Graduate / "My overall educational goal is to become"and "Currently, I am" - Columbia financial economics essay [3]

Hey guys, just finished my draft for Columbia business school master of science in financial economics essay. I am open to any recommendations and discussion. Cheers guys.

Essay 2: In 250-500 words please indicate your expected career track (examples include, but are not limited to, consulting, banking, asset management, research and modeling, risk management, etc.) and describe how the Master of Science in Financial Economics will help you attain your career goals. Please be specific.

Currently, I am not able to decide the exact career path for the 10-year future, but it is still possible for me to identify the financial institutions and their functions that I am interested in. Equity research in investment banks or trading firms is my first preference. The first 3-year research associate will sustain my learning of different industries (I am also passionate to learn new things), hence enhancing my modeling and quantitative proficiency to the largest extent. This area is also the part of sources of finance fashion, so I would have corresponding first-hand information and practice, and even become the trend-maker if I make it to research analyst. I am also interested in managing funds in large transnational private equity firms or hedge funds. Then the overall experience gained from these careers will increase the chance of being the leading expert in that field (e.g. Quantitative Strats in Goldman Sachs) or widen my exit opportunities in the long run.

MSFE in CBS will definitely help me achieve my career goals. In such a highly technical industry, the quantitative and programming skills and the theoretical tools gained through the coursework component of PhD program will definitely put me in this niche. My undergraduate-level programming literacy is limited to some basic application in R, Matlab and SAS and needs to be extended vertically (a more profound understanding in each language) and horizontally (new language such as Python and C++). The computational courses such as Computational Finance can help me flexibly reproduce codes for different tasks. Also, it seriously attracts me that most finance theory courses are structured from an empirical perspective with cutting-edge research materials (e.g. Empirical Asset Pricing I&II), developing my critical thinking on the theoretical presumptions and hence making the courses even more relevant to real finance world. And courses such as Continuous Time Finance and Behavioral Finance will definitely broaden and deepen my understanding of trading and asset pricing. Apart from my core interests of research that I wish to dig in depth, the industry-oriented courses of MBA program will build on the fundamentals of finance and hereby perfect my knowledge in finance. Capital Markets and Debt Markets will make me sensitive to financial markets as a potential trading researcher. An understanding of Derivatives, Advanced Derivatives, and Fixed Income Derivatives will enhance pricing decision-making. International Financial Management and Risk Management can strengthen my coordination ability for complex finance work.

Besides the technical knowledge and skills offered by the MSFE courses, the opportunities extend to those offered by the Executives in Residence. I would substantially benefit from the consultation with the executives, who are definitely in the optimal position to help me tailor my professional path and find job opportunities.

Thank you again for any recommendations=)))

Huanyu