Personal Statement review!

[lethalasian]

Personal Statement – we recommend the following guidelines for the personal statement:

• No more than two pages in a readable font/size:

• Use answers to the following questions to guide your writing; please provide detailed and specific examples from academia, industry or research when possible:

  • Why are you interested in this program?

    • What have you done that makes you a great candidate?

    • How will you benefit from the program?

    • Why will you succeed in the program?

  • How do you plan to contribute to the student community in SEAS while you’re here?

  • What will you do/accomplish once you have completed the program

Personal Statement 

Over the past 5 years, my research in the stock market and work in the financial industry has been strongly influenced by the use of technology. The stock market is dominated by algorithms and it is said that 80% of the daily volume traded on the NYSE is done solely by computers. At work we have software that analyzes the risk of an investment faster than I can read through the file. It became clear to me that the future of the financial industry is becoming driven by algorithms and technology. Being a stock market enthusiast for 4 year I became increasingly interested in algorithmic trading and I strive to pivot my career to a more technical role such as a Quantitative Developer at a top fund. However, at this time I do not have the proper skills and education to design complex algorithms that can be used to execute ideas as the position requires. While I don’t have the knowledge to create complicated algorithmic systems or complex mathematical models, I used the full extent of my knowledge to experiment. I began to create my own systems based on historical price data and technical indicators. However, my results were never proficient, as I did not have the advanced programming skills necessary to extract alpha from the market. Thus, I could not achieve a significant result. This experience exposed my gaps in knowledge and has motivated me to pursue an advanced technical degree.

hat led me to the MCIT program was a video I found while learning Python and researching on Quantopian (quantitative trading website). I happened to come upon a presentation by Professor Kearns, which was quite different from the others. I was extremely impressed with his research on “Trading without Regret”. He presented a different and simpler way of using algorithms compared to more classical modeling approaches that are based on statistical analysis of data. Through the presentation I found out he was a professor in the Computer and IT department at UPenn, which introduced me to the MCIT program.

Being a finance major, I never had the chance to learn technical skills such as programming, data structures or complex math. In order to fill the gaps in my knowledge, I have taken necessary steps to further my education, like self-learning Python from stackskills to code trading strategies on Quantopian. In terms of advanced math, I am currently taking Calculus 2 and will continue by taking Linear Algebra over the summer to improve my knowledge of mathematical models. In my free time, I run a trading education community as well as trade equities, forex, and options through fundamental and quantitative research. 

Currently, I work as an underwriter at a private equity firm where I work with my team to analyze the risks of investments. I am responsible for using analytics to determine investment decisions based on a client's financial statements and industry risk. Being a part of an analytical team has provided me with valuable insight on how important organized data is for helping determine solutions, forecast financials, and streamline business decisions. My experiences here have made me very excited about the knowledge I will be able to learn through the MCIT program.

Being able to join this program would be an amazing opportunity for me to pivot my future career into becoming a Quantitative Developer. The MCIT core curriculum is adequately designed for a student like me with minimal prior computer science knowledge. While also giving me enough preparation for advanced electives in courses such as big data analytics and machine learning. Through the MCIT program I expect to equip myself with the knowledge I lacked due to being a non-CS undergraduate, and eventually continue in the MSE program with a goal of graduating with a Masters in Engineering in Computer and Information Science. I believe this program would be a perfect fit to prepare me for my future career aspiration.

I believe what makes me unique is my background in finance and experience as a trader. Combined with the technical knowledge I would learn from the MCIT program this will make me a very attractive candidate for hedge funds as a Quantitative Researcher. I would focus on idea generation through testing data sets as well as implementing ideas based on research. This is my dream career and my goal is to develop new cutting edge algorithms that will be used by quantitative funds. Before coming to UPenn I will attend Thinkfull coding boot camp to make sure I will have an easier time adapting to the courses that I will attend. This will help ensure that I will succeed in the program.

As an undergrad, I did a research project on cryptocurrency, analyzing the impact that it could have on our financial system. I was intrigued by this new technology that seemingly appeared out of nowhere and took the population by storm. During this project, I analyzed the rate of adoption of different crypto assets and different methods of valuation. Aside from academics, I was the vice president of *** break dancing club and introduced our annual *** break competition. Dancing has always been a way for me to express myself and I love sharing this art with others. I was also the treasurer of my fraternity, helping set the path for its re-chartering. I love being actively involved on campus and will bring the same enthusiasm to the SEAS community. 

While it is quite unrealistic to believe that life might be as linear as I want it to be, I have a strong certitude about my academic and professional accomplishments in years to come. As an ambition driven person, I envision a successful career in this industry as a quantitative developer. Thus, I feel that the right time has arrived for me to complete my master’s degree in computers and information systems to broaden my knowledge and achieve my goal of being a Quantitative Developer.

[Aswin77]

It is always best to avoid using negative sentences in your essay, for e.g., "at this time I do not have the proper skills" , "While I don’t have the knowledge", "I could not achieve a significant result".   Try to put forward your thoughts without directly spelling out your downsides. It takes some head-cracking to do that, but it'll be worth it.