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LGBT 和大學申請（1）-（3）

(2023-03-07 11:58:03) 下一個

LGBTQ+ in College Admission

這篇談一個敏感度、爭議度和超流行都很高的話題，即美國大學申請中的非傳統性認同的身份問題。為迎合中文互聯網的簡稱習慣，這篇裏用一個四字簡化名詞代用這個長名詞，即非同身份。請讀者不要把這篇裏的“非同身份”顧名思義地當成非同性戀身份的意思。

（1）Terminology 和 Recent Trend

首先，明確一個Terminology的問題。在英文語境，LGBTQ+就是非同身份的一個縮寫，代表Lesbian、Gay、Bisexual、Transgender、Queer及其他非生物學性別和異性戀的認同者。非生物學性別和異性戀，就是Non-binary，所以LGBTQ+與Non-binary也是同義。另外還有一個詞，Genderqueer或者Queer，也是LGBTQ+的同義詞，這來自queer本義odd/strange。本來這個詞帶有貶義，但隨著LGBTQ+社會地位的提高，大家對於自我的認知就更加有自信，queer一詞就從不吝自嘲中帶出了自豪的意味。現在用這個詞，會顯得你在這個問題的認識上更educated。

另外，在LGBTQ+的這個命名方向上，大家都知道它的更舊式的說法LGBT。但比較少的人還知道它的兩個更新式的說法，LGBTQIA+（Intersex和Asexual）和LGBTQIA2S+（Two Spirit，專指非同北美印第安人，注意spirit一詞不能加s）。

明確了名詞問題，我們再來明確一下非同身份在美本錄取的趨勢。奧巴馬執政時期是美國國內政治轉向的一個標誌性時段。美本錄取的價值觀也在這段時間裏發生了大幅度的向左轉。非裔身份、非富身份、非移身份和非同身份等（中文讀者可以稱為四非，但英文裏不行，因為非裔的非是African，和其他的三個非的Non/Un的意思不同），都在URM大樹之下，收到更大的包容、融合，有時候是更優待。2011年的，Elmhurst College（注意不是Amherst College）成為第一家在申請表格中詢問非同身份的美本學院。當年哈佛也曾傳出考慮這麽做來著，但後來哈、耶、史取得了一致，並未把關於非同身份的問題加進申請表。

對於小體量、低知名度的美本來說，以非同身份為切入點來擴大招生，這跟大家對取消標化政策的使用是一個道理。Elmhurst還把自己原有的校園女生援助（Women Center）擴大到Women和LGBTQIA+ 兩個Center。在奧巴馬第二政期中，陸續有其他一些美本加入到Elmhurst行列中，在申請中加入一個optional（少數required）問題，請學生申明自己的gender identity和sexual orientation。

截止目前，在申請中詢問非同身份問題的美本院校有(列舉不全)：

Connecticut College: optional，“If you identify as Trans*, Queer, Cis, or another gender, please indicate that here.”

Dartmouth College: lists， “gender identity” and “LGBT community” among 20+ personal interests.

Duke University: optional，essay supplemental: “Duke’s commitment to diversity and inclusion includes sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. If you’d like to share with us more about your identity in this context, feel free to do so here.”

Elmhurst College: optional，gender identity (choices: agender, androgyne, demigender, genderqueer, man, questioning, trans woman, trans man, woman, and an identity not listed) and sexual orientation (choices: asexual, bisexual, gay, lesbian, pansexual, queer, questioning or unsure, same-gender loving, straight [heterosexual] and an identity not listed).

Elon University: optional, “Do you consider yourself part of the LGBTQIA community?”

MIT: optional, “How would you describe your sexual orientation/gender identity? (choices of lesbian, gay, straight/heterosexual, unsure, bisexual, transgender, another identity, and prefer not to answer).

Ohio State University: optional, “Do you identify as a part of the LGBTQ community?”

State University of New York (SUNY) system: required, gender identity (choices: man, woman, trans man, trans woman, genderqueer/gender-fluid, questioning, and unsure or write in) and sexual orientation (choices: straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, queer, and questioning, and unsure or write in).

University of California system: required, “How do you describe yourself? (mark one answer): Male, Female, Trans Male/Trans Man, Trans Female/Trans Woman, Genderqueer/Gender Non-Conforming, Different Identity” and “Do you consider yourself to be (mark one answer): Heterosexual or straight, Gay or lesbian, Bisexual, Not listed above (please specify) __________.”

University of Delaware: optional, gender identity (choices: agender, androgyne, demigender, genderqueer or gender fluid, man, questioning or unsure, trans man, trans woman, woman, prefer not to disclose, identity not listed).

University of Iowa: optional, “Do you identify with the LGBTQ community?”

University of Kentucky: optional, gender (choices: male, female, or writing in a response); optional, essay on “gender identity, sexual orientation, and cultural background.”

University of Maryland: sends admitted undergraduate students a survey where they have the option of identifying their sexual identity (choices: heterosexual or straight, gay or lesbian, bisexual, and prefer not to answer) and can indicate whether or not they are transgender.

University of Massachusetts, Amherst: optional, gender identity (choices: agender, androgyne, demigender, genderqueer, man, questioning, trans woman, trans man, and woman) and sexual orientation (choices: asexual, bisexual, gay, lesbian, pansexual, queer, questioning or unsure, same-gender loving, and straight [heterosexual]).

University of Pennsylvania: optional, if applicants have an LGBTQIA identity, they may choose to specify in a provided field on the form.

University of Wisconsin system: optional, gender identity (choices: woman, man, trans or transgender, a gender identity not listed here, prefer not to answer).

Warren Wilson College: optional, “gender identity: ___________”.

Washington 2-year colleges: optional，sexual orientation and gender identity.

你肯定會注意到DUKE，Dartmouth、UPenn和MIT的名字。潮流之下，不可能沒有名校、藤校。其實在八藤中，賓大和普林是對非同最友好的。在美本非同主題網站College Pride的排名上，賓大和普林就排得很高。普林雖然沒有在招生中直接加上一個非同身份問題，但它的College Pride 上位，主要是因為在校園文化和非同融合方麵做的很棒。普林的學生中心裏專設了個Gender+ Center（https://www.gsrc.princeton.edu/）來幫助非同學生解決校園生活中的各種問題。

（2）申請中的問題：非同身份？

提到非同身份和美本錄取，你肯定會馬上舉出一些實例來。比如，某校某年招了某某位非傳統性認同的申請者。這類案例近年來屢見不鮮，但在整體招生中優先對待非同的情況，整體來看還屬於極少數。從目前可以找的數據看，大部分美本，都不會在招生中考慮這一因素的，包括哈、耶、普、斯，這是政治安全性的考慮。即使是對非同學生超級友好的藤校賓大，也隻是在申請中加入了一個Optional的問題，請學生自主聲明LGBTQIA。隻能說，目前明確表示錄取考慮這一因素的美本，大多是受宗教價值觀所限、不歡迎非同申請者的學校。咱就不在這個方向上耽誤更多時間了。

但是，關於美本申請中非同身份的問題，本篇的目的還是給出一個確定性的命題。即，在美本申請時明確自己的非同身份，雖有一定暴露隱私風險，但整體上可以獲得更大的錄取優勢。時間有限的讀者，不論你選擇信或者不信，讀完這一段就可以關窗走人了。

有閑情或者有特別興趣的朋友，可以繼續看完全文。目前，美國已有明確法律支持給非同身份因素的錄取加分。這與種族因素的考量一樣。種族因素明確地有AA政策法律管轄。種族因素加分與否，各校都隻要順著本地適用的AA法律即可。

在非同身份上，AA法令（包括反AA法令）原本的界定是模糊的。AA所列的gender因素，傳統上說隻明確包括男、女兩性，沒有明確包括各種非同身份（即gender identity和sexual orientation）。但是，2020年六月，SCOTUS在Bostock vs Clayton County等三個EEOC（的案例上，明確支持了Lesbian/Gay的訴訟方，將AA中的Title VII的雇工保護條件擴展到了非同身份上。一年以後，拜登政府教育部也出台政策以順應一年前的SCOTUS判例，即將Title IX的教育保護條件也擴展到了非同身份上。

所以，出於擴大校園多樣性目的，多數美本大校即使不對非同有特殊優待，也至少都在大力促進對非同的包容性了。在申請中表明你的非同身份，對你的錄取肯定不會有壞處，甚至（越來越）是有好處的。

請注意，這裏說的是“你”的申請，而不是泛泛地表明自己的非同身份。本文的後麵會具體的講如何申請才能對“你”有利。

談美本必談哈佛。我們先來看看哈佛的情況。招生中直接考慮LGBTQ+的操作可能還非常有限，但已經可以確定地說Yes。過去十年間，哈佛新生中的非同身份人數增加很多。2011年，89.9%的新生是傳統的Heterosexual；而十年後的2021，這個比例減少的71.1%。除答案不明的受調查者外，明確非同身份的新生比例，從十年前6.2%增加到21.6%。再跟2021年的蓋勒普調查數據來比較，美國Z世代的非同身份比例15.6%。現實中存在哈佛非同學生比例高於其人口比例的情況，這基本上可以確定哈佛招生中存在係統性地非同身份優勢。這個優勢，至少客觀上是這樣的。

那麽，主觀上呢？也就是說，哈佛招生官是否會對非同身份的申請者有明確的偏好呢？我沒有也不可能有這要的調查數據。但這問題的答案，我還是可以給出肯定性的答案。盡管哈佛申請中沒有專門的非同身份問題，但有1.8%的哈佛申請者會自主表明自己的非同身份。這個數字在十年以前的2011-12年，大概隻有0.7%。這就是說，在去年61220份申請中，大概有1200人是申明了非同身份的申請者。這一年錄取1954人中，有1700人入讀哈佛，成了當年的新生。根據當年哈佛的新生調查，360-370人具有非同身份。

我們雖然不能確定這360人都是從那1200個申明非同的申請者中錄取來的，但卻可以用30%（=360/1200）來定性地判斷在申請中申明非同身份的優勢。以哈佛的3-7%的錄取率對比一下既可以判斷：哈佛非同申請者的錄取概率肯定遠遠高於普通申請者錄取概率（3-7%），是普通的5-10x倍。我們還可以再對比一下亞裔申請者的情況。哈佛的亞裔申請者比例一直以來高達30-40%，而當前錄取學生中的亞裔比例是21-27%，以往長期在18-20%之間。作為亞裔，即使你在哈佛申請這中處於學術的Top 10%，即屬於去年61220人中的頂尖610人，你被錄取的概率也比平均錄取概率低。低多少呢？取RD錄取概率為3.7%的話，頂尖亞裔申請者的錄取概率卻隻有2.4%了。而RD非同身份申請者的錄取概率則是15%，甚至可能到20-30%。兩個概率一比，可見天壤之別了。

以上的判斷，是基於我個人對現有數據的分析。耶魯和哈佛相似度最高，兩校的招生政策也是聯動的。在非同身份的問題上，哈佛和耶魯基本上也是聯動的。耶魯曾在2018年九月與公布了Freshmen Survey的結果。當時，耶魯新生中非同身份的比例從2014年的13%增長到2018年的23%，而哈佛同級新生的非同身份比例是18.3%。即使後來再沒有相關數據，也可以判斷出當前耶魯非同學生比例比哈佛要低，大概在18-21%之間。那麽，以每年RD階段哈耶同申的普遍性，基本上可以認定，耶魯錄取中非同身份優勢至少與哈佛的5-10x優勢相當。

對普林斯頓、斯坦福的的判斷過程是類似的。根據最近的Princeton Frosh Survey數據，近兩年來普林新生中明確非同身份的比例近25-27%，比哈佛的21.6%和耶魯的23%也是稍高。而斯坦福的在校生非同身份比例已經高達35%，考慮新生非同數量近年所呈上升趨勢，斯坦福的新生錄取的非同數量一定不低於35%，比東岸的哈、耶、普要高出很多。雖然斯坦福和普林在招生中沒有設置非同問題，但是以其校園對對非同的包容程度來看，申請斯、普時明確非同身份的數量要高於哈、耶。這些因素比較下來，普林錄取中給非同的優勢比哈佛稍微偏低（因為計算概率的分母較高）3-8x倍，而斯坦福則可能與哈、耶相當或者更高（分母和分子都較高）5-10x倍。

對於哈、耶、普、斯的5-10x倍增的判斷，是基於一個現實的。即，申請表中沒有Q問題，學校也隻是官宣一視同仁不歧視。作為非同申請者，肯定會減少暴露非同身份的概率。這造成的現實是，聲明非同的申請數量很少（哈佛的非同申請比例為<2%）。這樣子分母變小，於是非同申請的錄取概率就大幅增加。

對於MIT和賓大，這個判斷就要重新考慮了。MIT從2012年開始在申請中設置Optional的非同身份問題。賓大不僅在2008年起設置非同問題，還主動出擊尋找非同身份的高中生來申請。從2008年後，賓大發動其非同校友和社團成員主動聯係那些對外明確非同身份的高中生，勸說他們來申請賓大。在麻、賓的積極動作之下，兩校的非同錄取數量也開始倍增。

根據MIT的Freshmen Survey數據，該校2012-2022年的12年間，非同新生比例從7.2%增長到了15%，而在全校學生的2019年Survey裏，非同比例也是18%。可以這麽判斷，MIT的非同錄取比例穩定在15-16%之間，與美國Z世代人口中的非同比例15.6%基本吻合。另有2-3%的MIT學生，是在入校後才明確自己的非同身份，這個人數並不影響我們對非同錄取概率的估算。

賓大的非同學生數量也在上升趨勢。但由於賓大的Freshmen Survey不對外公布，我隻能從其每年的Senior Survey中判斷其非同錄取趨勢。該校2013年畢業班中，明確非同身份的學生比例為7%，這就是2008年錄取的非同數量。2014年招生（2019年畢業班）中的非同錄取比例就已經翻番，達到14%。所以，我可以判斷，目前在賓大的非同高錄取已經達到了美國Z世代人口中的非同比例了。

根據以上麻、賓兩校的情況，一個合理的判斷就是，在錄取中對非同身份更加公開、積極的美本，其非同錄取的概率其實比哈耶普斯會低，因為分母（即在申請中明確非同身份的數量）更大了，這就會讓非同身份的優勢降低。我判斷，非同身份在申請賓、麻時的優勢大概是普通申請者的3-8x倍。比起哈、耶、普的表麵文字公平、實際操作不明的錄取做法來說，麻、賓的公開鼓勵非同申請的做法，在客觀上是一種更趨向於公平的錄取安排。

（3）非同身份申請案例

以上對於非同身份在美本申請中的明顯優勢的判斷，是一個普遍性的判斷。請不要以此為據，簡單地在自己的申請中表明身份。那麽，作為一個非同身份申請者，你應該怎樣申請才最有利呢？通過下麵這個具體案例，斯坦福的Chaidie Petris的申請案例，來說明一下朽石君對這個問題上的看法。像這樣的案例，個人願意公布得出來的很少，像Petris這樣能全麵公布

Chaidie Petris, Greek American, Greater Seattle Area, Washington

Stanford’24

https://www.chaidiepetris.com/

成績: SAT1350 R740 M610 Essay19; ACT29 E34 M25 R35 S22 Writing11; GPA3.99UW，Class Rank 1/64

活動: Listen to Your Art (Community service); West Sound Globe (Journalism/publications); Philosophy Club (Academic); Writers group (Other); Mud Pie (Journalism/publication); QSA (Queer-Straight Alliance)

選課: IB Biology SL, IB French HL, IB History HL, IB Language & Literature HL, IB Maths SL, IB Art HL, IB TOK (S2 11th, S1 12th), Advanced Music (S2)

學術興趣: Classics, Creative Writing, Slavic Languages & Literatures

其他: Info about family’s economic situation; Family’s cultural/linguistic background (Greek, as mentioned in my essays); Educational background (homeschooled before high school); IB essay topic (gender roles in Homeric epic)

斯坦福AO Review: 據Petris披露，招生官對他的評估中，突出了兩個themes。第一個是mature qualities和examining world around you, 比如”intellectual curiosity and an active thirst for knowledge, seeking out information in the world around you”。第二個是 interdisciplinary connections，及他的curiosity 和pen-mindedness。關於跨學科關聯，Chaidie說明是指的文書中提到的讀書。但注意這個connections並非文書故事裏的情節，而是由文書中提到的讀書來引起AO的興趣，進一步翻看Chaidie個人的網站信息，就可以找到他寫的那些跨曆史、哲學、藝術的思考文字。這就是巧妙地給出一個AO發現自己長處的路徑，又不用直接BSO自己的這個長處。

主文書（648Words）

Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

Petris的這篇主文書一共投給了16家大學，其中Harvard-RD rejected，Northwestern-RD rejected，Pomona-ED deferred/RD rejected， Oxford-rejected，Princeton-RD rejected，Yale-RD rejected，Williams-RD rejected，Princeton-RD rejected，Colombia-RD WL，Reed-RD WL/Accepted, Stanford-RD Accepted

When I was younger, I aspired to be rich so I could own an enormous library. I imagined the sense of self-worth and pride that would accompany gazing at floor-to-ceiling sturdy, oak shelves almost bursting under the weight of beautiful volumes in various languages. As a child, complete success and ownership of what you love feels completely plausible, a dream only kept from you by the restrictions of time.

The only difference I saw at that time between poor and rich was the public library users and the library owners. The only thing keeping me from the latter was the barrier of age and motivation, which I was sure I could overcome by harnessing knowledge under my fist and using it to attain anything I wanted. I continued to hold this view while I was homeschooled, but when I began to attend a private high school, I realized that the difference between basic economic security and the lack thereof was much more complex.

In the past three years I have come to see that not only are my peers unlike myself, but they do not know that there is a difference between us. No one understands the concept of economic insecurity if they have never had to give up their summers and afternoons after school to work to help with bills, if they have never had to pay for their own expenses and textbooks, if they complain about having dinner with their parents, never having experienced a time when their parents were at work before breakfast and back after their bedtimes. The only other people my age I have encountered who truly understood this were those whose knowledge was also founded on personal experience.

But the worst part about this lack of awareness is the fact that I consider myself to be very privileged. Certainly, I have to work, but I also go to a private school. I can’t afford the to get my driver’s license like the others in my class, but I own a smartphone. The issue is not that most of the people at my high school don’t see me, it’s that they don’t see anyone who is worse off — those who can’t afford to go to school, who have to work longer hours than me, who are separated from their parents at the border — they don’t see any of those people, not really. Even amongst the most politically liberal, there seems to be an underlying current of fear and denial that prevents the most basic empathy. This has led me to the question: Why?

All my life, the process of buying books has been inherently thoughtful. It involves exploring used bookstores, carefully considering and handling every book before buying it. I choose the books that I own carefully because I have to. Even after I buy the book, I read it with appreciation, and then retire it to a shelf which is not a symbol of my money, but a road map of my true thoughts and interests. I value my books more than anything else because of the thought they provoke.

From this, I have learned what the people who can stock their shelves full of new, leather-bound books don’t: thoughtful awareness. That’s what separates me from my schoolmates. No matter their political identity, people don’t often think about issues that seem distant from them, if for no other reason than they don’t have to. Because of the perspective my economic circumstances have given me, I actively engage with new ideas and perspectives in order to avoid making the same mistakes as those around me which might cause someone’s knowledge or needs to be overlooked due to their personal circumstances. I think and I act.

I have come to understand that the rich people I envied as a child might have enormous libraries, but they certainly don’t have them to read the books.

Stanford-specific short questions

Most significant challenge society faces

There is a loss of imagination resulting in the lessening of both individuality and empathy. People rarely take the time to introspect and consider what makes them distinct and why they ought to own that, and at the same time they fail to consider how others also have unique value.

Last two summers

Working half-time (2018) and full-time (2019) at the Dry Eye Company (my mum’s business) to fund school and save for college; Taking two classes (English Composition, English Literature) at Olympic College (local community college); Taking Driver’s Ed; Reading books (particularly Classics, Russian Literature); Writing (prose, poetry, and social commentary)

Historical moment or event

Yiannis Ritsos writing poetry from inside the Greek prison camp. I want to understand whether he did it for himself to get through the experience or to rebel against lack of free speech.

What five words best describe you?

Intellectual, genuine, self-actualized, determined, stalwart

What do you read, listen to, or watch?

Books: Gogol’s The Overcoat, George Macdonald’s Phantastes, Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita, Yiannis Ritsos’s poetry

Music: Yiannis Kotsiras’s To Agriolouloutho, Vladimir Vysotsky’s Fastidious Hourses.

The Great Courses Plus Lectures: Topics — Russian Literature, Ancient History/Archaeology, Greek Literature, Logic, Philosophy

Operas: Eugene Onegin, The Pearl Fishers

Movies: Doctor Zhivago

One thing you are looking forward to at Stanford

Having interesting conversations (academic and non-academic) with a new diverse group of people. I come from a little town with little diversity of perspectives, so getting to know how others see the world is very important to me. I think this is part of what makes a rich learning environment.

Extra hour in the day

I would write a poem about how time is becoming commoditized and how little the world appreciates it until it is gone (all the while sipping mint tea).

Stanford-specific short essays

Reflect on an idea or experience that makes you excited about learning

The classroom thrummed with energy and anticipation. It seemed counterintuitive, what could elevate Thomas Hobbes to the exciting? But in the history classroom, somehow the energy of my history teacher’s animated face lit the room and caused minds to ponder new depths.

We had split into little groups of three and four, and I was seated with people I had spoken probably two words to outside of class. But, such is the power of conversation, we all poured out our ideas. It was that collaborative sense of hearing different perspectives and piecing together fragments to create the mosaic of history.

It is that height of academic conversation that excites me to learn. Learning transcends all backgrounds, having elements that go beyond subjective experience. At the same time, it unites different perspectives, because the more perspectives there are the more complete of any idea we find of the truth. I went from a little frightened at the prospect of shedding the comfort of my friend group to growing exuberance as I heard ideas I would never have thought of about Hobbes according to different people’s interest. People who naturally think about context took a structuralist approach, one economically inclined person saw the reading through a Marxist lens, another a feminist critique — far more than would ever have been thought up by one individual.

This little history discussion about a seemingly dense and objective text brought the life to learning for me by showing me the power of perspectives and conversation.

Note to future roommate

Most Esteemed Future Roommate,

If you walk in at 2:00AM to find me lying on the floor listening to depressing music by Vysotsky and clutching a volume by Homer or Dostoevsky like a teddy bear, please do not be alarmed. As an only child, I have never had to share my room except with a parent, and so the transition might be a little rocky (although I by all means invite you to my carpeted book and anguish club). Further, books have always brought me comfort, whether to escape from loneliness or the crowd (usually the latter, I’m rather introverted), and I alternate between daring to socialize and retreating upon a few beloved volumes to which I give equal or greater affection than people. In that line — I desire to know all of your favorite books — or the ones you detest — in order to know you better! Whenever I meet people, I think of what their story would be like, what author’s voice it might be written in, what the title would be. Needless to say, hit me up if you every want to borrow a book. Or a pen.

Yours bookishly,

Chaidie

Something meaningful to you and why

The novel Phantastes by George Macdonald was my childhood favorite book and crops up again in my mind with new meaning every passing year. As a child, my mum read it to me, and I loved it so much that it was one of the first full books I read on my own. Its meaning to me then was in the story; I admired the artful crafting of characters, artistic faerie lands and realistic houses which mingled reality, metaphor, and the grotesque with beautiful language. It played a large role in my early attempts at writing fantasy fiction and short stories. In middle school I reread it again, and found new meaning in the complexities of the characters and the changes in mindset and belief that Anodos, the main character, experienced throughout his trials. Several years later, after having developed an interest in Classics and having studied my own Greek heritage more in depth, I loved Macdonald’s incorporation of aspects of the Classical Greek world, from allusions to mythology and philosophy in the descriptions and characters to the Greek etymology of many of the character names (Anodos meaning ‘to progress upward’). Still an enthusiast for Classics and an aspiring writer, my current self still finds meaning in this childhood favorite. I revel in Macdonald’s brilliant use of language and mobilization of the metaphors of all time; it is his application of the Classics that inspire me to pursue that subject along with others to enrich my own writing and communication.

讀完這套斯坦福文書，你有什麽感覺？

朽石君讀完的感覺是，作者確實語言豐富，但他的每一篇文書都沒有好到出彩的程度。就拿主文書來說，這篇落在讀書的經曆和貧富分化的思考上的故事，這裏多的是純自我的思考，少有Action類情節，把這篇文書的故事性降到很低。讀到這一篇時的AO，就要恰好有極好的耐心才能讀下來。但，在堅持讀下來之後呢？我感覺仿佛剛剛讀完了一頁《Jane Eyre》。

仔細再看過的時候，我明白了這個感覺的源頭。它來自作者的一個敘述習慣，就是在一個肯定的判斷之後，往往接著一個相關性極高的轉折或者讓步。這正是《簡愛》給我在潛意識上留下過的刺激。比如，第一段的判斷和第二段的讓步（the only）。還有，第三段前兩句長長的判斷後，也跟著一句讓步（the only）。第四段，幹脆一句段首的判斷句後緊接著一個讓步（certainly）。甚至他的單句結尾段，也是一個判斷加一個轉折的複合句式。這些判斷、轉折和讓步之間的搭配，當然還有幹練詞句，就使得讀者在潛意識上覺得作者還真是個成熟質量的intellect。

那麽在接下來的shorts and essays，他都在加強主文書裏所接入的讀書和思考這個主訴價值。這裏麵有自己平時的書單，有夏校的寫作課，有給未來室友讀書建議，也有自己讀過的兩個作者Thomas Hobbes和George McDonald具體文字。各部分的內容都相互加強，最後讓讀到申請的AO對他形成了一個成熟、思考、開放的整體形象。

Chaidie個人給讀到他故事的後來者的申請建議，有一點很重要的就是Spike比Well-round重要。更重要的，是你如何選擇哪個屬於自己的Spike。聽得出來，Chaidie在給自己選擇讀書作為整套申請資料裏的Spike時，還是有過一些猶豫的。讀書這個長處，並不想大賽、大獎或者發明創造那樣可以量化。而且讀書也屬於一個相對傳統的Hobby，很多美國人都是喜歡讀書了。而選擇了讀書的Chaidie，其實是用讀書做引線，把自己的思考、成長和價值觀串起來了。

最後，我們回到非同身份這個主題。Chaidie在明確了自己身份的同時，並沒有以這個身份去做文章。而是用一個雖常見、很真實自我的讀書主題，來形成自己的申請故事。除了通過讀書的故事，把自己塑造成（他來就是）一個善於思考、開放、包容、成熟的申請人，再以故事攜帶處自己的非同價值觀，這就是一個很好的strategy。換句話說，很多身份因素可以對申請有利，但你不要以這些因素當做自己申請的主訴價值，因為這樣做顯得膚淺和幼稚。

最後，總結一下。在申請哈、耶、普、斯、麻、賓（甚至包括多數的頂尖院校）時，你應該明確自己的非同身份，並且結合這一身份去講述一個具有明確主訴價值的申請故事。

• 以後大家申請都寫LGBT，把它玩兒爛。 - icando2 - ♀ (0 bytes) (14 reads) 03/07/2023 12:31:11 (2)