拿下2019年申请季？你的文书还得多下功夫

美国大学2018年录取季阴影还没走出，2019年申请季已经到来… 现在竞争太激烈了，当多少高分&lquo;学霸&rquo;被梦校拒绝，当名校们不再对SAT、ACT设定门槛，文书便成了展现自我特质的致胜法宝。 

在美国大学招生官眼里，什么样的文书是有画面感？什么样的文书一眼脱颖而出？什么样的文书涵盖你的特质？申请季已经开启，此时还对文书毫无思路的话，拿什么和其它申请者PK？

 威廉姆斯学院招生官Abigail Conyers  

Make connections 产生联系 ： Conyers在去年读到一篇非常精彩的申请Essay，申请人意向在威廉姆斯学院学习语言学、神经科学。在他的申请文书中，谈起自己是如何与患痴呆症的祖母交流、讲故事，通过这些事来表示自己对语言学的热爱；同时为了更深入了解祖母的病，他加入了一个神经科学实验室，希望研究大脑如何处理语言，并且更深入地了解痴呆症。 

招生官总结 ，这位学生能够将所有的经历结合在一起，让招生官了解到他关注什么事情，想学习这个专业的原因，单从文书上就能获取到一个丰满人物形象。

                                                           明德学院招生官Sam Prouty 

 Be true to yourself 做自己： Prouty分享了一篇有趣的申请Essay，讲的是这名学生热衷于收集Pez ispensers&mash;&mash;他甚至有一整间储藏室来放置藏品。这篇文章给出了一个有趣的观点：每当他向别人兴高采烈讲述这种爱好时，人们古怪的反应很有趣。不仅是因为Essay内容，更是因为学生对这个话题的写作方式引起了Prouty的注意。 

招生官总结， 写Essay是为了让招生官看到你的与众不同，你的怪癖和你的特质也是我们想了解的。如果你是个有趣的人，你应该告诉招生官；但如果你不是个有趣的人，也不用假装有趣，只要告诉招生官你最真实的故事就好。 

                                                           斯沃斯莫尔学院招生官J.t.Duck 

Show what stuent you’ll be 你会成为什么样人： Duck读过一篇自称&lquo;兄弟&rquo;的文章，这是一位男子气概十足的家伙写的。申请者说，在学校里他会器宇轩昂的与&lquo;兄弟&rquo;们聊天；但放学回家后，他会登录到在线多人游戏上，和朋友谈论一些脆弱敏感的话题，比如被女生拒绝。  

招生官总结 ，这位年轻人虽然是从与&lquo;兄弟&rquo;玩电子游戏入手，但文章中更多体现的是他如何与其他人建立联系。 

                                                            达特茅斯学院招生官Lee Coffin 

Don’t overthink it 别想太多： 最令Coffin印象深刻的申请Essay，是一位申请者描述自己作为剧组成员、舞台监督在幕后扮演的角色，文章非常清晰地描述了他在校园剧场的角色，以及为什么想学习戏剧的原因。  

招生官总结， 很多时候申请人都在在寻找一个令读者&lquo;哇&rquo;的主题点，为此他们试图创作出很完美的作品，但最终得到一篇有没任何内容的Essay。

                                                        附录一：三大申请系统最新文书题目

Common App系统 

从七个题目中选择一个你最有话说，最想和别人分享，最能体现你性格特点的题目来写，字数不超650字，不少于250字。 

1、Some stuents have a backgroun, ientity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application woul be incomplete without it. If this souns like you, then please share your story. 

2、The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be funamental to later success. Recount a time when you face a challenge, setback, or failure. How i it affect you, an what i you learn from the experience?

3、Reflect on a time when you questione or challenge a belief or iea. What prompte your thinking? What was the outcome? 

4、Describe a problem you’ve solve or a problem you’ like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical ilemma - anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you an what steps you took or coul be taken to ientify a solution. 

5、Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparke a perio of personal growth an a new unerstaning of yourself or others. 

6、Describe a topic, iea, or concept you fin so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why oes it captivate you? What or who o you turn to when you want to learn more? 7、Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve alreay written, one that respons to a ifferent prompt, or one of your own esign.  

UC申请系统

申请者在所给的8个题目中任选4个来写，每篇文书不超过350个词。 

1、Describe an example of your leaership experience in which you have positively influence others, helpe resolve isputes, or contribute to group efforts over time. 

2、Every person has a creative sie, an it can be expresse in many ways: problem solving, original an innovative thinking, an artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative sie. 

3、What woul you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you evelopean emonstrate that talent over time? 

4、Describe how you have taken avantage of a significant eucational opportunity or worke to overcome an eucational barrier you have face. 

5、Describe the most significant challenge you have face an the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affecte your acaemic achievement? 

6、Think about an acaemic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthere this interest insie an/or outsie of the classroom. 

7、What have you one to make your school or your community a better place? 

8、Beyon what has alreay been share in your application, what o you believe makes you stan out as a strong caniate for amissions to the University of California? 

CAAS申请系统

1、Tell a story from your life, escribing an experience that either emonstrates your character or helpe to shape it.

2、Describe a time when you mae a meaningful contribution to others in which the greater goo was your focus. Discuss the challenges an rewars of making your contribution. 

3、Has there been a time when you’ve ha a long-cherishe or accepte belief challenge? How i you respon? How i the challenge affect your beliefs? 

4、What is the harestpart of being a teenager now? What’s the best part? What avice woul you give a younger sibling or frien (assuming they woul listen to you)? 5、Submit an essay on a topic of your choice. 

附录二：部分大学补充文书题目 

芝加哥大学 

1.【必写】Question 1 (Require) How oes the University of Chicago, as you know it now, satisfy your esire for a particular kin of learning, community, an future? Please aress with some specificity your own wishes an how they relate to UChicago. 

1. 【必写】Question2 Extene Essay (Require; choose one) 

1) Essay Option 1 In 2015, the city of Melbourne, Australia create a &lquo;tree-mail&rquo; service, in which all of the trees in the city receive an email aress so that resients coul report any tree-relate issues. As an unexpecte result, people began to email their favorite trees sweet an occasionally humorous letters. Imagine this has been expane to any object (tree or otherwise) in the worl, an share with us the letter you’ sen to your favorite. 

 2) Essay Option 2 You’re on a voyage in the thirteenth century, sailing across the tempestuous seas. What if, suenly, you fell off the ege of the Earth? 

 3) Essay Option 3 The wor floccinaucinihilipilification is the act or habit of escribing or regaring something as unimportant or of having no value. It originate in the mi-18th century from the Latin wors &lquo;floccus,&rquo; &lquo;naucum,&rquo; &lquo;nihilum,&rquo; an &lquo;pilus&rquo;&mash;all wors meaning &lquo;of little use.&rquo; Coin your own wor using parts from any language you choose, tell us its meaning, an escribe the plausible (if only to you) scenarios in which it woul be most appropriately use. 

 4) Essay Option 4 Lost your keys? Alohomora. Noisy roommate? Quietus. Feel the nee to shatter winows for some reason? Finestra. Create your own spell, charm, jinx, or other means for magical mayhem. How is it enacte? Is there an incantation? Does it involve a potion or other magical object? If so, what’s in it or what is it? What oes it o? 

 5) Essay Option 5 Imagine you’ve struck a eal with the Dean of Amissions himself, Dean Nonorf. It goes as follows: you’re guarantee amission to the University of Chicago regarless of any circumstances that arise. This bon is groune on the conition that you’ll obtain a blank, 8.5 x 11 piece of paper, an raw, write, sketch, shae, stencil, paint etc., anything an everything you want on it; your only limitations will be the bounaries of both sies on the single page. Now the catch… your submission, for the rest of your life, will always be the first thing anyone you meet for the first time will see. Whether it’s at a job interview, a blin ate, arrival at your first Humanities class, before you even say, &lquo;hey,&rquo; they’ll alreay have seen your page, an formulate that first impression. Show us your page. What’s on it, an why? If your piece is largely or exclusively visual, please make sure to share a creator’s accompanying statement of at least 300 wors, which we will happily allow to be on its own, separate page. PS: This is a creative thought experiment, an selecting this essay prompt oes not guarantee your amission to UChicago. 

 6) Essay Option 6 In the spirit of aventurous inquiry, pose your own question or choose one of our past prompts. Be original, creative, thought provoking. Draw on your best qualities as a writer, thinker, visionary, social critic, sage, citizen of the worl, or future citizen of the University of Chicago; take a little risk, an have fun. 

耶鲁大学 

1. Short Answer questions 

1) Stuents at Yale have plenty of time to explore their acaemic interests before committing to one or more major fiels of stuy. Many stuents either moify their original acaemic irection or change their mins entirely. As of this moment, what acaemic areas seem to fit your interests or goals most comfortably? Please inicate up to three from the list provie. 

2) Why o these areas appeal to you? (100 wors or fewer) 

3) What is it about Yale that has le you to apply? (125 wors or fewer) 

4) What inspires you? (35 wors or fewer) 

5) Yale’s resiential colleges regularly host conversations with guests representing a wie range of experiences an accomplishments. What person, past or present, woul you invite to speak? What question woul you ask? (35 wors or fewer) 

6) You are teaching a Yale course. What is it calle? (35 wors or fewer) 

7) Most first-year Yale stuents live in suites of four to six people. What o you hope to a to your suitemates’ experience? What o you hope they will a to yours? (35 wors or fewer) 

 2. Essays 

 1) Think about an iea or topic that has been intellectually exciting for you. Why are you rawn to it? 

2) Reflect on your engagement with a community to which you belong. How o you feel you have contribute to this community? 

3) Yale stuents, faculty, an alumni engage issues of local, national, an international importance. Discuss an issue that is significant to you an how your college experience might help you aress it. Applicants submitting the Common Application: Please choose two of the topics above an respon to each in 250 wors or fewer. Applicants submitting the Coalition Application: Please choose one of the topics above an respon in 300 wors or fewer. In aition to writing on your chosen topic, uploa an auio file, vieo, image, or ocument you have create that is meaningful to you an relates to your essay. Above your essay, inclue a one-sentence escription of what you have submitte. 

 3. Optional Engineering Essay - For Applicants submitting the Coalition Application or Common Application If you selecte one of the engineering majors, please tell us more about what has le you to an interest in this fiel of stuy, what experiences (if any) you have ha in engineering, an what it is about Yale’s engineering program that appeals to you. Please respon in 300 wors or fewer. 

 埃默里大学 

1. In aition to your Personal Statement, please choose two (2) of the short answer prompts below. Be thoughtful in your responses, but on’t stress about what the right answer might be. We just want to get to know you a bit better. Each response shoul be no more than 150 wors. 1) What is your favorite fiction or non-fiction work (film, book, TV show, album, poem, or play)? Why? 2) What motivates you to learn? 3) What o you want to bring from your community to the Emory University community? 4) In the age of social meia, what oes engaging with integrity look like for you? 

北卡教堂山分校

1. You’ll choose two of the following prompts to respon to in 200-250 wors. 1) Tell us about a peer who has mae a ifference in your life. 2) What o you hope will change about the place where you live? 3) What is one thing that we on’t know about you that you want us to know? 4) What about your backgroun, or what perspective, belief, or experience, will help you contribute to the eucation of your classmates at UNC?