兄長相助 如願進哥大

 「大學」，單單提起這個字眼就足以使每個高中生脊柱發涼，這曾是17歲少年宏遠的夢想，如今卻只能使人聯想到鎖喉般激烈競爭的場景，機遇不佳的人只能等待著夢碎。為什麼申請大學竟然變得如此「磨人」?我願以自己申請大學校的過程來拋磚引玉。

 我家是典型依靠辛勤工作以維持小本生意的移民家庭，對於在美國申請大學，過去家裡成員從未有人經歷過，我大哥在申請大學時完全憑藉自己的力量。

兄長失敗經驗 最佳參考

多數人對哥哥有種特殊情結，我也不例外，我尊敬大哥，他以95分的平均成績從紐約市史岱文森高中（Stuyvesant High School）畢業，擁有極高的SAT成績，並曾參加田徑校隊。他幾乎申請了所有常春藤盟校，而結果卻令我們難以置信，他申請的7所學校中，只被一所常春藤大學和紐約大學史登商學院（NYU Stern）錄取。全家人都不解其中緣由，但我哥哥只是聳聳肩，微微一笑。史登商學院名譽好，並給予他全額獎學金，我哥哥也認定自己的商科興趣，所以他順理成章地進入紐約大學，那時讀9年級的我第一次瞭解到申請大學的不易。
 
提早申請 獲哥大青睞

接下來的三年過得飛快，很快輪到我申請大學了。我與哥哥有著相似的條件，畢業於湯森哈里斯特殊高中（Townsend Harris）、平均分數為97分、是擊劍校隊隊長，但我知道這些遠遠不夠。不過，我很幸運，哥哥自上大學後與朋友賈可布（Jacob）每週末於「先鋒教育」（Herald Education）擔任義務輔導，幫助高中生準備大學申請，他們也為我的作文、選校、暑期活動及標準化考試等出謀劃策。
 
他們協助我打造了一份完整的大學申請材料，修改作文，創建有競爭力的簡歷，並確認好需要特別強調的地方，如個人強項和區別於其他數千名申請者的個人特色。整個過程耗時三個月，不過最終我們將所有申請材料集合起來，並講述了關於我的「完整」故事。
 
我遞交了哥倫比亞的「提早決定」（Early Decision）申請函，並參加了學校的信息交流座談會及校園參觀。我特別強調哥倫比亞是我心中「僅有的唯一」，並確認這一想法始終貫穿我的申請過程。一個多月後，我得到答覆是，哥倫比亞大學決定錄取我。按照我申請過程中的經驗，可看出大學錄取已不再僅是看重優異成績，因為提出申請的學生都有著傲人的平均成績和考試分數。另一方面，競爭已超乎國界，今日的大學生來自世界各地，包括中國、新加坡、印度和其他國家。
 
突顯特色 推銷自己

如何與其他7000人競爭，並在申請類似哈佛這類一流大學時取勝呢?答案十分簡單，大學市場科系都教授過下列案例，數年前，所有品牌的麥片都裝在類似的盒子裡，第一眼看上去，消費者無法區分它們的不同。而後有一天，家樂氏（Kellogg’s）決定在盒子上印一隻鳥，僅是這小小的改變，卻轉變了整個營銷策略。直至今日，不管是哪種麥片品牌，無論是幸運護身符（Lucky Charms）還是糖霜燕麥片（Frosted Flakes）都各有獨特標識。
 
每位學生在填寫大學申請書時都應該將自己品牌化，成功的絕招是勸說招生辦公室，不論統計數據顯示如何，你就是和其他申請者不同。你必須向招生辦公室推銷自己，並使招生專員在瀏覽過數千申請材料後仍對你的申請函過目不忘，而非「亞裔」、「高分」、「高績點」等傳統印象，而是如「曾去過西藏並幫助窮困生的亞裔學生」的獨特方式。
 
我不特別 但我努力

最重要的是不要將自己局限在幾所學校之中，我哥哥沒去成哈佛，現在卻是與華爾街前50的金融公司打交道的成功顧問。我母親周燕霞從未上過常春藤盟校，但目前正競選紐約州眾議員。每個人的最終結局與就讀大學無關，而是取決於你有多努力來實現自己的目標。(王憲譯)
 

Solving Maze By Following Brother’s Footsteps

By Edward Chen College. Just the mere mention of the word sends shivers down the spine of every high school student. What used to be a grand dream for 17 year olds now conjures up imagery of intense cut-throat competition where dice are rolled and dreams are shattered. So why has the process to get into college become so, dare I say, torturous? Let me begin with my own story of the college admission process.
 
My older brother was the first in our family to run the college admissions gauntlet. We were the classical hard-working small business-owner immigrant family, and we had no experience when it came to applying for college in the United States. That was why my brother had to take care of the applications himself.
 
Near Perfect Credentials

I always looked up to my older brother. And who wouldn’t have? He went to Stuyvesant High School, had a 95 average, got a perfect score on his SATs, was on the track team, etc. He applied to nearly every Ivy League school, When the results came back, we were shocked. Out of the 7 schools he applied to, he was accepted by only one Ivy school and by NYU Stern. It made no sense to us, but my brother just smiled and shrugged it off. NYU Stern had a good reputation, offered him a full scholarship, and my brother knew he wanted to study business. This was my first taste of the college admission process, as a high school freshman.
 
The next three years went by very quickly, and soon it was my turn. On paper, I had everything my brother had. I was graduating from Townsend Harris, had a 97 average, and was captain of the fencing team. But we knew that was not enough.Luckily for me, since college, my brother and his best friend, Jacob, had volunteered their time at Herald Education every weekend to help high school students with their college application struggles. They offered advice on essays, choice of colleges, summer activities, and standardized testing. So naturally, I turned to them for help.
 
The “Complete” Story

Together, we crafted a “complete” college application package. What do I mean by “complete”? I mean we spent hours refining and polishing my essays and creating a strong resume. We made sure what I wanted to emphasize about myself, my strengths and what made me different from the thousands of other applicants. It took us three full months, but we finally put together an admission package that told the complete story about me.
 
I submitted an early decision application to Columbia and went to the school’s information sessions, as well as attended the campus tours. I demonstrated that I wanted Columbia with all my heart, and made sure that was apparent throughout my application. In a little over a month, I got a reply. Columbia had accepted me.(What did I learn from this experience and what lesson should you take away from my story?) That the college admissions process is no longer just about merits. For every outstanding student with a spectacular grade-point average and test scores, there are hundreds more with the same or better qualifications. And the competition is no longer domestic. Today’s colleges are globalized, and applicants must compete against a slate of outstanding students from China, Singapore, India, and a dozen other countries.
 
Packaging Yourself

So how exactly do you succeed in an admissions process to top-tiered schools like Harvard when you are competing with “7,000 people just like you”? The answer, though simple, carries great implications and can best be conveyed in another story – a story they tell all marketing majors in college.
 
Years ago, cereals of all brands were sold in similar boxes. At first glance, a consumer could not tell what was different from one box of cereal versus another. Then one day, Kellogg’s decided to put a bird on their box, and with just that, the company changed the whole marketing approach to selling cereal. To this day, whenever we think of any cereal, be it Lucky Charms, Frosted Flakes, Corn Flakes, we have a specific image, i.e., Lucky the leprechaun, Tony the tiger, Cornelius the rooster.
 
To extend the metaphor, every student needs to do the same thing on their college application and brand themselves. The only way to succeed is to convince the admissions office that, despite all statistical evidence to the contrary, you are not like any other applicant.
 
You need to sell yourself to the admissions office and you need to do it so uniquely that an admission officer looking through your application will remember you after looking through thousands of other applications. And it can’t be “Asian student, great test scores, and great average” – it has to be “Asian student who went to Tibet to work with impoverished students.”
 
Don’t Limit Yourself

Most importantly, do not limit yourself to just a handful of schools. My brother didn’t get to Harvard, and he is a very successful consultant working with top 50 finance companies on Wall Street. My mother, Yen Chou, never attended an Ivy League and now she is running for the New York State Assembly.In the end, where you end up depends on how hard you try.
 
Edward Chen graduated from Columbia University. He is currently an investment banking analyst at BMO Capital Markets.

資料來源：世界日報教育專刊