Common Mistakes of Chinese on U.S. College Applications

　　高三的同学们，当你们在写美国院校申请材料时，最重要的是要了解美国的招生官们想了解中国学生的哪些方面。当你们清楚地知道这些以后，就可以避免很多学生在书写文书和提交申请材料时经常会犯的错误。

　　Senior 3’s, as you are writing your college applications it is important for you to know what the American deans of admission are looking for from Chinese applicants. If you know what they are looking for you can avoid the common mistakes that many students make each year as you write your essays and applications.

　　众所周知，进入中国的大学通常只依靠考试成绩。这大概让你们很难相信，相比于考试成绩，美国大学更看重你们在高中时期的课程及每一科的综合评分。在看过这些之后，美国大学才会去看你的考试成绩来判断你是否有能力在学校学习，依靠这些对你做出评估。他们通过阅读你的申请材料和你的文书来看你能否对课堂讨论做出贡献。院校招生官们在全世界范围内探寻多样性思考问题的学生。比如何考试更重要的是你如何去思考，书写和表达。同时，课堂讨论、辩论和质疑也比你在美国教室学习时的一个答案有意义得多。

　　You know that test scores alone get you admitted into the Chinese universities. It is hard for you to believe that the American universities value the strength of your high school curriculum and your grades even more than your test scores. And after looking at your curriculum, your grades, and then your test scores to see if you can do the work at the college, the American colleges measure your character. They read what you write on your application and your essay to measure what contribution you will make to the classroom discussions. The college admissions deans are searching all over the world to get diversity in the way that students think. More important than how you test is how you think, write, and speak. Classroom discussion, debate, and questions are more important than answers when you are learning in an American classroom.

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　　在了解了美国院校看重的是你如何思考而不是你如何考试以后，你就能理解中国学生在申请时经常犯的错误了。

　　Understanding that the US colleges are looking for how you think and not how you test will help you to understand these common mistakes made by Chinese applicants.

　　第一个错误是，在书写文书的时候写上你的考试成绩。事实上，院校已经通过你或者你的高中寄出的资料了解了你的考试成绩。

　　The first mistake is when asked to write an essay, you write about your test scores. The college already knows your test scores that were sent in by you or your high school.

　　第二个最普遍的错误是寄送了过多的补充材料。中国学生寄送从一年级以来获得的证书、奖项、还有证书的复印版本。相信你很骄傲你所获得的证书，确实，你非常努力参加了很多比赛才赢得这么多的奖项。但问题是每个申请美国大学的中国学生都寄送很多没有被要求的材料。阅读这些材料反而阻碍了对学生的评估。如果你没有寄送额外的材料却清楚地表现出你想做什么，你将会从你的同学们中脱颖而出。

　　The second most common mistake is sending too many supplementary materials. Chinese students send certificates, prizes, and copies of certificates that they have earned since first grade. You are very proud of your certificates, and rightly so, you have worked very hard for them with an enormous amount of competition to get those prizes. The problem is that every Chinese student who applies to college sends too many materials that are not requested. All of those things to read get in the way of evaluating the student. You will stand out among your classmates if you do not send extra materials and standing out is what you want to do.

　　第三，很多中国学生会提交给招生官一个封皮上印着他们照片的小册子或者一本书，用照片和文字故事去描述自己的生活。这些册子其实是浪费时间和钱财的一项工作，在这个世界上没有其他人会寄给他们这些东西，因为学校是不想花时间去浏览这些册子的内容的。

　　Many Chinese students have a small book or booklet printed with their picture on the cover and a picture and word story of their life for the admissions officer. These booklets are a waste of time and money and no one else in the world sends them because the colleges do not want to spend any time looking at these booklets.

　　第四，当被要求回答学校申请的问题“为什么你想去宾夕法尼亚大学、戴维森学院或者南加州大学”时，很多中国学生会写这个大学是多么地漂亮，进入这个大学学习是多么大的荣誉。其实这些大学是想了解你，而不是他们已经知道的关于他们大学的东西。他们希望你说出你到底是怎么样的，你喜欢学习什么，你喜欢做什么运动，你喜欢听什么音乐，你有多么了解你申请的学校里的学生到底是什么样的。

　　When answering the application question, why you want to go to the University of Pennsylvania, or Davidson College, or the University of Southern California (USC) most Chinese students write how beautiful the college is, how much of an honor it would be to go there. The colleges want to learn about you, not what they already know about their college. They want you to talk about who you are, what you like to study, what sports you like to play, what music you like to listen to, and how well you know what the students are like at the colleges where you are applying.

　　第五，很多中国学生想学习工程或者商业。美国大学不希望录取一个跟其他中国学生很像的学生。就算你真的想成为一个建筑师或者会计师，也要写一些别的你想学的，或者你喜欢读的书，或者你喜欢看的电影。你可以写一些关于中国的东西，例如中国的历史，中国的诗词或者艺术，再或者生活在一个共产主义国家的你的成长历程是什么样子的。也写一些别人不会写的东西，例如你的家庭或者你除了学习以外的工作。

　　Most Chinese students want to study engineering or business. The American colleges do not want to take students who are like all of the other Chinese students. Even if you do want to become an engineer or an accountant, write about something else that you also like to study. Or books you like to read. Or movies you like to see. Write about something Chinese such as Chinese history, Chinese poetry or art, or what it’s like to grow up in a Communist country. Write something that everyone else isn’t writing about such as your family, or your responsibilities other than studying.

　　当你申请美国大学的时候，改掉这五个普遍的错误会给你一个更好地机会，让你有更多的大学去选择。

　　Correcting these five common mistakes when applying to American colleges and universities will get you a better chance for more choices of places to go.

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