主讲老师：Stevenson女士

老师介绍：

• 哈佛大学本科校友

• 4年哈佛大学本科招生办工作经验，熟知名校招生视角和喜好

• 3年哈佛大学面试官经验，直接接触全球最优秀申请者

• 6年美国TOP名校申请辅导工作经验，深入挖掘和打造申请者的特点和特色，成功帮助多名申请者录取麻省理工、斯坦福等顶尖学府

讲座大纲：

• 文书在大学申请Holistic Review（整体评估）中的重要性？

• Common Application文书选题有什么策略？题目和内容如何紧密切合？

• 一篇出色的Common App主文书具有哪些特质？

• 文书主题—什么不能写？你在写作中需要避免的错误

• 特殊形势下的文书写作：Common App中疫情相关的文书题目解析

• Q&A

如果你在考虑选哪个故事？

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.

我们的建议是，最重要的方面并不一定是你最喜欢哪一个主题，而是哪个主题文章能最大程度积极、正面、并有趣地展现自己。

• 学生案例：

  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.

  上个申请季的学生故事：至少有10个完全不一样的初稿。学生无法决定选择哪个故事，所以我们帮他进行了评估，比较了每个故事能够给申请带来的正面影响。最终我们选择了一个描写了学生最令人印象深刻经历的故事，展示了重要的个人品质，例如谦虚，成熟和细致的世界观。学生最后成功的被范德堡大学录取了。

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.

其实大多数故事都可以有不止一种讲述方式，因此其实也是可以和多个不同的文书题目相连接的。我们建议大家一定要先选故事，再选择common app的文书题目。一般学生都会需要有一个一起头脑风暴的过程。

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.

我们会先在个人层面上与学生交流，了解是什么激发学生的思考，学生的动力来自何处，他们的优先级是什么，以及主要生活经历和个人背景。如果学生独自完成这个过程，可以尝试从内省的角度去开始，也就是自我反思刚才我们提到的这些方面，这样可以更深入地了解自己。

如果你已经选定了故事？

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?

如果已经选定了内容主题，还是有很多写作方式。比如学生想写橄榄球，那么可以写哪些方面呢？整个足球生涯的总体回顾？踢得最出色的一场比赛？展现作为队长的领导能力？或者是如何解决与团队工作时间相关的问题的？这些都是可以去写成文书的点。

• 学生案例：

  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.

  我们曾经有一个很喜欢橄榄球的学生。我们总结了他的经历，决定去写一场对他来说特别的比赛，展示他作为运动员的领导才能和才华。为了更好地写出这篇文书，我们增加了挑战自我的元素，最终改成了一篇适合挑战题目的文书。修改后，这篇文书中展现他独特性的余地就大大增加了。尽管他未被招募为特长生，但他成功录取了康奈尔大学。

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.

文书是高度个性化的，这也是我们在帮助学生进行头脑风暴和写作过程中希望达到的目标。但是如果学生展示自己正面的特质的话，是可以总结出有效的方法的。之后在惠宜教育的Common App文书写作课程中，Stevenson老师会从招生委员会的角度去评估和反思文书写作，帮助学生写出最符合招生官喜欢的文书并且展现出自己最好的一面。

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.

我们希望大家能够意识到讲故事的重要性。如果想要文书发挥最大效果，最好集中在个人经历中的一段特定故事。一定要向读者“展现”,而不是简单的“告诉”他们。对于文书写作来说，不管你是要写面对的挑战还是所学到的教训，都要通过一个具体的故事，让这个故事成为你想要展示出的优秀品质最直观的例子。比起一篇文书中列举或者泛谈多个点，一个完整的故事对招生官来说，要可信和直观的多。

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.

另一个推荐大家去讲故事的重要原因是，这样读者会很专注，有代入感。招生官读文书的工作可以说是想象以上的乏味，他们每年阅读数以千计的故事，主题的重复经常会有。生动的动态描写，一个清晰的故事线，起承转合，能够激起招生官的兴趣，并使他们更喜欢并记住你的文章。

• 学生案例：

  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.

  曾经有一个学生，文书主题选定的是关于学习文言文的。本来是很特别的主题，但是文章最初的重点偏向了语言本身，以至于要解释很多单词和短语，而且很密集。最后我们帮助学生结合了散文和诗歌的形式来讲述这个故事，达到了很好的效果。学生最终录取了斯坦福大学。