在托福和SAT分数双高的基础上,怎么写好美国大学申请文书(college application essay)?
第一步,了解写文书的目的
美国大学通过文书考察学生的三点:写作技巧、思维方式、独特之处。
第二步:了解你自己
找出那些可以展示(show)的美德,如忠诚、有毅力、善良、大方..(不是空口夸,要有故事经历证明的)
找出让自己成长的经历:活了这十几年,哪些经历对自己的影响最大,为什么?
不要喋喋不休,不要写展示负面品质的经历。
第三步:头脑风暴,使劲想点子
想到了可以写的点?写个10分钟,你可以写出关于这个点你想到的故事、细节、人名、对话、感受、观点....别停顿,别评论,压制住内心怀疑否定的声音;
想出好几个点,每个点都参照上面写个10分钟,从中挑出你满意的话题;
有趣很重要。文书得自己写,写出来的得像自己,最好的文书是让招生官看见文书就好像看见了你最好的一面,有趣生动。
第四步:改,改,改
灵感闪现的时候,奋笔疾书,但从初稿到终稿需要三番五次的修改。语句不通顺,改!用词错误,改!
下面附一篇《纽约时报》2016年5月12日刊登的精彩文书。作者Erica Meister,毕业于密歇根州诺斯维尔高中,被斯坦福大学录取,她在essay中对抨击自己的家乡Northville势力,不关心穷人。
原文如下:
In 2015, Northville, the place I consider to be my hometown, was name the snobbiest city in Michigan. I prefer to describe Northville as reckless.
The more enterprising students of Northville High School specialize in the selling of three goods: marijuana, Adderall and test answers, all goods many of my peers don’t think twice about using. We’re from Northville. Most of us know nothing of consequences or responsibility for our actions, because our fathers can cover for us with cash and connections. We’ve been raised in such privilege that we feel enabled to say and do whatever we want, thoughtlessly.
Several years back, when the rap aesthetic was particularly prominent, most of the males came to school in ill-fitting jeans that sagged below their designer boxers, sporting T-shirts and necklaces that likely cost more than the weekly income for the average person, in imitation of their favorite rapper. They carried themselves like Eminem and spewed out Jay Z verses about being raised in extreme urban poverty and racism, before parroting their parents’ views on the “communist” welfare programs.
Derogatory terms for gays, the disabled and people of color are shouted in the hallway, right over the heads of people to whom those refer. From experience, I can certify that the administration does little besides halfheartedly admonish reported bullies and send them on their way to continue their reign of terror.
To my chagrin, I have occasionally fallen into a similar mindset. I once asked a friend, whose family I knew was struggling, what AP tests she planned to take. She replied that her family couldn’t afford any. I had forgotten how bad her circumstances were and had asked my question without thinking. I found myself victim to the disease that infiltrates Northville, the same carelessness I despise. Northville’s gilded bubble caused me to forget that some don’t have the luxury of affording even the reduced price of standardized tests.
Aside from being potentially harmful, this recklessness creates a sense of emptiness for me. Superficial, materialistic and shallow, we’re all too busy going on to the next thing, focusing on getting an A and not about learning the material, and getting our rib into a conversation without listening to what was actually said. Our sole aim is to keep moving. Where, how and at what cost are irrelevant questions to us, and thus we manage to remove all trace of purpose from our actions.
My most prominent goal has always been to leave Northville behind, to find a world in which people act consciously, aware that their actions affect others, and choose to delve deeper by asking questions and seeking legitimate answers that may differ from their limited understanding. In the meantime, I aspire to prepare myself by being more thoughtful, informed and, most of all, careful.
这篇文书展示了作者的写作能力,思维方式,善良品质。当然,文书不是作者成功申请斯坦福的唯一条件,她的GPA高达3.9,;她有拿得出手的体育奖特长——以9.56秒的速度打破了15米绝壁攀登比赛的美国国家记录;她还是美国国家荣誉协会的成员。