Dear Admissions Officers:

I am XXX xxx, a professor of accounting and finance at the International Business School, Beijing Foreign Studies University, P. R. China. I made my acquaintance with Miss XXX xxx, who is currently an undergraduate at our business school committed to seeking acceptance into your prestigious MSc program in Finance & Private Equity, or possibly the MSc Accounting & Finance, when I taught her a core course Financial Management in the Spring Semester of 20XX. I have further had the honour of teaching her another core course Taxation Law this semester. Altogether, I have known the applicant for two years by now and I deem it a significant pleasure to give my utmost support to her application efforts because she is definitely one of the most intelligent and outstanding students I have ever taught.

Miss XX has had quite a few in-deep discussions with me about her motivation for the proposed programme of study, which have fully convinced me of her genuine inner drive for advanced studies at the postgraduate level. The first is to satisfy her increasing intellectual curiosity for truly cutting-edge knowledge and skills in finance and related fields, which is indispensible to a career in the sector. The second is the mounting challenges in the labor market for college students, among whom only the best, with excellent training at prestigious overseas institutions, would be competitive enough to secure a rewarding career. Finally, Miss XX possesses a true passion for finance and PE and through a full-range of internships and practicum projects in which she has put herself to the real-world test of the industry and has fully demonstrated her unmistakable professional caliber that would lead to a successful career. I believe Miss XX is a smart young lady who knows what she is doing and what she needs to do in order to become what she aspires to be.

In terms of the academic work of Miss XX, my rating would be “outstanding” or “exceptional”, because she has consistently remained the top student in the class over all those years, with a GPA of 3.9/4.0. As one of the best international business school in China, our school consists of the best young minds of the country and the academic atmosphere is dynamic yet competitive. Therefore, it is really a remarkable achievement for Miss XX to accomplish such outstanding performance. In the course Financial Management that I taught, her grade was 94/100, one of the highest in the class. Her academic work also consists of analytical research. While attending the Taxation Law this semester, she is in the process of writing a research paper under my mentoring, in which she attempts to investigate the feasibility of explicitly indicating the tax ratio of individual commodities on the price labels (which only indicate an overall price without listing sales tax). At present, she is designing questionnaires and has been modifying them. I believe through this research experience she will significantly enhance her analytical and problem-solving skills.

I would also like to comment on Miss XX’s English proficiency. Being an international business school, we have a number of outstanding professors from U.S. and U.K. teaching here, who have kept our students well-informed of the latest developments in the international academia and helped create an all-English learning environment. Most Chinese instructors conduct their teaching in English too. Most importantly, students use all the classical textbooks by international authors the same way as their British and American counterparts do. Naturally, they do their homework in English too. With regard to Miss XX, she has been undertaking a dual degree programme in English at our university’s Dept. of English Language and Literature, that’s why she has a considerably higher level of English proficiency than her fellow students and her scores in TOEFL, IELTS and GMAT tests all testify to this high level of excellence.

The applicant’s studies to date should perfectly equip her for the chosen programme. Having completed 70 courses over the past three years, Miss XX has laid an unusually broad and solid academic foundation. Her comprehensive knowledge structure encompasses intensive studies in economics, finance, accounting, management, marketing, law, etc. She has particularly intensive training in finance and accounting, familiar with all the major fields of those subjects. By any standards, 70 courses represent an unusually heavy load of work which is a mission impossible for any undergraduate without exceptional willpower and true academic zeal. I hope that the admissions committee could take this unusual accomplish into full consideration when reviewing her application. Just as she has reached a very high level of excellence at our university, the applicant would prove herself a valuable asset to your outstanding student community as well.

The applicant is fully qualified for your graduate programme for another important reason—having developed sound writing skills, analytical skills, presentation skills, and quantitative skills. All our specialized courses involve substantial case studies, term papers and group work. Her papers are always based on solid research, with careful and lucid analyses presented in standard format of scholarly writings, with ideas and arguments well organized and sufficiently proved. In the proposed research on taxation, she has impressed me with her sound analytical insights in our regular discussions. In group projects, she is usually the team leader capable of mobilizing all members in concerted efforts toward the fulfillment of common objectives. As team leader, she often represented her group doing presentations with carefully designed PPT, supplemented by rigorous verbal eloquence. With regard to her quantitative skills, she has completed a number of challenging quantitative and computer science courses that provide her with quantitative and analytical tools to undertake insightful research. Her GMAT score in the Quantitative Section is also exceptional—750 (98%).

Being a student, the applicant does not have any work experience. Nevertheless, my knowledge is that summer vacations have provided her with optimum times to gain real-world experiences relevant to her present application. Among all the students I know, Miss XX has undertaken her internship in a most active and well-planned manner. Through careful selections, she interned at GE (General Electric)’s global Financial Management Program (FMP), a multinational company where she learned about strict international financial principles and standards. At Orient Securities Asset Management Co. Ltd, she performed equity research whereas at Pan-China CPA Firm she carried out auditing of corporations in diverse industries. She was involved in corporate finance and governance during her internship at an Indian arts and crafts manufacturer and more recently her interest in private equity has led her to intern at China Gateway Investment Management, involved in Fuwen Arts Fund under the guidance of senior Hong Kong partners. Put together, those experiences would perfectly prepare her for taking up major responsibilities in the financial section in the near future.

Finally, I would like to comment on the applicant’s leadership. Ours is a rapidly changing business world and only those with strong leadership can face the challenges. Miss XX has served as director of the In-coming and Exchange Department, the university branch of AIESEC (Association Internationale des Etudiants en Sciences Economiques et Commerciales). This leadership position has allowed her to network with her counterparts on a global basis, bringing international students on internships in China and, vice versa, putting Chinese students, including herself, on internships overseas. This has promoted her cultivation of international perspectives and experiences, necessary for becoming effective future leaders of the business world. Motivated and goal-driven, she will definitely benefit immeasurably from your programme and succeed in fulfilling her aspirations.

Yours sincerely,

XXX

Professor of Accounting and Finance
International Business School, Beijing Foreign Studies University, P. R. China
Email: xxxxx@bfsu.edu.cn
Phone: 86-10-xxxx (Office)