美本留学指南:藤校麻斯招生名言启示录
上传时间:2022-10-14 访问量:793很喜欢麻省理工学院一位招生官说的话:Trying to define admissions with a formula is like trying to define life with a formula。It's like trying to explain poetry using calculus. It would take the human component out of it, which is perhaps the most important part. 想用一个公式来定义招生,就如用一个公式定义生活/生命一样,就像用微积分来解释诗歌,这样做会抽离人这个可能最重要的部分。跨过学术和考试上的门槛后(参照藤校麻斯录取因素数据分析,把申请者作为学生As a Student的各项评估),招生官看的就是申请者作为人(As a Person) 的魅力,具体展示在19项影响录取的因素中的最重要的3项:Extracurricular activities课外活动,Talent/Ability天赋/才能;Character/Personal Qualities性格/人品。
那么如何借助活动展示申请者哪些独一无二的特质?本篇我们从招生官What We Look For的答案解读,希望能让在做规划和申请季的同学【看见】自己的闪光点,也可能抛砖引玉对中小学乃至更早的育儿之道提供一些思考。
Part I:哪些课外活动是好活动?
Stanford 斯坦福大学
Learning about your extracurricular activities and nonacademic interests helps us understand your potential contributions to the Stanford community. You may also hold down a job or have family responsibilities. These are as important as any other extracurricular activity. In general, we want to understand the impact you have had at your job, in your family, in a club, in your school or in the larger community, and we want to learn of the impact that experience has had on you.
了解你的课外活动和非学术的兴趣帮助我们理解你可能为斯坦福大学作出的贡献。你也许有工作或者家庭责任在身,这些和课外活动一样重要。总的来说,我们想了解你在工作,家庭,社团,学校和更大的社区的影响力,我们想了解这些经历对你的影响。
Columbia 哥伦比亚大学
Columbia is a vibrant residential community where learning happens everywhere students gather—Furnald Lounge, Carleton Commons, Low Steps and more. Your commitments to your household, school, and broader interests and communities can demonstrate how you might engage as a peer and participant in this rich campus life.
哥伦比亚大学是一个很有活力的校园,大部分本科生都住校,但凡学生聚集的区域他们都可以都可以互相学习。你对家庭,学校,还有更多的兴趣圈子和社交群体的投入,可以证明你以后如何参与我们丰富的校园生活。
Harvard 哈佛大学
• Will you contribute something to Harvard and to your classmates? Will you benefit from your Harvard experience?
• Would other students want to room with you, share a meal, be in a seminar together, be teammates, or collaborate in a closely-knit extracurricular group?
• 你会为哈佛和你的同学做出哪些贡献?你会从哈佛经历中受益吗?
• 有其他同学愿意和你做室友,共享一顿午餐,一起参加研讨会,成为队友,或者在紧密的课外活动小组中合作吗?
MIT 麻省理工学院
Remember that there are many ways to make the world better—we’re not looking for applicants to have cured all infectious disease in the world by the time they’re 15. Tutoring a single kid in math changes the world. Lobbying a senator to amend bad policy changes the world. There are thousands of examples.
记住有很多方式可以让世界更美好—我们要的不是15岁就能治好世界上所有传染病的学生。给一个小孩辅导数学也可以改变世界,说服议员修正不好的政策也是改变世界,这样的例子不胜枚举。
除了招生官直白简单的语录,在招生这个双向选择的过程中,基本上Top 30 的大学在申请文书中都会涵盖 What contribution can you make to our school community(你能为申请的大学所做的贡献),换而言之大学为什么要选你?大学招生官一直强调的多样性Diversity,他们想招到非常不同的学生,然后看这些学生在一起能有什么火花产生。换个角度,回想在高中或者畅想在大学的各个角落,哪里有我的位置?我在课堂实验或者project中会积极参与吗?看见社团成员和社长都在划水我会怎么做?能给室友带来什么?会继续哪些兴趣爱好或者是否想尝试新的活动?对未来大学的贡献,可以从对现在学校的贡献推及!
MIT 麻省理工学院
In a nutshell, you should be invested in the things that really mean something to you (we’re not particularly picky as to what). Explore! Choose quality over quantity—you don’t have to do a million things to get into college. Put your heart into a few things that you truly care about and that will be enough.
简而言之,你应该投入对你真正有意义的事情,至于什么我们也没那么挑剔。去探索!活动质量比数量更加重要,你不需要为了上大学做一百万件事。用心投入在你真正在乎的几件事情上就够了。
Harvard 哈佛大学
• Do you care deeply about anything—Intellectual? Extracurricular? Personal?
• What have you learned from your interests? What have you done with your interests? How have you achieved results? With what success or failure? What have you learned as a result?
• What is the quality of your activities? Do you appear to have a genuine commitment or leadership role?
• 你有任何真正关心的事情吗?学术上的,课外活动,个人的?
• 你从兴趣中学到了什么?有哪些行动?结果如何,是成功还是失败,从中学到了什么?
• 你的活动质量怎么样,有真心的投入或者担任领导力的角色吗?
Stanford 斯坦福大学
Students often assume our primary concern is the number of activities in which a student participates. In fact, an exceptional depth of experience in one or two activities may demonstrate your passion more than minimal participation in five or six clubs. We want to see the energy and depth of commitment you will bring to your endeavors, whether that means in a research lab, as part of a community organization, during a performance or on an athletic field.
学生常以为我们首先关心的是学生参加的活动数量。实际上,一两个深度展现你热情的活动比五六个浅尝/滑水的社团好。我们希望看到你能为了自己的奋斗的事精力充沛深度投入,无论你是在实验室研究,还是作为社区组织的一员,在舞台上表演,或者体育场上运动。
Cornell 康奈尔大学
Extracurricular activities. Community involvement. Workplace experience. Leadership. What special talents or interests have you developed?
课外活动,社区投入,工作经历,领导角色,你参与这些时候开发了哪些特长或者兴趣?
课外活动的投入度/参与度代表了你的时间精力和心思都花在哪里,也可以展示你对其重视程度。现在的学生大多爱好广泛且多才多艺,同学们更多的需要甄别哪些活动是真爱,也要思考不同的活动给我带来了什么体验/触动/想法,或者塑造了我哪些的性格。有学生因为对足球的热爱,可以放弃自己最爱喝的可乐,养成自律的习惯,也有学生实力最强甘当守门员,成为团队低调而强大的后盾;有学生在养老院弹奏钢琴,不仅服务了社会,还在此过程治愈了自己的“社交恐惧症”。还有家长说过:“你还别说,学了芭蕾之后有一次我们去照相,老板觉得我女儿气质出众还征求我们的同意把她的照片拿出来展示”。 如果能中小学阶段多一些这样的观察和思考,早日帮助学生找到的真爱做加减法,日积月累,同学们就可以展现出远超超过同龄人的成熟和成就,可谓是事半功倍。
Part II 招生官看重哪些“闪光点”?
Princeton 普林斯顿大学
Curious, Committed, Creative. Princeton students are driven by the desire to push the boundaries of knowledge and service on campus and around the world.
好奇心,全情投入,创造力。无论是在校园还是全世界,普林斯顿学生有着渴望推开知识和奉献的边界的驱动力。
Columbia 哥伦比亚大学
Indications of curiosity might include a desire to investigate big ideas and to examine and solve thorny problems; a questioning, unbounded spirit of inquiry and innovation; openness to cross-disciplinary scholarship, diverse perspectives and new ideas; and a willingness to interrogate personal beliefs and belief systems.
好奇心可能有迹可循:可以是为了检验和解决棘手问题而渴望去调查一些宏大的想法,可以是本着无止境的去求知和革新的精神的提出质疑,可以是对跨学科研究,多个角度和新的观点保持开放的心态,也可以是乐于审视自己的个人信仰和信仰体系。
Stanford 斯坦福大学
We want to see your commitment, dedication and genuine interest in expanding your intellectual horizons, both in what you write about yourself and in what others write on your behalf.We want to see the kind of curiosity and enthusiasm that will allow you to spark a lively discussion in a first-year seminar and continue the conversation at the dinner table.
我们想看到你在拓展自己学术视野上的投入,奉献和本真的兴趣,这些不仅来源于你怎么写你自己(文书),也来源于其他人怎么写你(比如推荐信)。我们想看到你的好奇心和热情,让你既能在新生研讨会上引发活跃的讨论,也能在晚饭桌上接住话题加入对话。
Yale 耶鲁大学
Many years ago, former Yale President Kingman Brewster wrote that selecting future Yale students was a combination of looking forthose who would make the most of the extraordinary resources assembled here, those with a zest to stretch the limits of their talents, and those with an outstanding public motivation – in other words, applicants with a concern for something larger than themselves. Our goals remain the same today. Decade after decade, Yalies have set out to make our world better. We are looking for students we can help to become the leaders of their generation in whatever they wish to pursue.
多年前,耶鲁的前校长Kingman Brewster写道,耶鲁筛选出来的是那些能最大限度利用耶鲁非凡资源的学生,那些带着热情去突破自己天赋的极限的学生,还有那些心系天下的人—换句话说,那些学生关心的事比自己还重要。我们的目标至今没有变过。十年又十年,耶鲁的校友们已经开始让我们的世界变得更好。我们寻找的学生是那些能,通过我们的帮助,成为他们这一代的领袖的人,无论他们追求什么。
University of California 加州大学
Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes or contributed to group efforts over time. Things to consider: A leadership role can mean more than just a title. It can mean being a mentor to others, acting as the person in charge of a specific task, or taking the lead role in organizing an event or project. Think about what you accomplished and what you learned from the experience. What were your responsibilities? And your leadership role doesn’t necessarily have to be limited to school activities. For example, do you help out or take care of your family?
请描述你的一次领导力经历,可以是积极影响其他人,帮助解决分歧,或者一直对小组做贡献。可以考虑的事情:领导力的角色可以不止是一个抬头,可以是引导他人,承担一项具体的任务,或者是带头组织活动和项目。思考你取得了什么成就,从这次经历中学到了什么,你当时的责任有哪些?你的领导力角色不一定只限制在校内,举个例子,你在家里帮忙做什么或者照顾家人吗?
MIT 麻省理工学院
The core of the MIT spirit is collaboration and cooperation; you can see it all over the Institute. Many of the problem sets (our affectionate term for homework) at MIT are designed to be worked on in groups, and cross-department labs are very common. MIT is known for its interdisciplinary research. If you enjoy working alone all the time, that’s completely valid, but you might not be particularly happy at MIT.
麻省理工学院的核心精神是协作和合作,这一点在整个学校都能看到。在麻省理工,我们设计的很多问题(也就是我们对作业的爱称)都是需要以小组来解决的,而且跨科系的实验室非常常见。麻省理工以其交叉学科的研究而著称。如果一直享受独自工作,这也完全可以,但你在麻省理工可能不是特别开心。
MIT 麻省理工学院
MIT is an active, hands-on place. Innovation is risky and messy! Getting your hands dirty and trying something new is often the best way to achieve success. We apply theoretical knowledge to real-world problems here; our Latin motto means “Mind and Hand.” In other words, you shouldn’t just enjoy thinking, you should also enjoy doing.
麻省理工学院是一个活跃的动手实践的地方。革新有风险也凌乱。弄脏手尝试新事物经常是取得成功的最好的方式。在这里我们用理论的知识解决现实世界的问题;我们的拉丁语座右铭意思是:“大脑和手”,换句话说,你不应该只是享受思考,还应该享受动手。
University of California 加州大学
Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side.
每个人都有创造力的一面,有很多种方式表达,举几个例子,比如解决问题,提出原创的或者革新的想法,或者在艺术方面。请描述你怎么表达自己创造力。
MIT 麻省理工学院
Opportunities are abundant at MIT, but they must be seized. Research projects, seed money, and interesting lectures aren’t simply handed to students on silver platters here. For those students who take initiative—who take advantage of what’s around them—MIT’s resources are unparalleled.
在麻省理工学院有大把机会,但必须积极争取才能拿到。科研课题,种子基金和有趣的课程,这些不会轻易双手奉上给到学生的。对于主动能动性强,也就是能利用周边资源的学生,麻省理工的资源无与伦比。
Harvard 哈佛大学
Do you have initiative? Are you a self-starter? What motivates you?
你有主观能动性吗?是自发的吗?驱动力来源于哪里?
Cornell 康奈尔大学
Have you challenged yourself with the highest-level courses? How have you demonstrated your passion for learning?
你挑战过最难的课程吗?怎么证明自己对学习的热情?
Cornell 康奈尔大学
Honesty. Open-mindedness. Initiative. Empathy. Your values are important to Cornell. Do your application essays and recommendations reflect your strongest personal attributes?
正直,开明,主动性,同理心,你的价值观对康奈尔很重要。你的申请文书和推荐下反映你最强的个人特质了吗?
Harvard 哈佛大学
• What choices have you made for yourself? Why?
• How open are you to new ideas and people?
• What about your maturity, character, leadership, self-confidence, sense of humor, energy, concern for others, and grace under pressure?
• 哪些选择/决定是为自己做的?为什么?
• 你对新的观念和人有多开放?
• 你在成熟度,性格,领导力,自信,幽默感,精力,关心他人这些方面怎么样?压力下能否保持优雅?
能称为孩子闪光点的性格和品质非常多样,可以是他们在家庭,学校和社会体验中汲取的营养,也可以在有所阅历(课外活动/兴趣/热情而成就/失败)后从内而外的成长和突破。因为人的成长环境各不相同,即使是双胞胎的每天遇到的人和事也不一样,更或者说一千个读者就有一千个哈姆雷特,所以我们一直坚信每一个人都是独一无二的存在,要给每个学生做出独一无二的申请:规划中不需要照抄“别人家孩子”,更多是遵从本心寻求成长;申请文书没有模板可套用,我们帮你挖掘出自我的内核故事!