文書essay寫作
 

      進入8月，Common申請系統(tǒng)已經(jīng)開放，離ED的遞交只剩下不到3個月的時間了。18-19年Common App的申請文書依舊為7個備選話題，如何理解這些話題，怎樣為這些話題選材，直接決定了你的文書是否可以在眾多的競爭者中脫穎而出。

 

      什么才是真正的好Essay？

   

      突然看到這樣一個問題：什么才是真正的好文章？

 

      我給出了這樣的答案：能引起讀者共鳴的那就是好文章！

 

    

      在標(biāo)化和GPA已成既定之時，一篇令人印象深刻的文書是招生官將你從眾多申請者當(dāng)中打撈出來的重要理由。換句話說，GPA和標(biāo)化決定了招生官讀不讀你的申請，而文書則決定了讀完你的申請招生官發(fā)不發(fā)你offer。

 

      Each year as more students are applying to colleges, they are submitting more applications than ever before, resulting in colleges receiving record numbers of applications. As a result, the volume of applications to highly selective colleges has reached new heights. Considering that admissions counselors have only a few minutes to read through each application, students need to view their essays as an opportunity to showcase their talents and interests, and to tell their story.

 

      While grades, courses and standardized test scores are always going to be the most significant factors in the admissions process, the other parts of the application, and especially the essays, can sometimes make all the difference between an acceptance and a denial.

 

      It is important for the student to view the essays not as an obstacle to fear, but rather as an opportunity to speak directly with the admissions committee. Your grades, standardized test scores, extracurricular activities and letters of recommendation are already part of your application, so there is no point in discussing any of this, for it would only be redundant. You need to view your essay as a means of selling yourself to the admissions committee. This is a time to flaunt your talents and your accomplishments, but be very careful not to do so in a self-serving, pompous way. The essay portion is the only part of the application where you have complete control, so take advantage of it and express your individuality.

 

 

      Common Essay的目的是讓招生官們在最短時間內(nèi)認識你，并看看到你的特質(zhì)，記住與眾不同的你。所以要求我們通過這些問題勾勒出來“你究竟是誰了？“

 

      有涉及到問及個人背景、成長經(jīng)歷的問題，我們可以毫無保留的去挖掘成長過程中的各種有趣的小事，千萬不要忽略這些小事，因為這可以體現(xiàn)出你的生長環(huán)境，以及這些環(huán)境可能對你造成的影響力。成長背景中的經(jīng)歷和經(jīng)驗，會在你遇到問題或者挑戰(zhàn)的時候發(fā)揮作用。于是，這些題目中就有問及，當(dāng)面臨困難、質(zhì)疑或者挑戰(zhàn)的時候，你是如何處理的，這些處理的方式、方法和效率，可以讓招生官看到你的個人能力和你的影響力是怎樣的。在經(jīng)歷了挑戰(zhàn)之后，自然會激發(fā)你去提高對于一件事情或者一項新事物認識的高度或者你的新創(chuàng)意，這也就是一個展示你個人潛能的機會。

 

      Think small: When writing the Common Application essay, too many students feel compelled to try and squeeze their entire life story into 650 words. This, friends, is impossible. It is almost always better to think small first. Find a story or event in your life that really meant something to you.  Did you win a competition at the last second?  Was your family stranded on vacation with no power for five days? Have you read something recently that blew your mind?  Now ask yourself- are any of these stories representative of my larger, most valuable qualities? The perfect essay topic showcases your personality, passions and/or ambitions without trying to do too much at once. Talking about your family’s adoption of a three-legged dog and how your pet’s perseverance and quirky attitude influenced the way you live your life, will make a better essay than a super general diatribe on why you like dogs, for example. If you find yourself getting lost while writing, ask: what am I trying to say about myself, and am I using a specific, compelling example to tell my story?

 

      Brand yourself: In order for your essay to be truly effective, a reader should be able to summarize your subject in a simple sentence. You accomplish this self-branding by choosing a creative topic (or a creative twist on a common topic), and writing about it with enough detail to burn an image of yourself in the reader’s brain. When it comes down to you and another similarly qualified candidate, you want an admissions officer to be able to stand up with your application in his/her hand and say, “I like the girl who performed trapeze in the circus,” or “How about the girl who saved her grandfather’s life?” It will be much harder to remember “the girl who practiced the trapeze, and was also good at riding bikes, and who got an A on every test and who generally worked very hard,” or “the girl who really loved her late grandfather and who feels like she embodies a lot of his core characteristics.” Focus your story. When you finish writing your first draft, do a branding test- try to label yourself based on your essay and see what you come up with. If you can’t easily narrow it down to a punchy description, you probably need to alter or simplify your essay.

 

 

      美國名校往往非常看重寫作水平和文法，在大一的通識教育里面，也有很多的寫作訓(xùn)練。所以文書是一個學(xué)生寫作水平最直觀的反應(yīng)。

 

      如何運用比喻、幽默的修辭手法為文書添彩？文書里面的輕喜劇怎么寫？

 

      如何用自己與眾不同的方式來表現(xiàn)一個大眾話題？例如，如何獨特地表現(xiàn)自己特別愛學(xué)習(xí)這一老生常談的話題？如何寫沉重、嚴肅的話題？

 

      同一件事情，如果能用更巧妙的構(gòu)思及修辭描述出來，會給招生官帶來更愉快的閱讀體驗，自然也會大大提升你的入選概率。

 

      Kill those clichés: We’re not going to beat around the bush here: clichés really get our goats. When you take that trip down memory lane, telling us about the time you were a mover and a shaker putting your nose to the grindstone it makes our blood boil. We’re content and grammar snobs, so we find clichés to be extra unappealing, but we also have enough confidence in your creativity to know that you can do better. Admissions essay readers know it too, and expect you to think out of the box without using phrases like “think out of the box.” So strike those tired sentences from your essay and do it now. Never put off tomorrow what you can do today. It actually hurt us to write that.

 

      It’s all in the details: What is the difference between these two sentences? 1. My favorite activities included fishing and cooking my daily catch. 2. My friends and I woke up early every morning to catch bass on Lake Michigan, cooking our spoils with herbs picked from a local farm. In the first sentence, we understand that you enjoyed certain activities. In the second, yes, we know you like fishing but we also understand your commitment to an activity you engaged in every day and recognize that your fishing trips are a social effort. There is a sense of time and place- we can see the setting, smell the herbs. With a few extra words, sentence two tells us much more about your fishing experience. Many students have a tendency to skew generic in the telling of their personal stories.  What makes an essay memorable is often the sum of the little things. If you can paint a clear picture for your reader by providing details, you are much more likely to lodge a marker in their memories.

 

      If Nothing Else, Entertain: Imagine you’re a college essay reader at an upstanding academic institution and it is your job to read dozens of essays a day, every day, for weeks on end. Ninety percent of the essays that pass your desk are stone-cold boring, and maybe ten percent break through the fuzz and force you to pay attention. As an applicant, you want your essay to shine a bright light in the face of that oft-bored reader. No matter what your subject, serious, uplifting, sentimental or pithy, your essay should aim to entertain. This will require many elements working together in harmony. You will need a compelling subject, a direct and powerful narrative, impeccable grammar and a memorable style. A little laughter never hurts either. It is often hard to know whether an essay is truly entertaining until the end stages of writing, but when you are reading over your drafts, the question should always be in the back of your mind: Is this essay fun to read? Some students achieve entertainment value by being controversial. Others load their pieces with comic relief. Some are able to describe events in such detail that a reader simply must get to the end of the essay. No matter what tactics you end up using, your goal should be effortless and compelling readability.

 

 

      從錄取數(shù)據(jù)來看，ED輪的錄取率通常比RD輪高出很多，所以11月1日這一波ED輪的遞交，同學(xué)們千萬要把握好機會。一旦在ED輪獲得錄取，那你就比其他同學(xué)提前三個月結(jié)束戰(zhàn)斗～想想就很興奮吶

 

      Start Early and Take Your Time. Don’t wait until the last minute. Application essays almost always take longer than you anticipate. Invest the time necessary to do it right. It should be your best work. Ask others to review your drafts and offer comments and suggestions. Take comments and suggestions seriously – behind every good writer is usually at least one good editor!

 

      Write first, edit later: When it comes to writing, we are almost always our own worst critics.  So many students want and expect themselves to produce pure, uninhibited brilliance the first time their fingers hit the keys, but that is almost never the way good essay writing works. Writing a compelling essay is a process, and the best writing can often be plucked from our stream-of-consciousness efforts. Don’t edit yourself before you allow your creativity to warm up and pour onto the page. Never judge your writing until you have a few paragraphs written down first. You can always cut what doesn’t work and it is much easier to work with an overabundance of words and ideas than nothing at all.