主講老師：Stevenson女士

老師介紹：

• 哈佛大學本科校友

• 4年哈佛大學本科招生辦工作經驗，熟知名校招生視角和喜好

• 3年哈佛大學面試官經驗，直接接觸全球最優秀申請者

• 6年美國TOP名校申請輔導工作經驗，深入挖掘和打造申請者的特點和特色，成功幫助多名申請者錄取麻省理工、斯坦福等頂尖學府

講座大綱：

• 文書在大學申請Holistic Review（整體評估）中的重要性？

• Common Application文書選題有什么策略？題目和內容如何緊密切合？

• 一篇出色的Common App主文書具有哪些特質？

• 文書主題—什么不能寫？你在寫作中需要避免的錯誤

• 特殊形勢下的文書寫作：Common App中疫情相關的文書題目解析

• Q&A

如果你在考慮選哪個故事？

1. What matters most is not necessarily which topic you like the best, but rather which essay paints you in the most positive, interesting light.

我們的建議是，最重要的方面并不一定是你最喜歡哪一個主題，而是哪個主題文章能最大程度積極、正面、并有趣地展現自己。

• 學生案例：

  I worked with a studet this past year who wrote at least 10 totally different drafts. He could not decide which was most important to him so we evaluated each one and compared the benefits of each. Eventually we chose a story that highlighted his most impressive experience while also demonstrating important personal qualities like humility, maturity, and nuanced view of the world. He went on to be accepted at Vanderbilt.

  上個申請季的學生故事：至少有10個完全不一樣的初稿。學生無法決定選擇哪個故事，所以我們幫他進行了評估，比較了每個故事能夠給申請帶來的正面影響。最終我們選擇了一個描寫了學生最令人印象深刻經歷的故事，展示了重要的個人品質，例如謙虛，成熟和細致的世界觀。學生最后成功的被范德堡大學錄取了。

2.?Now since most stories can actually be told in various ways to fit multiple prompts, definitely choose your story first and then choose the prompt for this reason. Unless you have a very clear idea in mind, this usually involves a process known as brainstorming.

其實大多數故事都可以有不止一種講述方式，因此其實也是可以和多個不同的文書題目相連接的。我們建議大家一定要先選故事，再選擇common app的文書題目。一般學生都會需要有一個一起頭腦風暴的過程。

We usually try to get to know students well on a personal level and understand what makes them think, where their motivation comes from, what their priorities are, and what have been their major life events as well as their background. We recommend students try to approach this from an introspective standpoint to dig deeper into themselves.

我們會先在個人層面上與學生交流，了解是什么激發學生的思考，學生的動力來自何處，他們的優先級是什么，以及主要生活經歷和個人背景。如果學生獨自完成這個過程，可以嘗試從內省的角度去開始，也就是自我反思剛才我們提到的這些方面，這樣可以更深入地了解自己。

如果你已經選定了故事？

There are still many ways you can write on one topic. For example, you want to write about football since it’s your favorite activity, but what do you write? A general description of your entire football career? The single best game of your life? Showcase your leadership as captain? Or maybe even how you solved a problem related to your time on the team?

如果已經選定了內容主題，還是有很多寫作方式。比如學生想寫橄欖球，那么可以寫哪些方面呢？整個足球生涯的總體回顧？踢得最出色的一場比賽？展現作為隊長的領導能力？或者是如何解決與團隊工作時間相關的問題的？這些都是可以去寫成文書的點。

• 學生案例：

  There was this student whose passion was football. We combed through his experiences and decided on a particular game which showcased his leadership and talent as an athlete, but we had to play up the challenge aspect and ended up changing the prompt to make it more exciting and give him more opportunities to share his uniqueness. Although he was not recruited for football, he went on to study at Cornell.

  我們曾經有一個很喜歡橄欖球的學生。我們總結了他的經歷，決定去寫一場對他來說特別的比賽，展示他作為運動員的領導才能和才華。為了更好地寫出這篇文書，我們增加了挑戰自我的元素，最終改成了一篇適合挑戰題目的文書。修改后，這篇文書中展現他獨特性的余地就大大增加了。盡管他未被招募為特長生，但他成功錄取了康奈爾大學。

Essays are extremely personal, which is also the goal for us when assisting with the brainstorming and writing process, but?there are definitely effective approaches and tools to identify how to showcase each students’ positive qualities.?In my Essay Writing Workshop, I will be covering how to assess and critique your essay from the perspective of the admissions committee which should empower students to produce an essay that promotes the best version of themselves as well as one that will stand out and intrigue admissions officers.

文書是高度個性化的，這也是我們在幫助學生進行頭腦風暴和寫作過程中希望達到的目標。但是如果學生展示自己正面的特質的話，是可以總結出有效的方法的。之后在惠宜教育的Common App文書寫作課程中，Stevenson老師會從招生委員會的角度去評估和反思文書寫作，幫助學生寫出最符合招生官喜歡的文書并且展現出自己最好的一面。

In this part, I really want to talk about the Importance of telling a story, which is the most important thing when you are trying to write a good essay for Common App.?Common app essays work best when you focus on story or anecdote from your personal experience. Try to “show” a reader what you mean rather than “tell”. What it means for this essay is that you give an example of your most positive traits through a challenge you faced or a lesson you learned or something important about yourself through a story and then the reader believes it more than if you just listed your positive traits.

我們希望大家能夠意識到講故事的重要性。如果想要文書發揮最大效果，最好集中在個人經歷中的一段特定故事。一定要向讀者“展現”,而不是簡單的“告訴”他們。對于文書寫作來說，不管你是要寫面對的挑戰還是所學到的教訓，都要通過一個具體的故事，讓這個故事成為你想要展示出的優秀品質最直觀的例子。比起一篇文書中列舉或者泛談多個點，一個完整的故事對招生官來說，要可信和直觀的多。

The other reason it’s important to tell a story is that it keeps readers engaged. It’s hard to imagine how tedious essay reading becomes for these AO’s. They read literally thousands of essays per year and the repetition of topics and themes is frequent. A story with action verbs, a clear story arc meaning a beginning middle and end, keeps any reader more engaged, and makes them more likely to enjoy and remember your writing.

另一個推薦大家去講故事的重要原因是，這樣讀者會很專注，有代入感。招生官讀文書的工作可以說是想象以上的乏味，他們每年閱讀數以千計的故事，主題的重復經常會有。生動的動態描寫，一個清晰的故事線，起承轉合，能夠激起招生官的興趣，并使他們更喜歡并記住你的文章。

• 學生案例：

  I worked with a student on his essay about learning classical language, initially the focus was on the language itself including lots of classical words and phrases, but it was so dense. It eventually turned into an epic-style story mixing prose and verse, and became the epitome of good storytelling. That student went on to attend Stanford.

  曾經有一個學生，文書主題選定的是關于學習文言文的。本來是很特別的主題，但是文章最初的重點偏向了語言本身，以至于要解釋很多單詞和短語，而且很密集。最后我們幫助學生結合了散文和詩歌的形式來講述這個故事，達到了很好的效果。學生最終錄取了斯坦福大學。