大學申請 (四)
作文 － 展示獨特的自我
教我們 《大學申請谘詢》課的老師也在大學招生辦工作多年。她告訴我們，因為申請人數眾多，每一份辛辛苦苦花費學生數日甚至數周準備好的申請材料，平均隻獲得１０ 到１５分鍾被瀏覽。除非有突出的成就，象全國競賽冠軍之類的，大多數背景，成績相似的學生靠作文拚出高低。成績等數字是死的，羅列課外活動是紙上談兵，唯 一能把所有經曆和成績生動地串連起來，讓學生本人"活"在考官麵前的隻有 College Application Essay。比如GPA同樣3.75，份量可因學生成長的環境大相徑庭。除此以外，作文的目的還有:
- Opportunity to provide information that supports and augments other parts of the application
- Adds clarity, depth and meaning to information collected in other parts of the application
- Provide evidence of achievement that can’t be adequately explored in other parts of the application.
課 本第１４章 Rising to the Challenge of the College Application Essay 對大學申請作文做了很好的總結，建議學生把它當做和招生辦老師的對話，用自己的聲音，讓陌生人在幾百字內了解自己獨特的性格，人生觀和喜好。作文應該“真 實而生動” (authentic and lively) ，避免華麗詞匯的堆積，不知所雲，或重複自己簡曆上的成就，味同嚼蠟。
能陳述自己背景，特點和觀點的作文有三種：首先是 Common Application (https://www.commonapp.org) 的 essay。因為擁有５００多大學會員，其中包括 Harvard, Yale, Princeton 等名校，Common Application 是眾多學生申請大學的首選途徑。它的作文有５個題目，供學生選擇自己最能發揮的一個:
Instructions. The essay demonstrates your ability to write clearly and concisely on a selected topic and helps you distinguish yourself in your own voice. What do you want the readers of your application to know about you apart from courses, grades, and test scores? Choose the option that best helps you answer that question and write an essay of no more than 650 words, using the prompt to inspire and structure your response. Remember: 650 words is your limit, not your goal. Use the full range if you need it, but don't feel obligated to do so. (The application won't accept a response shorter than 250 words.)
• Some students have a background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
• Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what lessons did you learn?
• Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?
• Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience there, and why is it meaningful to you?
• Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.
很多私立大學在以上命題作文外還有 supplements 題目供學生選擇，比如：
¡ University of Pennsylvania -- You’ve just written a 300-page autobiography. Send us page 217.
¡ Stanford -- Attach a small photograph of something important to you and explain its significance.
¡ Santa Clara University -- If you could go back and change one day in your life, what would you change and why?
¡ William and Mary -- If you were to develop a Mt. Rushmore representing the 20th century, whose faces would you select and why?
¡ Princeton -- What is your favorite quotation and why?
¡ NYU -- Write a haiku, limerick, or short poem that best represents you.
芝加哥大學 (University of Chicago) 的題目一向標新立異，比如：
¡ How do you feel about Wednesday?
¡ Have you ever walked through the aisles of a warehouse store like Costco or Sam’s Club and wondered who would buy a jar of mustard a foot and a half tall? We’ve bought it, but it didn’t stop us from wondering about other things, like absurd eating contests, impulse buys, excess, unimagined uses for mustard, storage, preservatives, notions of bigness…and dozens of other ideas both silly and serious. Write an essay somehow inspired by super-huge mustard.
¡ U Chicago professor W. J. T. Mitchell entitled his 2005 book What Do Pictures Want? Describe a picture, and explore what it wants.
¡ How are apples and oranges supposed to be compared? Possible answers involve, but are not limited to, statistics, chemistry, physics, linguistics, and philosophy.
另外一種作文是加州大學 (UC) 係統的 Personal Statements。以下三個題目中有兩篇要在２００字內，自選一個題目 (choice of extended response) 可以寫到６００字內。
Prompt 1: How have you taken advantage of the educational opportunities you have had to prepare for college?
UC seeks to enroll students who take initiative in pursuing their education (for example, developing a special interest in science, language or the performing arts; or becoming involved in special programs such as EAOP, MESA, Puente, COSMOS or other similar programs). This question seeks to understand a student’s motivation and dedication to learning.
– What opportunities have been available to me?
– Why did I choose to take advantage or not take advantage of these opportunities?
– How have I grown as a result of these opportunities?
Prompt 2: Tell us about a talent, experience, contribution or personal quality you will bring to the University of California.
UC welcomes the contributions each student brings to the campus learning community. This question seeks to determine an applicant’s academic or creative interests and potential to contribute to the vitality of the University.
– What talent, experience, contribution or personal quality best expresses my character?
– How does it define my ability to contribute?
Prompt 3: Is there anything you would like us to know about you or your academic record that you have not had the opportunity to describe elsewhere in this application?
This question seeks to give students the opportunity to share important aspects of their schooling or their lives —such as their personal circumstances, family experiences and opportunities that were or were not available at their school or college— which may have not been sufficiently addressed elsewhere in the application.
• What in my application needs explaining?
• What about ME deserves further explanation?
大學申請表格上還有問題讓學生提供百字左右的回答 (short answer)，也是一個表現自己性格，特點的機會。
老師和課本反複提醒，命題作文沒有固定答案，格式更可以盡心發揮，可以是詩歌，對話等，並不局限於標準的５段議論文，也不一定有明確的結論，隻要能讓 essay reader 看到：
• Who they are and what they think?
• A genuine response with clarity and well-chosen examples that get right to the point
• Information to complete the application (answers to the questions they have about your application)
課本中指出的優秀作文的特點很有啟發：
· 真實 Authenticity: a clear voice to reflect a real, identifiable person so one can picture the writer energetic, curious, thoughtful, etc. without using those words.
· 清楚獨特的觀點 Originality: a real opinion, viewpoint or reaction to show engagement with the topic
· 具體 Specificity: detailed anecdotes, descriptions, narratives, or character sketches to make the topic come alive, e.g., do not just talk about the importance of teamwork, write about your four years riding the bench of school soccer team and why it was important for you to do that.
· 關心時事 Awareness of the world: being able to comment thoughtfully on political or world conditions or what’s happening in one’s own neighborhood
· 成熟 A vision of growth and maturity: do not use childlike language
· 幽默 Humor: especially more sophisticated forms such as irony
· 和其它申請材料的相關 A clear connection to the rest of the application
大學都有自己獨特的地方，都為 自己感到驕傲。所以學生要多了解自己申請的學校與眾不同的地方，在文章中多體現自己的選擇是有的放矢，清楚自己要什麽，目標明確才能給招生老師留下深刻的 印象。比如去年一位高中生了解到她心儀的南加大最流行的手勢是象征勝利的Ｖ字型，於是在申請表上要求選三個詞形容自己時就寫下 Vivid, Vanguard, Veracity，而且作文中處處體現了自己活潑，勇敢，誠實的方麵，和她優良的成績，多彩的校園活動（武術隊長）等相映成章，被順利錄取是水到渠成。
課本建議高中生不要臨時抱佛腳，平時就要多閱讀優秀的作家作品 (如 Ralph Waldo Emerson's Nature, Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal, etc.) 及時事雜誌，如 The Atlantic, Harper’s, National Review, Science, The New Yorker, Foreign Affairs, etc. 積累精彩的文章結構，句型等。再加上高中英文課有老師指導多用類似題目練習，到時候才能下筆成章。作文寫完後給有經驗的（關係好的）老師或成人過目，看文章的說服力有多強。其它的細節，如語法，拚寫等自己也要多注意。
