如何寫申請文書？

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這個問題好宏大。如果你有大把的時間，你可以讀一些如何寫文書的書，比如 On Writing The College Application Essay by Harry Bauld, Conqueringthe College Admissions Essay in 10 Steps by Alan Gelb,或者我的書 「美國常春藤名校錄取」（封面很醜，哈哈）。如果沒有時間，那麼可以看一下我的回答

故事第一

選擇你的文書題目不要像簡歷一樣列出你的課外活動。重要的話說再說一遍：不要像簡歷一樣列出你的課外活動。也不要列一堆模糊的，抽象的概念，比如teamwork,leadership這類。不要覺得招生官會喜歡看這些。他們完全不care你在模聯「學到」什麼。他們認為你在貧困山區做志願者無非是富人孩子的假期。那類你做過的teamproject that shows great leadership？招生官看到都要哭了－太無聊了。

事實上，不要寫任何和你的獎項，成績，課外活動相關的東西。不要寫！除非你有非常強的創意寫作功底，或者你在Elon Musk的公司做暑假實習，否者很難很難很難把你的成績、課外活動寫的meaningful。這類的文書只會顯得你很幼稚。

那該如何寫呢？就寫你自己。不要試著去迎合任何人。試想描述你的一天，用一種作為讀者的我能夠真正理解你的方式。你是這部電影主角，或者小說的主人公。你要讓你的讀者－招生官有一直看下去或者讀下去的興趣。

如果你是一個精力旺盛的人，那麼告訴我能夠充分體現你精力旺盛的一天。如果你是一個內向的、安靜的人，晚上會因為想事情而睡不著。那麼告訴我你經歷過的最黑暗的噩夢。告訴你的讀者你是如何成為今天的你的。如果你一直都是一個運動神經很爛的人，但是有一天，你突然決定去游泳，被水嗆到、窒息，但是還是達成了目標。這個故事就非常棒。

這看起來很裝逼，而且反直觀。但是，它管用。事實上，藝術性的處理會讓讀者愛上這篇文章。它真的管用。

現在談一下結構。

你的文書的形態是什麼樣的？我從沒見過一個學生在寫文書之前能夠回答這個問題。而這是我們的教育的巨大失敗。就像每一個偉大的電影都有它的形態和方向。文書也是一樣，需要大綱，需要計劃！

去百度「戲劇結構」或者「弗萊塔格的金字塔」。

除了很著名的5段線性發展結構－exposition, rising action, climax,falling action, denouement（類似於中文的起承轉合）－你需要構思文書結構以滿足你的需要。我比較喜歡的結構是：action,background, conflict, deep thinking, and ending

Action：還記得你想寫的那段故事嗎？你想和讀者分享的那段經歷。那麼你就要寫一段最美麗，有視覺感，有細節的故事。思考「5種味道」－視覺、聽覺、嗅覺、觸覺、味覺。這些感覺把我們帶入你的世界。就像契訶夫說的「不要告訴我月亮在發亮，給我展示月亮在破碎的玻璃上的反射的微光。

Background：很簡單。直接告訴我們為什麼這個場景對你重要，用感情說話。有什麼重要的元素隱藏在這個故事中，而這些能夠體現你是誰。

Conflict: 同樣很簡單。比如，你開始學游泳，但是總是嗆水，水進到了你的肺里。。。

Deep Thinking: 這是我最喜歡的部分。這部分應該就像標題一樣：深度思考。你的故事在廣義上意味著什麼？還拿游泳舉例。在這個世界上還有誰有類似的經歷？為什麼Matthew Webb在1875年游過英吉利海峽？那麼，上個月在香港沒有游過維多利亞港的不幸青年呢？

Ending: 我沒辦法告訴你如何結尾。也許還是比較具象、描寫的、細節的，呼應開頭。你也可以用直白的結尾。但是，不管怎樣，這是你的故事。只有你能夠掌控如何結尾。一旦你完成了深度思考的部分，你自然知道怎麼結尾了。

當你做到以上這些時，祝賀你。你已經是一位會講故事的人了。你的申請文書會讓招生官讀了之後說「哇，我喜歡這個孩子。」

歡迎關注我們的微信平台：伯晟教育

－－－華麗的中英文分割線 －－－

Whoa! Huge question. Im going to assume that youretargeting top universities and want to write the best essay possible. That is,an essay that actually increases your chance of admission. Im alsogoing to assume you have looming deadlines, and thus, dont have time to read On Writing The College Application Essay by HarryBauld, Conquering the College Admissions Essay in 10Steps by Alan Gelb, or my book (the one with the ugly cover, ha).

If all this is true, then you need to focus on two things:structure and story.

Story first.

In choosing a topic for your essay, do not, I repeat...DONOT...try to write a resume list of your activities, or try to write about abunch of vague, abstract concepts (teamwork, leadership, etc) that you think anadmissions office will like. They dont care about how much you"learned" at Model UN. They think your experience volunteering in apoor rural village is presumptuous (a rich kids vacation). And that teamproject you were assigned, the one where you showed great leadership and acapacity for teamwork? Yes, thats so boring it makes AOs want to cry.

In fact, do not write about ANYTHING thats presented onyour Awards/Honors/Activities list. Just dont. Without a very long, deepeducation in creative writing, or without having spent the summer conductinglab research with Elon Musk, its almost impossible to write about thoseactivities in a meaningful way. These sorts of essays make you look short-sightedand juvenile. Its true. Be careful.

Instead, just write about you. Dont try to impress anybody.Just try to be honest. Lets just choose one day in your life, and write aboutthat day in such a way that I, the reader, really understand you as acharacter. You are a character in a novel. You are a character in a movie. Makeus want to read that novel. Make us want to watch the rest of that movie.

Are you a pretty energetic, upbeat person? Then lets writeabout a day when you were really upbeat and energetic. Are you aquiet, introverted person who has trouble sleeping at night because you worryabout things? Lets write about the darkest night of the soul youve ever had.Lets write about the YOU that your parents dont know. Lets write about theYOU that your teachers have never met. Lets write about who you are whenyoure dreaming at night. Have you been a terrible athlete your entire life, butall of a sudden, one day, all by yourself, you decided to swim across the lakeby yourself anyway, and almost drowned? Oooh...great story. I like that.

This may seem counter-intuitive, but it works. Honest,artful writing makes the reader fall in love. Trust me. It works. It really,really, really, really works.

Now - structure.

What is the shape of your essay? Ive never met a singlestudent who could answer this question before having written their essay, andthats a great failure in our education system. Just like every wonderful movieyouve ever seen, your essay should have a shape and a direction. It needs anoutline. It needs a plan!

Get on Baidu and search for "dramatic structure"or "Freytags pyramid."This outline has worked for historys greatest writers for thousands ofyears. Lets use it!

Instead of those famous five linear sections - exposition,rising action, climax, falling action, denouement - youre going to tailor thesections (or paragraphs?) of your essay to suit your own needs. I like: action,background, conflict, deep thinking, and ending.

Action: remember that story from your life we thought aboutearlier? That one moment in time? Here youre going to write about that in themost effusive, beautiful, graphic detail possible. Think "5 senses" -sight, sound, smell, touch, taste. Bring us into that world. As Anton Chekhovfamously said: "Don』t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint oflight on broken glass."

Background: Easy - tell us directly why this scene isimportant for you, in an emotional way. What is the ominous underlying conflictthat made this story truly representative of who you are?

Conflict: Also easy - you start swimming across the lake.You flail. Water gurgles into your lungs. Uh oh.

Deep Thinking: This is my favorite section, and it should beexactly as it sounds. Think deeply. How does your experience resonate in alarger context? Who else in the world has had a similar experience? Why didCaptain Matthew Webb swim across the English Channel in 1875? How about thosepoor, unfortunate souls who died in the Hong Kong cross-harbor swim last month?

Ending: well, I cant tell you how to end your essay. Itshould probably retain some of the graphical, beautiful detail ofthe introduction. We call that circularity, and its quite nice. But really,this is your story, and only you know how it ends. Once you finish the deepthinking section, youre going to know how to end it. Youll feel the impulsedeep within you.

When that happens - congratulations. Youre now astoryteller, and youve now written an application essay that will make readerssit back and say "wow - I love this kid.」