I like to outline school research as a four step process: research yourself, research the schools, making a list, and balancing the list. Before I go into greater detail on these four steps, I would like to briefly endorse the importance of becoming seasoned in doing research. Research is a skill that people will use frequently in college, their personal, and professional lives. Whether you are writing a paper, studying for an exam, trying to buy a new car, flowing a sport, or reading the news, research is a necessity. Being adept at research will continue to reward you throughout life.
我把选校概括为一个“四步走”的过程:研究自己,研究学校,列出名单,调整名单。不过,在详细讲解四个步骤之前,我想简单说一下学会熟练地做研究有多么重要。研究是大家在学校里、在生活中和在职场上都会经常用到的技能。无论你是写文章、备考、还是买车、从事一项运动,又或者是阅读新闻,都需要用到研究。擅长做研究将会使你终生受益。
As a History major, and as a person who did strategic and ethical research and consulting for three years before I came to China, I have learned the value of this skill firsthand. As with all things, practice makes perfect. Here at Shanghai ADS, we impress upon them the importance of research, and give structured advice and guidance to our students in order to help them cultivate the necessary skills and knowledge to do school research.
我学的是历史专业,并且在来中国之前从事了3年的战略和商业道德咨询工作,所以我亲身感受到了做研究的价值所在。同所有事情都一样,熟能生巧。在上海ADS项目,我们一直跟学生强调做研究的重要性,并且为他们提供有条理性的建议和指导,以帮助他们培养做选校研究所必备的技巧和知识。
The first step is researching yourself. This is perhaps the most important step, and I fear it is often neglected when most students set out to do school research. A student who has a clear sense of their goals, preferences, priorities, dislikes, interests, and personality will have a much better sense of what they are looking for in a school than those who are unclear. We have students answer a questionnaire for their first class at ADS, offer counseling, and guidance in order to help them get a better sense of the aforementioned things.
第一步是研究你自己。这也许是最重要的一步,但我恐怕大部分学生着手做选校研究的时候都会忽略这点。那些对自己的目标、好恶、倾向、兴趣以及个性都有清晰认识的学生会比对这些问题都没想清楚的学生在选校的时候更了解自己想要什么。在ADS项目的第一堂课上,我们会让学生填写一份问卷,然后为他们咨询和指导,以便他们能对以上提及的这些方面有更好的认知。
The second step is researching the schools. We offer students past examples, give them some of the best places to look for information, explain the type of things they are looking for, and give direction and information on the research process. The information gained from this step of the process is especially valuable, because it helps students find their ideals schools, and helps give them ammunition for when they write their supplemental essays.
第二步就是研究学校。我们会提供一些过往学生的案例,告诉学生们去哪里查询信息最有效,对他们查询的一些信息进行讲解,对他们的研究过程做出指导并提供信息。这个过程中获取的信息特别有价值,因为能够帮助学生找到理想的学校,并且这些信息在之后写学校的附加文书的时候都能用得上。
The third step is making a list. The first step in making a college list is to understand where you are on the spectrum. Each student has to understand what range of schools constitutes a match, reach, and safety. This can often be a difficult process because ego and bias need to be removed in order to make an apt analysis of a student’s prospects. Parents always think their kid belongs in a top 10 school, and a big part of our job is explaining harsh realities and managing expectations. Having an expert third party help with your college list is very beneficial for students; because no one benefits if the student makes a college list based on inflated expectations. If the student applies to schools based on unrealistic expectations, then the student has a much higher probability of ending up at a safety school.
第三步就是列名单。首先你要明白你自己所处的位置。每个学生都应该了解哪个范围内的学校能够分别对应到匹配、冲刺和保底的学校。这个过程通常会比较难,因为一些自我意识和偏见要被抛弃掉,这样才会对学生的预期有一个比较恰当的分析。家长们往往认为自己的孩子应该进入排名前十的大学,而我们很大一部分工作就是要解释残酷的现实以及管理他们的预期。找一位来自于第三方机构的专家来帮助学生列选校单是大有益处的,因为如果学生的选校单是基于过高的预期的基础上列出的,这对谁都没好处。如果学生不切实际地申请一些期望过高的学校,最终很有可能只能录到保底校。
Then fourth and final step is balancing the list. This can differ from student to student and there isn’t a universal formula for creating a perfectly balanced school list. This requires a nuanced approach. Some students may have more reach schools than others because they are undecided on what they want to study and want to try for more overall academic strength. Others may want to apply to mostly match schools because they want to minimize risk. It depends a lot on the individual and what they want to study. A good rule to keep in mind is to make sure you apply to at least 2 safety schools, because you don’t want to be in a situation where you have to take a gap year. I also advise my students to comprise their school list with mostly match schools because the competition gets fiercer every year, especially in top universities.
最后一步是调整选校单。这要因人而异,在制定最合理的选校单方面,并没有通用的准则可以遵循。这个过程要做得细致入微。有些学生可能冲刺这档的学校多一些,因为他们并没有决定好将来想学什么,所以想尝试一些整体学术水平都很不错的学校。还有些学生多半都是申请匹配学校,因为他们想将风险降到最低。其实这个过程很大程度上取决于个体情况以及自己想学的专业。但是有个比较好的规则请牢记,就是你要确保至少申请2所保底校,如果你不想来年再申请的话。我也建议我的学生能够选更多的匹配学校,因为竞争逐年激烈,尤其是顶尖名校。
Students often go by name recognition and rank when they craft their school lists, and this is a big mistake. China, unfortunately, only goes by one college ranking system—U.S. World and News. And Chinese students and parents usually judge the school by its overall rank. An overall rank is created for a hypothetical student who wants to study everything. However, no student can study everything, nor should they aspire to. Students have to carefully evaluate individual ranks for fields of study and use that knowledge to help them create a more refined school list. One of the biggest challenges in our industry is adding nuance and understanding to the college application process for both students and parents. Here at Shanghai ADS we help students craft their school list with this nuance in mind and fight hard to give our clients a more detailed understanding of the college application process overall.
学生们常常根据学校的知名度和排名来选校,其实这样大错特错。不幸的是,在中国基本上只认《美国新闻和世界报道》发布的排名。并且中国学生和家长通常是以综合排名来评判学校。综合排名其实是假定学生都什么都想学。但其实没有哪个学生能什么都学,而且也没这个必要。学生们应该仔细评估各专业领域的排名并且运用这些知识列出一个相对精准的选校名单。这个行业的从业者遇到的最大的挑战之一就是为家长和学生在大学申请过程中提供差异化的信息。我们上海ADS项目会帮助学生打造选校名单的时候会铭记差异化并且竭尽全力给到客户关于学校和整个申请过程更多细节信息。
作者简介:
Keith Donaldson
宾夕法尼亚大学本科历史学毕业,英语是第一语言,能够给学生提供美式价值观和文书写作指导。通过现身说法,以自己的亲身经历讲解如何选择自己喜欢的学校并获得学校的青睐。
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