I'm searching for you 如今越来越多的中国学生选择去美国中学读书，每所学校能收到几百份申请，在招生名额有限的情况下，芸芸众生中如何脱颖而出让美国中学要录取你？美国高中喜欢什么样的申请人？什么样的申请人会让身经百战的常春藤高中招生官眼前一亮？ 美国加州韦伯中学Webb Schools 前招生主任Leo Marshall先生，从事美国中学教育工作40年，担任SSATB招生领导委员会主席，专事寄宿和走读学校的招生官之训导，主持制定招生政策与规则，为招生官导师。Leo服务Webb Schools 15年，招生万许，针对“美国和加拿大的寄宿中学在寻找什么样的申请者”这一学生和家长最为关心的热点话题，特发文樱知叶总结几点揭开招生官之心证由来。 美国和加拿大的寄宿中学在寻找什么样的申请者撰文：Leo Marshall 翻译：Nancy Li 无论我在美国国内还是到海外进行招生活动，总是被家长们问及一个关于美国和加拿大寄宿学生招生的问题："Leo Marshall 先生，美国和加拿大的这些顶尖寄宿学校想要申请人具备什么条件才能被录取的可能性大？” 对不起，这个问题很难回答，这完全依情况而定。 这些顶尖的寄宿高中因为各有不同的项目提供给大家而各有特色，而且每年他们也会根据学校的需求来招收具有不同兴趣爱好的学生。寄宿高中协会一共代表了美国和加拿大250间顶尖高中，这些顶尖高中无一例外的都在寻找在学术上非常强的、能够胜任学习严格的美国大学预备课程的学生，这些学校很少会考虑在学术表现上非常差的学生。 现在这些顶尖寄宿高中在不断的看到越来越多的SSAT、 ISEE和托福考试高分的申请者，但这些考试在整个录取决定中其实并没有那么重要。这些高分的出现只不过是大量的高强度培训的结果，很多父母只是假想这些考试分数是美国高中录取考虑的唯一要素，然而，很多学校逐渐发现，尽管申请者个个分数很高，他们却在英语口语及书面语的表达中词不达意，不能有效沟通，而这两项能力并不能通过考试准备而提高。 那么您问的问题的答案是什么呢？再次的告诉您，还是依情况而定，完全依靠每年招生官或者招生部主任对学校各个学科或者部门之间的具体需求而定。例如，每个顶尖中学都有相对很强的体育运动，有的多达50多个体育竞技队，橄榄球、足球、游泳、网球、篮球等等，这些运动队都需要具有该项运动天赋的学生参加。假如学生会游泳，网球或者篮球，但其水平只能达到娱乐放松、玩一玩的状态，是不会引起招生官的兴趣的，还有像周末偶尔跟父母打打高尔夫球等也不会引起高尔夫教练的注意。这些学校的教练会对申请者在申请季所从事的体育运动感兴趣，如果他一旦对你感兴趣，他会不断的跟招生官强调他对下个学年申请者的需求。 另外，所有这些顶尖中学也都要求学生参与视觉艺术或者表演艺术，如戏剧、合唱团或者各种乐器项目。例如，他们要寻找是有天赋的音乐人，一个会弹乐器的人，如小提琴、大提琴等，那他们相中的人一定是在这些领域具有很高水平的人并且在乐团里从事相关演奏的人。很遗憾的是，如果你是一个具有天赋的钢琴演奏者，你可能并不会得到太多的关注，因为会弹钢琴的人太多，而一个乐团当中对于钢琴师的需求只有一个。在过去的10年我在中国面试的学生中，我估计有75%的中国申请者都弹钢琴而且他们都弹的不错，但我的学校并不需要钢琴师。然而一个热爱艺术的学生需要具有在一个或者多个艺术纬度里非凡的艺术天赋，如你会素描、会油画还有可能会艺术设计，如果没有这些才能也不会吸引学校艺术系的注意。 综上所述，也不是说那些没有在艺术或者体育方面的出色表现的学生就没有被顶尖学校录取的机会。 下面是我的一些关于美国顶尖学校录取学生时考虑的几个要素的想法，供大家参考。1没有ESL课程的学校对学生的口语及书面表达要求极高，而这两项的考察不只是通过一个托福考试来评判的，这也是为什么那么多美国学校要求面试及申请文书了，还有就是为什么他们要仔细的看学生在SSAT和ISEE考试中写的范文了。2这些学校也在寻找那些成熟、有良好性格的孩子，而这些品质或者资质让他们能够独自应对远离父母在万里之遥的陌生环境所发生的一切，这个环境需要他具有独立能力和责任感。校方通过面试这个环节就可以考察出我们的学生是否具有这样的能力，而这样的能力对于申请者能否被录取起到越来越重要的作用。 3美国学校也明白大部分的学生还达不到我上述文章中所提到的在艺术或者体育方面超人才能，但是他们确实希望看到学生能够展现出在课堂外对一两件事情的超级兴趣。这也意味着校方要看到学生在自由时间或者周末一直在做什么。学校对学生小学阶段所从事的活动不感兴趣，感兴趣的是学生最近的活动和兴趣是什么。 可悲的是太多的学生因为要准备SSAT和托福而放弃了中学阶段的很多课外活动，而这一点对他们未来的录取会有很不利的影响。那些没有兴趣爱好，没有课外活动而只喜欢参加考试培训，用辅导班来提高学生数学和英文能力的学生，学校都不会感兴趣。只有那些对自己的兴趣爱好或者活动表现出真正喜爱的孩子才会有优势。 所有以上涉及到的几点对我们未来的选校都非常关键，而不是学校的名气或者排名，更要看中的还是学校所提供的项目是否符合学生的真正的兴趣和爱好。而这个兴趣爱好会成为面试里的重头戏，面试官在面试过程中会看出学生的性格，对学习的热情等。我见过的最好的申请者是那些在我面前展示出自己真正的性格，和足够证据证明自己的兴趣爱好的学生。很多情况下，我面试完学生之后我就确定了哪些申请者就是我想要的学生了。 Leo MarshallIBG高级执行顾问 英文原文 WHAT ARE U.S./CANADIAN BOARDING SCHOOLS LOOKING FOR IN A SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATE?As long as I have travelled all of the U.S. and overseas, there is one question from families hoping to send their child to a U.S./Boarding school that I can always expect: "Mr. Marshall, what are these schools looking for that can give us some expectation that our child will be given a serious chance at admission to a selective U.S./Canadian boarding school?Unfortunately, that question cannot be easily answered because it always comes down to two words: "It depends".Selective boarding schools do not fit into one category or description. They are all different with different programs and different interests in the candidates they seek to admit every year. The Association of Boarding Schools (TABS) represents nearly 250 of the top boarding schools in the U.S. and Canada; and they all seek academically talented candidates who can manage successfully a rigorous college-preparatory curriculum but rarely do these schools see poorly academically prepared candidates from overseas.Increasingly, they are seeing more and more very strong SSAT, ISEE, or TOEFL scores and it may not be too far off that, as so many candidates are submitting strong admission test scores, such tests will not weigh as heavily in an admission decision. Such high scores are beginning to be seen a result of aggressive tutoring programs that so many families are using in the false assumption that a test score is the sole criteria that is used for admission decisions. Yet, many schools are finding that despite high scores, many candidates still struggle with oral and written English which cannot be improved by test preparation. As for the quantitative scores, top schools see so many with extremely high mathematics scores that it just doesn't catch their attention any more.So what is the answer, you ask? Well, again, "It depends." It depends often on what the admission officer/director sees as a school's specific needs each year. For example, every one of these schools have relatively strong athletic programs with as many as fifty teams in a variety of sports: football, soccer, swimming, tennis, basketball, etc., and they always need students with demonstrated talents in these areas. A student who does recreational swimming or tennis or enjoys playing basketball at school but is not on an organized team is not going to get much interest. Playing golf on weekends with one's parents is not enough to catch the attention of a golf coach. A school coaching staff is likely to be deeply interested in what happens during the admission year and will be in regular communication with the admission officer regarding his/her needs for new athletes the next school year.All these schools require participation in a fine (visual art) or performing arts (theater, choral, instrumental) programs. They then seek talented musicians, i.e. musicians who play an instrument, e.g. violin, cello, trumpet at a high level and do so in an orchestra. Sadly, being a gifted pianist is likely to not garner much attention as a school orchestra rarely needs more than one pianist. I would guess that as much as 75% of all Chinese candidates I interviewed over ten years played piano and most were superior but my school just didn't need pianists. The student who has a love for art will, however, need to have extraordinarily strong talent in one or more medians, e.g. drawing, painting, or graphic design. Yet, most students will not likely have the talent to attract the attention of a school's fine arts department.Therefore, most students will not likely be superior in athletics or the fine or performing arts but that does not mean a student, necessarily, that he/she will not have an opportunity to gain admission to a selective school. Here are some thoughts on what schools are most interested in a candidate.1. Schools without English as a Second Language (ESL) program will require students to have very strong skills in oral and written English and that is not just demonstrated by a high TOEFL score. That is why schools require interviews and application essays and it is why they will look carefully at the writing sample on the SSAT or ISEE.2. These schools seek students with maturity and personalities that indicate they are ready to live thousands of miles away from home in an environment that does require some independence and a sense of responsibility. This can be revealed during the interview which is becoming of increased importance.3. Schools understand that most students will not have extreme talent in what I have described above but they will expect a student to give evidence of having one or more genuine interest outside their school. That means they will look to see what a candidate has been doing outside the classroom with their free time or one weekends. These schools are not interested in activities in primary school but only those most recent.Sadly, too many students give up such activities in middle school in order to prepare for SSAT or TOEFL and that works against a student's chances for admission. Students who show no interests or activities other than attending test preparation classes or using tutors to help them in mathematics or English are just not interesting to these schools. It is that student with a genuine love for a hobby or activity that will have the advantage.All of the above points to the importance of a candidate selecting schools not for their name or supposed ranking but schools that have those programs that match a student's genuine interests. When they select such schools, those interests will be evident in what is becoming the all-important interview, a time when a candidate's personality and enthusiasm for learning will be revealed to the interviewer. Some of the very best candidates I would meet were those whose real personality and evident interest in activities outside the classroom and it was not infrequent that I was certain after that interview that this was the candidate I wanted to admit to my school.Leo MarshallSenior Executive AdvisorIvy Bridge Group
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