申請(qǐng)文章在申請(qǐng)獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金過程中所起的作用遠(yuǎn)超過托福和GRE。要保證您的讀書計(jì)劃和推薦信獨(dú)樹一幟,獲得獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金評(píng)審委員會(huì)的刮目相看,可以參考以下的范例:
Growing up in a modest village in China,I hardly ever had the chance to see many examples of modern technology;people who dig wells by hand to obtain drinking water and use ox-driven plows to cultivate their fields don’t have much use for televisions and personal computers。But when my father gave me an old radio to play with,I wanted nothing more than to take apart the contraption and see what inside made such interesting sounds。Sitting on the floor with a confused grin,surrounded by wires and metal,I looked up at my father and asked where the noises were...(有刪節(jié))
點(diǎn) 評(píng):合理地闡述了申請(qǐng)者學(xué)習(xí)電子工程的動(dòng)機(jī),學(xué)習(xí)動(dòng)機(jī)是評(píng)審委員非常看中的。同時(shí),讀了這段文字,會(huì)使讀者沉浸在對(duì)童年往事的美好回憶里,借此打動(dòng)評(píng)審委員的心。
另外一篇修改過的文章開頭用詩一般的語言寫道(有刪節(jié)):
......I first read this paragraph from Madame Curie as a 14-year-old child,and I still remember how wonderful I felt。I remember thinking,“What esteemed men they were!How hard they worked!” As I grew older,this paragraph became a source of encouragement in the face of adversity。I begin to feel a magical blue light twinkling in my heart,kindling a love of science,and encouraging me to charge bravely into the unknown world。
結(jié)尾呼應(yīng)了開頭,闡述了作者為什么要去美國讀書:
I never forgot my adolescent idol,Maria Curie。As I re-read the book,another passage leaped out:“She was now 24-an age when some of her great contemporaries were to be on the brink of major discoveries... Maria took the train from Warsaw to Paris,the intellectual Mecca。”
For me,the intellectual Mecca is the United States。...I hope to continue my study and research,as detailed below。One day,I hope to find the pure esthetics of biology and reach its luminous summits。
點(diǎn) 評(píng):我們可以想象地到,評(píng)審委員在讀了這位女士的申請(qǐng)文章以后,腦海里肯定能栩栩如生地浮現(xiàn)出一個(gè)好學(xué)上進(jìn)、充滿遠(yuǎn)大抱負(fù)的未來女科學(xué)家的形象,怎么會(huì)不拍案叫絕,全力幫助這個(gè)女士登上前往學(xué)術(shù)圣地美利堅(jiān)的飛機(jī),成為第二個(gè)居里夫人呢?
總 結(jié):
PS之所以重要就是反映學(xué)習(xí)動(dòng)機(jī)。ps好的最基本條件就是要針對(duì)該學(xué)校具體情況。 要表現(xiàn)出你的背景是如何地適合這個(gè)學(xué)校。當(dāng)然,胡吹是不行的,因此再怎么吹牛只要沒作假柜子還是看的出高低的,比如你物理方面實(shí)力的確比電子方面強(qiáng),所以MIT的EE只能把我放在waiting list里。我常見的申請(qǐng)者的通病就是一個(gè)同樣的PS發(fā)給十幾幾十個(gè)學(xué)校。會(huì)申請(qǐng)的人都是一個(gè)學(xué)校一個(gè)PS的。UPenn的招生辦主任就曾明確表示,我們最反感的是,我們看到的PS不加改動(dòng)低可以適合于大半美國的其他學(xué)校。
一個(gè)好的PS,結(jié)合過去的經(jīng)歷和對(duì)專業(yè)的興趣來談為什么該校的教授和研究計(jì)劃對(duì)自己特別有吸引力?梢渣c(diǎn)名指出感興趣的教授或研究方向,這樣論述就具體了,因而也就更讓人信服。可惜就我所知的學(xué)生都沒做到這點(diǎn):大多數(shù)人實(shí)在是太忽視PS了。Princeton物理系博士計(jì)劃的介紹說的好,我們關(guān)心的是申請(qǐng)者對(duì)物理學(xué)的興趣和動(dòng)機(jī)而不是現(xiàn)有的專業(yè)水平,至于以前物理學(xué)基礎(chǔ)的薄弱環(huán)節(jié)可以在以后的博士學(xué)習(xí)期間彌補(bǔ)。所以有時(shí)PS表現(xiàn)出的對(duì)專業(yè)的興趣比申請(qǐng)人實(shí)際具有的專業(yè)學(xué)術(shù)水平還重要。另外能說明申請(qǐng)者對(duì)專業(yè)興趣的還可以通過推薦信來表現(xiàn),這就是為什么推薦信和PS最最重要。