申请美国经济学硕士及金融学硕士的专家建议

中国学生申请美国留学，最想知道的就是美国大学教授对中国学生的看法，俗称知己知彼。下面是美国大学教授对于美国留学申请经济学硕士及金融学硕士的申请者的建议，解答了学生们很多关于美国大学金融学专业申请的很多疑问，希望可以帮助学生。 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 brief 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).

　GRE/GMAT and TOEFL scores

　This is just one of the necessary (but not sufficient) conditions. Every graduate school has its own minimum requirement in this regard. It is usually used as their first screening device to eliminate those who fail to meet the criterion. Fulfillment of this requirement is like getting an entry ticket to the admission game.

　Don't worry if you (as a foreign student) do not do well in the verbal part of the GRE test?as long as you can make it up with decent TOEFL scores.

　Academic records

　This is of some importance-if the schools concerned know how to compare them with those of other applicants (esp. in the presence of grade inflation).

　These records will be more meaningful to them if

　(as reference points) you have senior fellow students who did well (or poorly) in their programs;

　(for ranking purposes) you have other fellow students who are competing with you for admission into their programs.

　Reference letters

　This is highly important-but only if they are written by someone whom the schools concerned know and whose judgment they trust.

　To be useful, the letter has to be filled with enthusiasm and with evidence that the referee knows you well. Lukewarm letters are enough to kill you!!! So DON'T request reference letters from professors, however famous, whom you are not sure are high on you.

　Sometimes the referee 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 referee will seldom exercise this option unless s/he is truly impressed by the student.

　Writing sample(s)

　This is becoming extremely important-and indispensable for admission into top schools. Ideally, the paper should fully reveal your background knowledge in economics or finance (and mathematics/statistics) and strike a good balance between theories and evidence. In practice, your best undergraduate term paper that involves some original research can serve the purpose.

　For this reason, writing an undergrad thesis or doing a reading course in your final year will help.

　Starting last year, I have refused to write reference letters for students without any research paper.

　Which schools to apply to?

　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 before 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 left 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).

　从以上美国大学教授对美国留学金融专业申请的解释中可以看到，美国留学金融学专业申请中语言成绩和专业成绩都是非常重要的，如果有不错的实习经历并能在个人陈述中很好地体现的话，将会增大成功筹码。

　出国留学是一件好事，如果你足够优势，足够认真，申请成功也是很有可能的，但是你知道学校最看重的是什么吗，和我一起来看看出国留学如何写个人陈述。

　 如何写个人陈述www.zhaosheng.net

　个人陈述是在申请过程中按照学校要求来写一篇有关申请人过去背景，目前成就和未来目标的文章。一篇成功的个人陈述应不但语言流畅，且文章逻辑严谨，层次分明，能充分显示申请人的才华并抓住审阅人的注意力。几乎所有学校都要求提交个人陈述。

个人陈述应当包含以下内容：

　(一) 申请者的学术或专业兴趣及背景;

　(二) 欲研究的方向;

　(三) 未来的职业目标。

　如果个人陈述写作得当，可以很大程度地提高申请者获得录取和奖学金的几率。这对申请者来说是一个绝好的机会。可惜的是很多申请者对TOEFL、GRE可谓呕心沥血，而对个人陈述往往一蹴而就，敷衍了事，内容贫乏、语法错误连篇。

　而西方的大学并不单是通过传统的考试来考评其申请者的资格，这并不是说他们的录取标准不严格。外国教授在决定您是否正是他们想要的人时，首先希望听一听您对于您自己作何评价。当您通过申请文书来介绍您自己时，您会发现所面临的机遇和挑战同样之大。

　要写出成功的申请文书仅仅有那些适用于任何类型写作的基本写作技巧(清晰、简洁)是远远不够的。一篇好的申请文书要求申请人能够用一种与其他申请人完全不同方式，巧妙地展现自己的独特个性和经验。这是一件要求比较高，通常非常繁累的工作。

　这不仅仅对中国人如此，以英语为母语的人在此类写作时也会感到的十分头疼，但是我们中国人还需克服语言的障碍。然而，您应该认为您不但可以完成这一工作，而且不会不比他们差。当您真正开始以后，您会发现您所有的努力都会有所回报。

试着这样来做：

　1.分析您的个性和经历。

　2.区分、组织和取舍您的特质、经历、和成就来满足学校录取的要求和标准。

　3.把所有这些编排好的讯息归纳一个叙述性的结构中。

　4.草拟出一篇具有说服力能突出您的特质的短文来。只要足够深入地探索了您的人生经历和内心世界，您会发现您很特别，非常的特别，以您自己的方式。

　写作一系列申请文书的过程是一个自我审视的过程。成功的申请者注重这样一种策略，即致力于把自己与那些有着差不多的GPA、TOEFL/GRE成绩、成就、奖励或人生经历的人区别开来。虽然其他申请者可以清楚有效地写作，聪明的申请者则通过有目的地使自己与其他人区分开来从而在竞争中胜出。这正是创造性、目的性和动人的写作发挥作用之处。

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