Letian Kong, MSDABC '22

Name: Letian Kong

Hometown: Nanjing, China

Program: NYU Shanghai-NYU Stern MS in Data Analytics and Business Computing

Graduation destination: Technical trainee, China Construction Bank

Undergraduate Program: BA Psychology and Statistics, UC Davis (USA)

Letian Kong has found success both inside and outside of the classroom. Designing his graduate career with purpose and grit, he thrived at academics while immersing himself in the diverse opportunities available through the NYU Shanghai - NYU Stern Master of Science in Data Analytics & Business Computing (MSDABC) program. Now, as he prepares to graduate this May, he was selected by program faculty as the winner of the MSDABC Class of 2022 Academic Excellence award based on his academic performance and engagement. 

Born and raised in Nanjing, China, Letian studied Psychology and Statistics at UC Davis, where he found his passion for data analytics during his undergraduate studies. At UC Davis, he was determined to pursue a master’s degree, hoping to acquire specific knowledge and skills to advance in the field and earn a competitive edge in the Chinese job market. The NYU Shanghai - NYU Stern MS Program in Data Analytics and Business Computing was a perfect fit for his professional goals. “The program allows undergraduates who have studied overseas like me to pivot back to the fast-changing environment in China and to build a network of young professionals who are from China and are interested in China,” Letian said. “It also offers me a great opportunity to study this field in a top university like NYU.”

In particular, Letian appreciated how the Master’s curriculum prepares pre-experience students with a strong analytical background for careers in the field of business analytics. “The Machine Learning course taught by Professor Ming Liao was my favorite class,” he said. “Among the content covered in this course, I think the method of matching, instrumental variables, and diff-in-diff strategy are extremely helpful. Those are all important components of causal inferences, which are very important not only in business analytics but also in psychology and sociology research.” He later conducted his capstone project working with a small team of students for their client. They applied the natural language process to perform sentence-level classifications and entity recognitions.

Outside of the classroom, Letian leveraged faculty insights and expertise as he explored different interests. For example, he strengthened his research skills by working in the GIM Lab, helping Dr. Julia Hur, Assistant Professor of Management & Organizations at NYU Shanghai. The lab examines how individuals’ motivation and cognition are shaped, or biased, by environmental factors. “This was such a worthwhile experience. I learned how to perform data collection and scraping while conducting literature reviews for matching methods.”  Letian also drew on his professors’ deep industry knowledge and connections to enhance his learning. “Dr. Bruno Abrahao, the professor for Network Analytics, taught me how academic works in sociology can meet business needs. He also kindly shared his previous research data with Airbnb with me so I could include them in my final project of this course.” 

Reflecting back on the yearlong MS program, he said one of the things he’s most grateful for is the career preparation support provided by the program’s Career Development Center (CDC), including the  one-on-one coaching sessions and many opportunities to connect students with alumni and employers. In addition to attending CDC’s workshops and events, Letian also joined the CDC Career Ambassador program leading a consulting industry research group. 

After graduation, Letian will join the China Construction Bank, one of the “top four” banks in China, working as a new technical trainee. While working at the bank, he will also continue working in the lab. “I may apply for a PhD program in the near future studying Management or Marketing,” He said. “I am super excited of my new journey. I will see what it will take me from here.”