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美国常春藤盟校的招生办主任畅谈招生标准和申请误区
你和牛校可能只差一层窗户纸
美国常春藤盟校是很多学生向往的地方，这些世界顶级名校更喜欢什么样的学生？
要知道，美国名校在招生时除了成绩，更看重学生的潜力。常春藤盟校（包括普林斯顿、哈佛、耶鲁、哥伦比亚等八所院校）为众多留学生所关注，随着申请人数的增加申请难度也越来越大。
常春藤盟校都有各自的录取标准，学生必须熟悉每个学校的录取要求，针对不同学校采取不同的申请方法。比如说有一些有关于常春藤盟校录取的传言，你不得不看。
麻省理工学院录取学生时有两个最重要的条件：一是当你失败时，能够站起来继续往前走；二是“我的爱好是自己的，不受别人的影响。”因为学校培养的是科学家，要求每个学生必须不怕失败，不会放弃。
耶鲁大学要求学生具有领导能力和关注社区历史的爱好。耶鲁大学的每个宿舍就是一个社区，每个社区都有很多活动。每个学生在社区活动中，可以培养自己的活动能力和领导能力。各个社区可以相互影响、相互交流。
哈佛大学的录取要求有十二条，每年的要求都不一样，你永
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远不知道学校每年到底要录取什么样的学生。
普林斯顿大学没有具体录取要求，只是“哈佛要的学生，题目坚决不要；哈佛不要的学生，则会考虑录取。”
哥伦比亚大学由于地处最繁华的纽约，各种文化兼容并蓄，因此要求学生具有文化欣赏力。校方认为只有懂得欣赏不同文化的人，才会获得成功。
布朗大学则非常自由，进校后学生可以自己选择课程和专业，一年只学一门数学课程都可以。校方认为，要想成功，只要做你喜欢做的就可以了。“如果不了解学校的录取要求，不管多优秀，你都不可能被录取。”
因此，笔者觉得有必要要把一些看到、听到的真实情况记录下来，整理几条国人对海外名校最容易出现的“误读”，跟大家一起分享。
排行榜前十的名校都高不可攀
很多时候，不得不承认，人这一生中跟很多宝贵的机会擦身而过的节点就在于那个“敢”字。不敢想，不敢试，不敢冒险，不敢跃进。。。。。。事实上，一旦你“敢”了说不定事情就成了。很多人觉得能被顶尖大学录取不是一般人可以企及的，记得采访过剑桥
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大学留学生基金会总裁Michael O’Sullivan先生和当年的奖学金获得者小刘。小刘是南京大学的研究生，雅思考了7.0，拿了剑桥的全奖去研究如今大热的“城市规划”专业。我相信雅思分数考得更高、毕业学校更牛的同学们一定会想问：他，凭什么？
我问小刘：“你觉得与其他同学相比，你的核心竞争优势是什么？”
我以为他会说：“我的独立思考能力，我在专业上的热情和投入，我的研究成果”等等没想到小刘回答：“我觉得是大多数人都没敢申请吧，我也没想到自己能被录取，全奖更没想过。”
Think big to be big.人生无上限，谁说你不可以？
用我的价值观去“猜”TA的喜好
在面对“被选择”时，我们习惯在潜意识里搜索资金的固有思维：我要应聘的是国企，老板一定喜好善于察言观色的人；我要申请的学校是美国商科排名最牛的，招生官一定喜好我在N家外企实习过的经历；我在雅思要考到7分，一定要多背模板、多背单词。。。。。。
在对哈佛、哥伦比亚、宾大的招生官采访时，我都问过他们这个问题：贵校的招生标准是什么。很遗憾，没有一位可以准确地回答出来。
我还不依不饶地请哈佛大学的招生官Jennifer Gandy详细
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讲讲什么样的学生可以最终打动他们。Jennifer的原话是：Umm, it really depends! Depends on how much you are able and willing to contribute to the community.
看！多抽象！其实越是名校的录取标准就越相对主观，甚至可以说是一张没有空格让你去填的刁钻的主观题考卷。你睿智、你勤勉、你激情、你内敛、你博采众长、你心无旁骛。。。。。。都可以拿到试题的满分。得分的关键是展现出一个独一无二、原汁原味的你。
换一个角度看，如果你是用人单位，你寻找的肯定是每一个员工身上的不可替代性（Irreplaceability）。如果你来代表高校招生，那么你浏览的海量简历中唯一让你令人眼前一亮的肯定是申请者不可多得的“个性亮点”。雅思是门综合考试，代表你即将去生活和学习的那个国家的老师、同学、邻居、陌生人、房东、收银员、卡车司机等等和你即将发生的生活场景。除了基本的单词，你必须了解当地的民风民俗、他们爱吃的食物、他们热爱的名人、知名的建筑、街头巷尾大家关心的八卦话题，这样才能融入这个社会。
用各类奖项堆成的个人陈述去打动招生官
我们在写中文简历的时候习惯把自己做过的所有“成果”都堆
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上去，觉得堆得越多、简历越长，别人会认为我们越成功。所以几乎每个人的简历上都显示出自己是一个学习高手、团队里的精英、体育爱好者、电脑发烧友、雅思8.5分。。。。。。样样精，其实就等于样样不精。人的时间和精力是有限的，人人如此，没有例外。你所热爱和擅长的只可能有一项或两项技能。英语中有Best和Second Best，没有Best No. 1 and Best No. 2。如果你真的是宇宙无敌超人，所有方面都好得不得了，那我敢说，写在个人陈述中校方也不会相信的。
在美国采访的时候，接触到了几位在常春藤盟校就读的华人，当然各有各的特点，但总体上让我印象深刻的方面，是他们的独立思考能力和思维能力。还是那句话，出国留学不一定就比在国内发展得好，还是要听从自己心底的声音。
下面是一篇来自留学生事务所的优秀的留学生个人陈述，这篇个人陈述获得了哈佛商学院老师的一致称赞，哈佛商学院的教授Smith称赞说这篇个人陈述的故事很吸引人，这篇个人陈述由Catherine(官方qq:1127994113)执笔，内容如下，请各位留学生朋友认真阅读，仔细体会。
个人陈述——Harvard University （哈佛大学）
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Life is full of choices, and to choose one thing is to forgo another. The dilemma of foreignness comes down to one of liberty versus fraternity-the pleasures of freedom versus the pleasures of belonging. The homebody chooses the pleasures of belonging. The foreigner chooses the pleasures of freedom, and the pains that go with them.
-----The Economist, Dec. 17th, 2009
人生就是一系列的选择过程，作出一种选择的同时必然摈弃了另一种选择。“异国客”的困境归结为享受自由但舍弃兄弟友爱；正如自由的快乐与归属的快乐相互对立。“家庭至上者”选择了归属的快乐，而“异国客“选择了自由的快乐，然而痛苦会如影随形。 ——《经济学家》，20xx年12月，第17版
The sunset in the distance elongated my shadow on the African soil. The cubicle dwellings of the township were enveloped in different shades of peach. There was barely any green on the ground, as it was winter in South Africa, but on the near hills, the red flowers of the krantz aloe (in Xhosa, ikalene) were just visible in the highlights of the sun. I watched an African woman walk past me on the other side of the road,
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carrying a package that was disproportionate to the head underneath it. Cursorily, she glanced at me, but then as if she had discovered another species, she perused my figure with the greatest attention. Who would have expected that meeting an Asian on the street was so interesting? Remembering what the students at the Queenstown Get Ahead Project School (QGAP) had asked me on the first day-“You’re the first, REAL Chinese I’ve ever met- so do you know kung fu”? – I could not help but laugh at the mutual feelings of novelty.
My family roams around the world: I have traveled to more than 12 countries and have studied at more than 15 schools. I have always been a meticulous observer of different cultures, but I do not always enjoy being the “foreigner”.
So far, my summer “vacation” consisted of waking up at 6:30am, shivering in my fleece jacket, and preparing calculus questions to teach. I had asked for an opportunity to join three teachers from Toronto on a faculty initiative to the impoverished area of South Africa, the Eastern Cape, to help students my own age prepare for their national Matric Exam.
I came to an intersection of roads, which equally seemed to
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lead to nowhere. I was bathed not only in the warmth of the setting sun, but also in the sights of every pedestrian passing by. The sky had turned into a geography of bright orange, flickering with its last sources of energy. There were at least five possible directions, all identical with their yellowed walls and bright red roofs. Another challenge in life. Afraid of taking the wrong turn, I hesitated, my legs glued to the ground.
My mind flashed back to a much warmer morning, about two days earlier, when I had asked a student at QGAP School about her unfinished homework. As the teachers’ assistant and as the students’ peer, I enjoyed these individual communications: Hey, you’re off to a great start on your math portfolio, but how come you never finished?”
“I’m sorry, Ma’am. I had to take care of my twin babies and there was simply not…”
“I’m the same age as you are! You don’t need to call me…EXCUSE me? Babies?!” I gasped. “Are you okay? I mean, does anyone else know?”
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“Yes, it’s exactly uncommon here,” she pointed to another girl. “She also has a baby, and someone else is on leave because she’s pregnant.”
I remembered when my family finally “settled” in Canada when I was 15. Until then my life had been episodes of studying in either Vancouver or Beijing. I couldn’t help but moan about the one-meter-high snow of the Toronto winter, my loss of friendships and favorite food, and the challenges of acclimatizing not only to a new school but also to a seemingly new culture. The moment in South Africa made me realize that these were no challenges at all compared to raising a baby while going to school.
Standing at the intersection, I realized that there would always be alternative paths and possibilities. Despite the natural unease of being in a foreign place, I randomly decided to take the road that pointed towards the distant mountain. As I walked past the squat buildings and tall fences (some even with electrical wires), I came across the church. It looked like a miniature compared to St. Paul’s Cathedral in London or St. Mary’s in Sydney, but something- the worn, wooden door, the
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aged carvings, or perhaps its distinct, pointed roof among all the flat rooftops surrounding it- gave it a sense of magnificence and solemnity. Gilded by the sun, the church was enfolded in a warning ambiance. The view softened my heart.
“How can you tell where you’re going? The buildings all look the same to me,” I had asked a recently-made friend at QGAP School.
“Well, it’s simple. The church is always at the center of any town in South Africa, and you can see the pointed roof anywhere. We like to say that God is leading our way.” The people I met in South Africa were extremely religious, breaking out into gospel songs during bus rides, praying from the bottoms of their hearts. They taught me much about faith. On the other hand, 99% of the Chinese population is atheist. So when I moved to Toronto, my religious vacuum was suddenly filled with a million different religions. I was introduced by my Jewish friends to the most intricate candelabra, the Menorah; I argued with a deeply Christian friend about homosexual marriages; I also learned that every person in Jainism had the same last name, Jain. The leap from no religion to every
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possible religion forced me to come out of my accepted culture and become a more cosmopolitan, aware citizen. Coming to South Africa highlighted and again challenged my perception and emotional receptiveness.
At the sun slowly sank into the horizon, I stood in the street, thinking about my friend with her babies, my past travels, and my walk through Queenstown. I knew nothing about this place, but that very reason gave me the liberty to explore and discover. A randomly selected street led me to the majestic religious center of the Xhosa people. In this town and in life, I had never been confined by one familiar route. To have always been the foreigner enlarged my understanding of the world of opportunities.
I had to travel another 13,762 km and wander the streets of a foreign town by myself to truly understand the “pleasures of freedom”, a phrase from an article in The Economist that struck me a year before my trip. I have come to appreciate the value of foreignness.
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