting, and eventually landed a job at Bain & Company, one of the top three management consulting companies in the world. The story of Ms. Arndt was not only about the fact that students coming out of Vanderbilt MS Finance have abilities to procure their dream jobs in top investment banks and consultancies, such as Goldman Sachs, Lazard, Jeffries, Bain, and McKinsey, but it is more about the possibilities and potentials of people the program help them to explore. It is about making it pellucid to a student: which path is best for you.
Thank you in advance for your help.
