Words of wisdom are unfortunately seldom taken to heart.

Accordingly, I learned the hard way that you never buy high and sell low. I started investing as soon as I turned 18 and could o en an !"rade account, and like many first time investors, I was consumed with consistently monitoring my ortfolio during market hours. #redictably, I fell into the tra that so many before me have$ I anicked the first day I lost %1&&. "o make matters worse, I had access to more money than an 18 year old interested in the stock market robably should have, and a cou le thousand dollars later$ I learned a very valuable lesson. 'y cooler head eventually revailed, and I have since turned a rofit. (owever, my interest for finance turned into a assion, and I have never been the same. In addition to deliberating on any financial information taught in my classes, I s end most of my free time learning as much as I can about financial markets. I first became aware of my interest in finance as a senior in high school. I watched every e isode of 'ad 'oney by )ramer on '*+,) and set my home age to the Wall *treet -ournal. +aturally, I began setting my sights on schools with highly regarded financial rograms and re aring myself for the rigorous standards they e. ected of their incoming students. /ne such rogram was the 'asters of 0uantitative 1inance 2'013 at 4utgers ,usiness *chool. ,esides being ranked a

to 1& 5uantitative school in the country, the '01 rogram offers students a chance to learn something most rograms ut very little

focus on, the ability to not only understand and a

ly 5uantitative

financial information, but to discuss it with others from within an ethical conte.t. In addition, the '01 rogram offers one of the best career lanning services available with its faculty having actual 6ob e. erience from banks such as )iti7rou and 'organ *tanley. 1inally, the '01 rogram8s focus on im ortant conce ts like financial modeling and rogramming make it an obvious standout in the new age of com uter based financing. "o re are for the rigorous standards the '01 rogram and others would e. ect from me, I knew a solid background in mathematics would almost certainly be re5uired. "herefore, I chose to concentrate in mathematical finance, which insured I not only gained an advance understanding of mathematical conce ts, but also learned im ortant financial and modeling conce ts, and numerical analysis. In addition, I double concentrated in !conomics and s ecifically focused my electives on financially related courses to further my background and re aration. 1urthermore, since the world is becoming more and more de endent on com uters, I knew I would need a com rehensive understanding of them to be com etitive. As a result, I added a minor in )om uter *cience and am fluent in numerous com uter languages including9 )::, 'atlab, 4, 'athematica, );, and <isual *tudio. #ost=graduation holds many sur rises and I don8t know where life will take me. (owever, after managing my own ortfolio for > years, I

can8t imagine doing anything else with my life. Although my immediate career as irations include gaining e. erience in asset management, my goal is to one day manage my own mutual or hedge fund. "he '01 rogram is one of the most remarkable rograms I have e. lored while looking for suitable graduate rograms. It would un5uestionably give me the tools and resources needed to obtain my goal. It would be a rivilege to be considered for admission to such a highly regarded rogram, and I thank you in advance for your time and consideration.