这是一篇来自MIT的官网上，由MIT招生官克里斯·彼得森 [Chris Peterson] 在2010年写的文章，告诉每一位想申请MIT的学生，想申请MIT需要做哪些准备。尽管已经过去15年了，但其中的道理到今天依然适用，被MIT招生官再次推荐给各位申请者。
Applying Sideways by Chris Peterson SM '13
How to get in to MIT
Every fall, like leaves tumbling exhausted from branches, admissions officers follow the winds to the corners of the country to talk to students and hawk their school.
I recently returned from my travel, which took me from Raleigh, North Carolina to Atlanta, Georgia and a dozen places in between over the course of a few days. I visited big high schools and small high schools, cities and villages, and performed what amounted to a thousand-person MIT revival in an Atlanta auditorium.
Whenever I speak to students or their families, be it on travel or during a campus information session, without fail I am asked the same question.
This question may take many forms. What is it that you look for in an applicant?, some say. What makes someone stand out in your pool?, others ask.
But these variants – and countless others – are all just versions of the same question, which is this:
How do I get in to MIT?
And here is what I tell them:
Apply sideways.
Let me unpack that.
When folks ask me this question, it is generally because they want to come to MIT, and they want me to tell them something they can do that will get them in. Maybe they need to be an Eagle Scout with a 4.0. Or a drum major with a 2400. Maybe they need to solve an open math problem or cure cancer before graduating high school. Just tell me what I need to do, their eyes implore, and I will attack each line item on the list like Ray Lewis cleaning a wideout’s clock on a slant route over the middle.
But it doesn’t work that way.
Because here’s what you need to understand:
There is nothing, literally nothing, that in and of itself will get you in to MIT.
For example:
A few years ago, we did not admit a student who had created a fully-functional nuclear reactor in his garage.
Think about that for a second.
Now, most students, when I tell them this story, become depressed. After all, if the kid who built a freakin’ nuclear reactor didn’t get in to MIT, what chance do they have?
But they have it backwards. In fact, this story should be incredibly encouraging for most students. It should be liberating. Why? Because over a thousand other students were admitted to MIT that year, and none of them built a nuclear reactor!
I don’t mean to discourage anything from pursuing incredible science and technology research on their own. If you want to do it, DO IT. But don’t do it because you think it’s your ticket to MIT. And that applies to everything you do – classes, SATs, extracurriculars.
There is no golden ticket.
So breathe.
Now that you are Zen calm, liberated from the pressures of not having cured cancer by your 18th birthday, what should you do if you still want to come to MIT?
Do well in school. Take tough classes. Interrogate your beliefs and presumptions. Pursue knowledge with dogged precision. Because it is better to be educated and intelligent than not.
Be nice. This cannot be overstated. Don’t be wanton or careless or cruel. Treat those around you with kindness. Help people. Contribute to your community.
Pursue your passion. Find what you love, and do it. Maybe it’s a sport. Maybe it’s an instrument. Maybe it’s research. Maybe it’s being a leader in your community. Math. Baking. Napping. Hopscotch. Whatever it is, spend time on it. Immerse yourself in it. Enjoy it.
If you do these three things, you will be applying sideways to MIT.
See:
If you get into MIT, it will be because you followed these steps. If you do well in school, you will be smart and prepared for an MIT education. If you are nice, then your letters of recommendation will convince us that MIT would be a wildly better place with you on campus. And if you pursue your passion, you will have developed a love for and skill at something that helps distinguish you from other applications – something that is your “hook.”
But what if you don’t get into MIT?
Well, you may be disappointed. But you learned everything you could, so now you’re smarter; you were a positive member of your community, and you made people happy; and you spent high school doing not what you thought you had to do to get into a selective college, but what you wanted to do more than anything else in the world. In other words, you didn’t waste a single solitary second of your time.
Applying sideways, as a mantra, means don’t do things because you think they will help you get into MIT (or Harvard, or CalTech, or anywhere). Instead, you should study hard, be nice, and pursue your passion, because then you will have spent high school doing all the rights things, and, as a complete side effect, you’ll be cast in the best light possible for competitive college admissions.
Sometimes, you really can have the best of both worlds.
翻译：
《侧向申请》——作者：克里斯·彼得森（Chris Peterson），SM '13
如何进入MIT
每年秋天，像树叶从树枝上疲惫地飘落一样，招生官们也会随着风向前往全国各地的角落，与学生交谈并宣传他们的学校。
最近，我刚从一次旅行中归来，几天内我从北卡罗来纳州的罗利到佐治亚州的亚特兰大，途经十几个地方。我访问了大型高中和小型高中，城市和乡村，还在亚特兰大的一个礼堂里举行了一场千人规模的MIT宣讲会。
每当我与学生或他们的家人交谈时，无论是在旅途中还是在校园信息会上，我总是被问到同一个问题。
这个问题可能有很多种形式。有些人会问：“你们在申请者中寻找什么？”另一些人则会问：“是什么让某人在申请池中脱颖而出？”
但这些变体——以及无数其他形式——都只是同一个问题的不同版本，那就是：
**我怎样才能进入MIT？**
而我的回答是：
**侧向申请。**
让我来解释一下。
当人们问我这个问题时，通常是因为他们想来MIT，并希望我告诉他们一些能够帮助他们被录取的事情。也许他们需要成为一名拥有4.0 GPA的鹰级童子军，或者是一名SAT满分2400的乐队指挥。也许他们需要在高中毕业前解决一个开放的数学问题或治愈癌症。他们的眼神似乎在恳求：“告诉我我需要做什么，我会像雷·刘易斯在中路清理外接手一样，逐项完成清单上的任务。”
但事情并不是这样运作的。
因为你需要明白的是：
**没有任何一件事，绝 对没有任何一件事，仅仅因为它本身就能让你进入MIT。**
举个例子：
几年前，我们拒绝了一位在自家车库中建造了一个完全功能核反应堆的学生。
花一秒钟想想这件事。
现在，大多数学生听到这个故事后都会感到沮丧。毕竟，如果那个建造了核反应堆的孩子都没能进入MIT，他们还有什么机会呢？
但他们想反了。事实上，这个故事对大多数学生来说应该是极其鼓舞人心的。它应该是解放性的。为什么？因为那一年有超过一千名学生被MIT录取，而他们中没有一个人建造过核反应堆！
我并不是要阻止任何人独立进行令人难以置信的科学技术研究。如果你想做，那就去做。但不要因为你认为这是进入MIT的门票而去做。这适用于你所做的一切——课程、SAT、课外活动。
**没有金门票。**
所以，深呼吸。
现在你已经平静下来，摆脱了在18岁生日前治愈癌症的压力，如果你仍然想来MIT，你应该做什么？
**在学校表现出色。选修有挑战性的课程。质疑你的信念和假设。以执着的精确度追求知识。因为受教育并拥有智慧总比没有好。**
**友善待人。这一点再怎么强调都不为过。不要任性、粗心或残忍。以善意对待身边的人。帮助他人。为你的社区做出贡献。**
**追求你的激情。找到你热爱的事情，并去做。也许是一项运动。也许是一种乐器。也许是研究。也许是在你的社区中担任领 导 者。数学。烘焙。打盹。跳房子。无论是什么，花时间去做它。沉浸其中。享受它。**
如果你做到了这三件事，你就是在“侧向申请”MIT。
你看：
如果你被MIT录取，那是因为你遵循了这些步骤。如果你在学校表现出色，你将变得聪明并为MIT的教育做好准备。如果你友善待人，那么你的推荐信将说服我们，MIT的校园会因为有你的加入而变得更好。如果你追求你的激情，你将培养出对某件事的热爱和技能，这有助于你从其他申请者中脱颖而出——这就是你的“钩子”。
但如果你没有被MIT录取呢？
你可能会感到失望。但你学到了你能学到的一切，所以现在你更聪明了；你是社区中的积极成员，你让人们感到快乐；你在高中时做的不是你认为必须做的事情来进入一所Top大学，而是你最想做的事情。换句话说，你没有浪费一分一秒的时间。
“侧向申请”作为一种信条，意味着不要因为你认为某件事会帮助你进入MIT（或哈佛、加州理工，或其他任何地方）而去做它。相反，你应该努力学习、友善待人并追求你的激情，因为这样你将在高中时做了所有正确的事情，并且，作为一个完全副作用，你将在竞争激烈的大学申请中展现出Best自己。
有时候，你真的可以两全其美。
