The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) is the highest academic research organization in the fields of economics and social sciences as well as a national center for comprehensive studies in the People’s Republic of China. I am so glad I can take my master course in CASS.

The three years of my Master degree at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences offer me a great study environment. The academic staff, administrative staff, as well as academic advising team are always approachable for help. The facilities are also great. I can find all the resources I need for my study with the support from an efficient Library system. I can enjoy my university life by joining into all the very colourful social and sporting activities around campus the whole year through. All CASS can offer me is to ensure I get the most.

The School of Economics, the school I was doing my degree with, has good reputation for its high quality programs. I can get the cutting-edge and updated knowledge in the field from prominent lecturers. I can reconfirm what I got in lectures with my more-than-helpful tutors during tutorials and consultations. Especially, seeking help from my senior classmates to further enhance my understanding and make sure that I can absorb the knowledge to the fullest. I am directed towards a self-studying-for-deeper-understanding base rather than rote-learning base.

I remember the course work in the beginning two years was challenging. I particularly liked the joint courses in the 1st year because it provided me the option to switch if the original choice was not right for me. The courses in Economics were extremely useful because I have never studied it before, so they acted as a foundation to year 2 and 3. The variety of optional modules in the later years also means I can specialize in one particular subject area of interest.

Some courses are very difficult, but really useful. For example, The Business Finance course provides a most intriguing insight into the financial markets as well as a thorough grounding in the topics of Economics and Statistics. I particularly enjoyed the third year modules of Financial Econometrics and Financial Engineering, as they offered an invaluable foundation for the modeling of stock prices.

Actually, The Business Finance course acts as a great prelude if you want to enter the financial industry after graduation. Both the program and the university reputation are recognised by many top employers which is an advantage when it comes to graduate applications.

The academic and social programs also mean that students have a wide selection of subject areas and experiences to draw on for job applications and interviews. The facilities, staff and lecturers are fantastic at CASS’s Campus, giving me a great environment and resources to work from. The staff encourages me to be independent in my learning but also there is the support of a excellent network to draw upon.

I benefited from the interaction with my classmates. I was happy when I got the chance to work on my own projects, which started in the second year. I started writing course papers and that was the part that I enjoyed the most. My first paper was on quantity and quality of children for the demography course by Wang Tongsan. Combining my interests in the economics of fertility and numerical methods (in particular dynamic programming), I developed a life-cycle model of fertility. for the course paper in the econometrics course by Li Xuesong. In the model that I programmed and simulated, child quality depends on resources and older siblings can substitute for parental inputs in the production of quality.

Thinking of it now, I realize that the ideas in these two course papers are also important in the life-cycle framework that became my thesis. Nevertheless it was far from a linear development from my course work to the thesis. I tried several things (e.g., I also wrote two articles on East-West China migration) and shifted the emphasis of my thesis project at least twice. Being familiar with a variety of areas and methods has helped me, and many of the ideas that I had when working on the dissertation have become areas of research that I have pursued since then.

I enjoyed my years at The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences a lot. Since I only had two years of economics training prior to coming to it, I can honestly say that almost everything I learned about economics is the result of my courses and my interaction with classmates and faculty at CASS. As an editor at San-Lian Life-week Magazine (The best Magazine in China), what I study in The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences helps me a lot. The Master Degree helped me to get this job and the program prepared me for the dual responsibility of report the news toughly. I consider myself very fortunate, as I was given the opportunity at a relatively young age to join the Master program in the CASS. and have worked with very creative and productive scholars like Wang Tongsan and Li Xuesong.

CASS Campus is a tight, friendly community which means that everyone pretty much knows each other. I have really enjoyed my time at CASS and the friendships I have built up. It has been an amazing experience which I will always remember. I reckon what I will acquire from my years studying here in CASS is not only a degree but also a memorable lifetime experience.