择校 | 八所藤校附加文书攻略：谁家是你的真爱，你又是谁家的菜（上）
2019-12-27 17:39 盖普国际教育
又是一年申请季，盖普的同学们经过酸爽的文书头脑风暴，回顾了过去十几年的成长历程，从兴趣特长、挑战、成就、解决问题或者自立题目写出自己特有的热情想法、核心特质乃至人格魅力。
如果说Common文书是学生单方呈现自我认知，那附加文书就要讲述学生与梦校两方如何契合，大到价值观，小到个人喜好。常见的附加文书类型有Why School，Why Major以及创意想法这三种类型的题目。
那么人人景仰的常春藤八所学校的附加文书想问什么，看重学生的哪些方面呢？请跟盖普资深文书Emma老师一起来看一看吧~
Princeton University
普林斯顿大学
1.In addition to the essay you have written for the Common Application, please write an essay of about 500 words (no more than 650 words and no fewer than 250 words). Using one of the themes below as a starting point, write about a person, event, or experience that helped you define one of your values or in some way changed how you approach the world. Please do not repeat, in full or in part, the essay you wrote for the Common Application. (Required*)（请以下面任意一题为切入点，写出帮助你建立价值观或者重塑世界观的一个人物、事件或者经历。切忌重复common系统主文书的内容。）
1) Tell us about a person who has influenced you in a significant way.（描述对你有重大影响的一个人）
2) “One of the great challenges of our time is that the disparities we face today have more complex causes and pointless straightforwardly to solutions.” Omar Wasow, assistant professor of politics, Princeton University. This quote is taken from Professor Wasow’s January 2014 speech at the Martin Luther King Day celebration at Princeton University.（普林斯顿大学政治学副教授说：我们时代最大的挑战之一是，我们面临的分歧有越来越复杂的原因，而且坦白来说无望解决。）
3)“Culture is what presents us with the kinds of valuable things that can fill a life. And insofar as we can recognize the value in those things and make them part of our lives, our lives are meaningful.” Gideon Rosen, Stuart Professor of Philosophy and chair, Department of Philosophy, Princeton University. （普林斯顿大学哲学系教授如是说：文化向我们展示了生命中各种有价值的事物。就这样，我们能认识到这些事物的价值，让他们让融入到生命中，这样我们的生命才有了意义。）
4)Using a favorite quotation from an essay or book you have read in the last three years as a starting point, tell us about an event or experience that helped you define one of your values or changed how you approach the world. Please write the quotation, title and author at the beginning of your essay.（请引用过去三年中你在书文里读的一句话，以此为出发点，讲述帮助你建立价值观或者重塑世界观的一件事或经历。请在文书开头写出这句引言，文章题目/书的名字以及作者名字。）
2. Summers（请描述你过去两个暑假所做的事情，工作也可以包含在内。）
Please tell us how you have spent the last two summers (or vacations between school years), including any jobs you have held. (About 150 words) (Required*)
3. A Few Details (Max: 300 characters) (Required*)（请简短回答你的各种“最爱”）
Your favorite book and its author:
Your favorite movie:
Your favorite website:
Two adjectives your friends would use to describe you:
Your favorite recording:
Your favorite keepsake or memento:
Your favorite source of inspiration:
Your favorite word:
Your favorite line from a movie or book and its title:
4. Princeton requires you to submit a graded writing paper as part of your application. （普林斯顿大学要求学生提交经老师批改后的书面论文。）
文书关键词：三观，学术高度，个性
顾问综合解析：作为US News Ranking综合大学排名榜首的藤校，普林斯顿大学一直是精英教育的代表，在273年的建校史上，学校走出过大批的科学家、文学家和政治家，对美国的社会文明做出过很大的贡献，美国独立战争也在这里赢得第一次胜利，所以正如题目所言，学校非常注重每个学生的三观、个性和学术高度。
无论是第1题中对自己影响很深的人或者书，还是对全球问题的看法，更或者是直接对文化和生命的意义的思考，都能够映射学生的价值观。通过第2题，招生官可以更了解学生的passion和安排时间的能力，即如何平衡学习和生活。第3题是对学生喜好、品位以及日常生活中体现的个性直接的拷问。同时，普林斯顿作为象牙塔中的象牙塔的理论学术殿堂，异常重视学生的学术能力，所以第4题要求的一篇批改过的论文也是同学们表现自己学术水平和高度的机会。
Harvard University
哈佛大学
1.Your intellectual life may extend beyond the academic requirements of your particular school. Please use the space below to list additional intellectual activities that you have not mentioned or detailed elsewhere in your application. These could include, but are not limited to, supervised or self-directed projects not done as school work, training experiences, online courses not run by your school, or summer academic or research programs not described elsewhere.( Required, Max: 150 words) （你的学术追求可能超出了学校课本的要求，请陈述你前面申请中没有提到或者详述的学术活动，包括且不限于课外老师指导的项目、自己研究的项目，学术上的训练经历，外校的网络课程以及暑期的学术或者研究项目。）
2. You may wish to include an additional essay if you feel that the college application forms do not provide sufficient opportunity to convey important information about yourself or your accomplishments. You may write on a topic of your choice, or you may choose from one of the following topics:（请充分利用这篇文章的机会讲述自己重要的信息或者成就，可以选择以下任意一个题目或者自立题目。）
- Unusual circumstances in your life（生活中的特殊情况）
- Travel, living, or working experiences in your own or other communities（本土/他乡的旅行/生活/工作经历）
- What you would want your future college roommate to know about you（向未来的大学室友介绍自己）
- An intellectual experience (course, project, book, discussion, paper, poetry, or research topic in engineering, mathematics, science or other modes of inquiry) that has meant the most to you（对你最重要的学术经历：课程，项目，书目，讨论，论文，诗歌，STEM以及其他领域的研究课题等皆可）
- How you hope to use your college education（大学教育的目标）
- A list of books you have read during the past twelve months（过去一年的书单）
- The Harvard College Honor code declares that we “hold honesty as the foundation of our community.” As you consider entering this community that is committed to honesty, please reflect on a time when you or someone you observed had to make a choice about whether to act with integrity and honesty. （哈佛大学荣誉准则：诚实为本。请回想你自己或观察到他人不得不在正直和诚实边缘徘徊的一次事件）
- The mission of Harvard College is to educate our students to be citizens and citizen-leaders for society. What would you do to contribute to the lives of your classmates in advancing this mission? （哈佛旨在培养对社会有贡献的公民和领袖。在推行这一使命的过程中，你将对学校有何贡献？）
- Each year a substantial number of students admitted to Harvard defer their admission for one year or take time off during college. If you decided in the future to choose either option, what would you like to do? （哈佛录取的学生中，每年都有相当一部分会延迟一年入学或者大学期间休学一段时间。如果你决定未来也这样，你打算利用这段时间做什么？）
- Harvard has long recognized the importance of student body diversity of all kinds. We welcome you to write about distinctive aspects of your background, personal development or the intellectual interests you might bring to your Harvard classmates. （哈佛很早以来就意识到学生多元化的重要性。欢迎写出你能为学校带来哪些独特的元素，比如独特的背景、个人兴趣以及学术兴趣。）
文书关键词：学术高度，兼容并包
顾问综合解析：作为家喻户晓的藤校，哈佛大学培养了8位美国总统和133位诺贝尔奖得主（世界第一），被公认为是当今世界最顶尖的高等教育机构之一，所以学校也非常看重学生对学术的热情和追求，这一点从第1题就可以直接看出。而且，哈佛大学明显区别于其他藤校的特点是其对于未来领袖的寻找和培养，第2题的10个可选题目可以描写个人经历、人品的拷问、学术成就、公民意识，以及对学校的贡献等，甚至是像比尔盖茨和扎克伯克一样休学或者延迟入学的个人目标。
从哈佛大学以往录取的案例来看，包含有IBDP 所有6门学科都是HL满分（通常完成学位要求是3门HL）的学术大牛，专业超强的新闻一姐，德智体突出的全才，风雨哈佛路的励志女孩，父亲瘫痪后去世但投身于地方病救治宣传的非洲小伙等。每个学生的故事都非常有代表性，所以哈佛大学的学生群体非常多元丰富，而且都有为世界作出贡献的潜力。
在2017美国大学招生协会（NACAC）暑期研讨会上，哈佛大学招生官坦言申请的学生都太优秀，所以他们考虑的录取因素甚至包括学生能不能和室友好好相处，所以申请哈佛大学的同学们真的要在每个申请的步骤呈现自己的毕生之力、之智、之才来思考和表达自己。
Yale University
耶鲁大学
1.Students at Yale have plenty of time to explore their academic interests before committing to one or more major fields of study. Many students either modify their original academic direction or change their minds entirely. As of this moment, what academic areas seem to fit your interests or goals most comfortably? Please indicate up to three. Why do these areas appeal to you? (Up to approximately 100 words). (Required*)（在耶鲁，学生在决定专业前有充分的时间探索学术兴趣，很多学生调整了原有的学术方向或者甚至完全换了专业。请列出三个当下最符合你的兴趣和目标的学术领域，并阐述为什么你被这些领域吸引。）
2. Why Yale? (Required*)（125字内说明你为什么选耶鲁？）
What is it about Yale that has led you to apply? (125 words or fewer)
3. Short Takes (Required*)（35字简答）
Please respond in no more than 200 characters (approximately 35 words), to each of the following questions:
1). What inspires you?（你的灵感来源是？）
2).Yale’s residential colleges regularly host conversations with guests representing a wide range of experiences and accomplishments. What person, past or present, would you invite to speak? What question would you ask?（耶鲁的住宿学院定期邀请阅历丰富和功成业就之士与学生进行对话。你愿意邀请过去或当代哪位嘉宾进行交谈，打算提出什么问题呢？）
3). You are teaching a Yale course. What is it called?（如果你在耶鲁开设一门课程，这么课的名字是？）
4). Most first-year Yale students live in suites of four to six people. What do you hope to add to your suitemates' experience? What do you hope they will add to yours?（大部分耶鲁新生住在四到六人的套房，你希望给室友带来什么好的体验，同时对室友有何期望呢？）
4. Essay（三选二回答）
Please choose two of the following topics and respond to each in 250 words or fewer. (Required*)
1). Think about an idea or topic that has been intellectually exciting for you. Why are you drawn to it? （想一个让你兴奋的想法或话题，为什么对此如痴如醉？）
2). Reflect on your engagement with a community to which you belong. How do you feel you have contributed to this community?（回想一个让你有归属感的地方以及你对这个地方做出的贡献）
3). Yale students, faculty, and alumni engage issues of local, national, and international importance. Discuss an issue that is significant to you and how your college experience might help you address it. （耶鲁的学生、教职员工和校友在地区、全国以及全球都发挥着重要作用。请阐述一个对你来说很重要的问题以及你的大学教育经历如何帮助你解决这个问题的。）
文书关键词：内在动力，学术/课程，自我定位
顾问综合解析：归纳耶鲁的文书，不难看出学校在变着法的问学生的内在驱动力，学术兴趣和人生目标，和耶鲁大学契合的点以及对学校的贡献。
耶鲁大学非常重视本科教育，像耶鲁大学里古老的建筑一样，其厚重的人文底蕴一直让其他名校无法企及，所以学校也希望学生期待本科教育，对自己的学术和人生目标非常清楚。
同时，从附加文书题目也可以看出，耶鲁大学关心学生到了学校之后能否找到自己的位置和角色，从而体现自己的价值，这个和耶鲁大学的官方宣传片不谋而合。纸短情长是很多学生写类似耶鲁大学文书题目的难点之一，问题多，但答题字数少，所以同学们要回答的看似简单而实则深刻。
举个栗子，很多同学都参加过模拟联合国会议，这个活动在今天已经被说成是陈词滥调。而我们的C同学，能从模联会议中不同角色需要的能力谈及模联教育，若诸葛亮躬耕陇亩能知天下之事，“纸上谈兵”，以深刻的想法打动了面试官，一举拿到耶鲁的录取。
注：因篇幅限制，藤校哥大，宾大，布朗，达特茅斯，康奈尔文书解析，将在下期揭晓~
