在和学生、家长面谈的过程中，他们常常会问我：“美国大学究竟喜欢什么样的学生？具有什么特质的学生更容易被录取？如何选择适合自己的学校和专业？录取中应该注意哪些细节？怎样用自己的故事去打动招生官？以及应该如何度过在美国的大学时光？等等这些问题。非常有幸，我们这次可以专访到前普林斯顿招生官，请他给大家一些建议。同样，招生官也提出了一系列的问题，非常值得我们大家去反思。
Our friends at New Oriental have asked me to share with you some thoughts on the difficulties that Chinese students encounter when they consider going to America to study.
Let me divide these difficulties into three parts:
1. First, even before students apply to American universities, almost all Chinese students face challenges that students from America do not face;
2. Second, the actual application process itself is complex, difficult to understand and put Chinese students at a disadvantage;
3. And third, after a Chinese student gets into college, they face some of their greatest challenges
新东方的朋友们邀请我来为大家分享中国学生准备去美国留学时面临的困难的一些看法。
我将分为三个方面来解析这些困难：
首先，在申请美国大学之前，几乎所有的中国学生面临着美国本土学生不曾面临的挑战；
其次，申请过程很复杂并不易被理解，这对于中国学生很不利；
第三，在中国学生进入美国大学后，他们还会面临的极大的挑战。
Perhaps the greatest challenge that Chinese students seem to have... even before applying to college... is that most Chinese students have not learned how to study.
Chinese students seem to have learned how to memorize. But remembering something is not the same thing as understanding something.
Chinese students seem to have difficulty questioning ideas, analyzing issues and reflecting on the implications of the things they are taught.
And... interestingly to us Americans... Chinese students do not seem to recognize all of the learning opportunities that they have outside of the classroom.
I know that many of you ask your children what they learned in school that day. But please ask them what they learned outside of school. I think you will be surprised at how much they have to think about this before they can answer you.
中国学生面对的最大程度的挑战…即使在申请大学之前…就是大部分中国学生还没有找到正确的学习方法。
大部分中国学生知道如何熟记，但是记住某些知识并不等同于理解它。
中国学生好像在接受知识时不善于质问，分析和思考。
对于美国人来说是很有意思的一件事情是，中国学生好像不善于利用课外的学习资源。
我知道你们当中很多人会问自己的孩子今天你在学校学了什么。但请问他们：你们在校外学到了什么。
我猜你会惊讶于他们回答之前必须想多久。
Going on to the next bullet point... the second greatest challenge is that Chinese students seem to lack self-discipline and self-reliance.
Many Chinese parents show their love of their child by doing many things for them, for example:
1. Waking students up;
2. Taking students to school/everywhere else;
3. Feeding them;
4. Fixing their mistakes;
5. Criticizing them in order to "make them better"
This has prevented Chinese students from learning how to manage their own time and learning how to rely on themselves to do even simple things.
A student who can't wake himself up in the morning, who can't get to school by himself, who can't feed himself, who can't fix his own mistakes and who is criticized regularly by his parents lacks one of life's biggest resources... self confidence.
下一个着重点，中国学生所面临的第二大挑战是他们需要增加自律和自强。
很多中国家长为孩子做很多事情，例如：
1. 叫孩子起床
2. 带孩子去上学/其他任何地方
3. 给孩子准备饭菜
4. 弥补孩子犯下的错误
5. 批评孩子为了“让他们变得更好”
这些欣慰都阻止了您孩子去学习如何管理自己的时间，和依靠自己的力量去做哪怕很小的事情。
如果一个学生不自己起床，不自己去学校，不自己吃饭，不可以弥补自己犯下的错误，还经常被父母批评，那么这个学生将缺少人生中最重要的资源——自信。
The third bullet point may not seem important, but it is a large and conspicuous difference between Chinese students and American students:
Chinese students may need more compassion and consideration for others
For example, few students who have volunteered to help disadvantaged people as an extracurricular activity usually have done it in order to "build their resume" not to actually help others. These students seem to have not learned the joy of being a good person.
Their college applications show this very clearly.
No American university wants to have this type of students in their school.
第三个着重点可能看起来并不重要，但是这是中国学生于美国学生之间所存在的显著差别的地方，学生可能需要更多为他人着想。
例如：有少数学生在课外参加了帮助残疾人的志愿者活动，但是他们做这个是为了“建立自己的简历”，而不是真正的帮助他人。这些学生看起来好像并没有获得帮助他人的乐趣
他们的大学申请材料中，可以清楚的看到这一点，美国大学并不希望录用这一类学生。
The fourth disadvantage that Chinese students have is that they have become very comfortable. They lead very comfortable lives. And they do not seem toWANT to do anything that is uncomfortable.
As we all know, anyone can do the easy things, the comfortable things.
But growing requires people to do things that they have not done before or do things they've done before in a new way. Neither of these things is comfortable. But the only way to get better is to continue to do things that are uncomfortable.
This means that students who are not willing to explore new things are at a huge disadvantage.
Think about your student now; what uncomfortable things has he/she done that was uncomfortable? How has dealing with that discomfort made him better?
第四点着重点，中国学生们生活的太舒适了，这对他们很不利。 他们过着很舒适的生活，看起来并不想跳出自己的舒适区。但是，我们都知道，任何一个人都可以做简单容易的事情。
成长就需要人们去做之前没有做过的事情，或者用一种新的方式做以前做过的事情。这两种成长方式都不容易。但是想要变得更好的话，唯一方法就是去做不容易的事情。
这也就是说如果学生不愿意体验新的事情，这种心态对于他来说是非常不利的。
想想自己孩子，有没有过尽力去做过一些不容易的事情？他是如何面对这些苦难，并让自己变得更好的？
The last disadvantage for most Chinese students is the most obvious one: English. Interestingly, for students who have overcome the first four disadvantages that I've just described;
• Learning how to study
• Learning self-discipline
• Developing consideration for others
• Becoming comfortable with discomfort
English is the least important problem That is because these sorts of students aggressively seek opportunities to develop their English:
• They watch English language television
• They visit English language websites
• They read English language books
• They try to speak English with anyone who can speak English. How many of you speak English? How often do you speak English with your child? You should!
最后一个着重点，也是显而易见的，大部分中国学生都需要提高英语。
那些克服了上述四个困难的学生（也就是学会了正确的学习方法，学会了自律，可以为他人着想，并坦然面对苦难的学生），英语水平反而是最小的困难。这是因为这些学生会尽力的寻找机会提高他们的英语：看英文电视节目，上国外网站，阅读英文读物，尝试尽可能的多的说英语。 请问的听众有多少人能说英语？您多久跟孩子说一次英语？如果说的少的话，您应该多与孩子多说一说！
Even the straightforward act of applying to college is a challenge. And that challenge starts almost immediately with the way Chinese students view colleges.
申请大学的过程对于学生来说也是一种挑战。这种挑战在中国学生择校的时候就开始了。
Choosing a college is fairly straightforward in China. There is a "best university". The university that is ranked #1 is better than the university ranked #2. So it's easy for students to figure out which school they should apply to:
Students in China simply need to apply to the school that is highest ranked that they can get into.
But in America, there really is no "best university". Universities are different from each other... sometimes the differences are small, but usually, the differences are huge. Students develop more completely, learn more, become more capable and generally do better if they go to a university that better fits them.
So it is important to choose schools that "fit" the student better.
在中国择校是很简单的。中国有“最好的大学”。排名第一的大学比排名第二的大学好。所以学生很容易的就知道自己要申请哪所大学。
在中国，学生需要做的就是申请自身所能达到的最高排名的大学。
但是在美国，并没有“最好的大学”，每个大学都是不同的，有些时候不同大学之间的差别很小，但是一般来说，学校之间的不同还是很明显的。学生只有去了更适合自己的学校，才能获得更全面的发展，学习到更多知识，成为更能干的人，获得更好的未来。
所以选择“最适合”学生的大学是非常重要的
The second disadvantage that Chinese students have in the application process to American schools is that Chinese students think universities are simply stepping stones to their future profession, their future jobs.
No American university wants to be known for producing "the next great accountant", "the next great lawyer" or "the next great software programmer". American universities want to be known for producing leaders of men, producing excellent human beings who make the world a better place.
And yet, most Chinese students write essays as though the application is part of a job interview. This is a significant mistake.
在申请美国大学的过程中，对中国学生不利的第二个因素是学生们认为大学是未来就业的跳板。
美国大学不希望因为培育“下一个伟大的会计”，“下一个伟大的律师”，或者“下一个伟大的程序师”而出名。 美国大学希望因为培养世界领袖，或是让世界更好的人才而出名。
而大部分中国学生的个人陈述好像申请大学是求职面试的一部分。这是一个显著的错误。
The third disadvantage that Chinese students have is that their Chinese high schools are not particularly helpful. The two most significant areas are transcripts and recommendation letters.
Chinese transcripts are not that difficult for experienced American admissions officers. But if the application is first read by an inexperienced officer, the consequences are usually not very good.
学生面临的大三大弊端：中国的高中对于学生申请美国大学并没有帮助。这一点尤其体现在成绩单和推荐信上。
对于有经验的招生官来说，中国学生的成绩单并不难理解，但是如果由缺乏经验的招生官初次审读成绩单，结果通常不是很好。
For example, a score of 85% or higher is considered to be an "A" in China. In America, an "A" usually begins at 90%. So if a Chinese student scored 88% in every class in high school, the inexperienced admissions officer would think that this student is a "straight-B" student. But if the Chinese high school converted their percentage scores to letter grades, the same student would be considered a "straight-A" student!
Another area in which Chinese high schools are not very helpful are recommendation letters. Chinese recommendation letters are simply not helpful. Recommendation letters require examples. But Chinese recommendation letters are filled with nice adjectives that are not supported by any examples. It is not possible to identify one student from another by reading a Chinese recommendation letter.
比如，在中国平均分在85分以上是A，在美国“A”一般是指平均分在90以上。所以如果中国学生在高中每门课的平均分是88%，没有经验的招生官会认为这个学生是“B”等级水平的。但是如果中国的高中将平均分成绩从百分比转换成字母形式，同样的学生将会被认为是“A”等级水平。
推荐信是另一个方面的问题。 中国的推荐信非常简单。推荐信是需要实例的，可中国高中提供的推荐信常常堆满了好的形容词。却没有一个实例。阅读这些推荐信并不会让招生官觉得学生与众不同。
Moving on to page 5:
The last large area of challenge for Chinese students is after the student has entered an American university; American universities are difficult.
Really, REALLY difficult.
Officially, 25% of Chinese students drop out of America's most selective universities. But informally, most university officials will admit that the total attrition rate is over 40% and, in some cases over 50%.
American colleges and universities are much harder than Asian colleges.
Please note that it is NOT TRUE that lower-ranked universities are easier than those ranked higher. In many cases, the universities that are ranked lower are MORE difficult than higher ranked ones!
最后一个比较大的挑战是在学生进入到美国大学之后。美国大学的课程是有一定难度的，是真的，真的很难。官方数据表明，中国留学生的辍学率是25%，非官方的数据表明，中国学生的挂科率超过40%，有的学校甚至超过50%，美国的大学和学院远比亚洲学校真的难很多。
请一定注意，排名低的大学课程并不比排名高的大学课程简单。有些时候排名低的大学所教授课程更难。
Not only are the classes harder, but collegiate success in America requires students to create a "real" adult life. Students are strongly encouraged to do research, to take part in internships, to join clubs and play sports.
Needless to say, doing all these things in addition to keeping up with significantly more challenging coursework is a huge challenge!
In many ways, the most successful students in America are not those who are "smartest", the most successful students are often those who have the self-discipline to manage their time most skillfully.
除了课程难易程度的差别外，学生们必须拥有成人生活中所具备的素质才能在学校里获得成功。我强烈建议并且鼓励学生们去做调查，参与实习，加入社团和多做一些体育运动。
毋庸置疑，想要在保持课业水平的同时做到这些事情，对学生来说也是很大程度的挑战。
在美国，最成功的学生不是那些最聪明的，而是那些自律并且擅于管理时间的学生。
The skills that are required to succeed in American colleges are the sort of skills required to succeed in adult life.
在美国大学里获得成功的技巧恰恰也是在生活中获得成功的必备素质。
Let me share a couple of examples of students who applied to the most competitive American universities in the recent past.
I am pretty sure that you will consider one student to be "perfect" and the other student to be a "troublemaker".
The first student is an American girl who went to a famous American high school:
• She was the valedictorian of her graduating class (graduated #1);
• Extremely high SAT scores, extremely high AP test scores;
• She was the class president and the captain of her sports team and;
• She was the U.S. National Junior Champion in her sport
我会和大家分享几个近期发生的申请案例，我相信你们会认为其中一个学生是“完美”的而另外一个学生不是。
第一个学生是一个美国知名高中毕业的本土女孩：她在高中时学习成绩第一，有非常高的SAT和AP成绩，既是班长还是体育队的队长。她还获得了全国青少年体育竞赛冠军。
The second student is a Chinese boy who went to a good, but not great high school;
• He had a good, but not great GPA
• He had a good, but not great SAT score;
• He took only three AP classes;
• He disobeyed his mother and created his own heavy-metal rock band... and paid for it by working at the neighborhood KFC (his family was very, VERY wealthy);
• He loved music and taught music to primary school students.
第二个学生是在普通高中毕业的中国男孩，学校不错，但不算顶尖，他有中上等的GPA和SAT成绩，只参加了三门AP课程考试，他的家里非常有钱，但是他用自己在肯德基打工挣来的钱创建了自己的重金属摇滚乐队。这位学生非常喜欢音乐，曾在小学教授音乐课。
The American girl was denied at all the schools she applied to, spent a year in community college and is now at Berkeley.
The Chinese boy got into his first choice school. He went to an Ivy League college and is now at a very good law school.
Why?
这位美国女孩所申请的学校都拒绝了她，最后她去了一年社区学院就读一年，然后转到了伯克利。这位中国男孩被自己的首选大学录取了，他去了一所常春藤大学所录取，现在就读于一所很好的法学院。这是为什么？
The Chinese boy overcame great challenges to pursue his dream. He did something that he loved and shared that love with others. His passion for music made him a better person. And by sharing his passion for music with others, he made the world slightly better.
The American girl had every advantage in life and she dedicated herself to making herself better and better. Best grades, best test scores, best athlete, best everything... "ME, ME, ME..." American universities want students who is interested in making the world better.
Chinese students (and parents) probably think that the American girl was the better student. But not in America.
这位中国男孩为了追求自己的梦想克服了很多困难。他做了自己喜欢的事情并将自己的爱好分享给大家。他对音乐的激情让他变得更好。他通过分享自己对音乐的喜爱让世界有了轻微的改变。
美国的女生拥有很多优势可以让自己变得更好。很好的成绩，优秀的运动员，所有方面都是关于最好的 “我，我，我”。美国的大学需要让社会变得更好的学生，而不是只让自己变得更好的学生。
你们可能觉得美国女孩是一个更好的学生，但是我不这么认为。
So let me summarize what most American universities look for. On page 7, we can see that the most important factor is the academic history.
Getting excellent grades in the most challenging courses is probably the single most important academic factor.
Excellent test scores help. (Although there is an increasing number of excellent colleges and universities that no longer believe that SAT and ACT tests are very good predictors of college success.)
总结一下大部分美国大学正在寻找哪类的学生，我们可以看到最重要的因素是学术背景，在有挑战性的学科取得优异的成绩应该是一个最重要的因素
优异的成绩是有帮助的，尽管越来越多的大学不再相信SAT和ACT成绩可以代表一切。
Many Chinese students can meet these academic criteria. But they usually fall short in the others. Chief among them is a DEMONSTRATED record of intellectual inquisitiveness; has this student done anything to pursue ideas and knowledge that was interesting to him?
• Has he asked for further reading in certain subjects?
• Has he done any experiments to try to answer questions he finds intriguing?
• Has he written anything about ideas or books or people that fascinated him?
• What has he DONE to demonstrate his intellectual inquisitiveness?
很多中国学生都可以达到学术要求的标准，但是他们在别的领域会有短板。主要表现是对知识的好奇心不够。你有没有做过一些事情去验证你的想法或知识？有没有对某一事物或问题进行深入调查？有没有做过实验去验证自己觉得有趣的问题？有没有为自己感兴趣的人或者书籍撰写文章？你有没有做过任何可以提现你对知识怀有好奇心的事情？
For the most selective schools in America, there must be some sort of "Wow" factor. When an admissions officer reads the application, does the application force the admissions officer to sit back and say "Wow!" to himself?
• Has the student spent the summer in western China to better understand Chinese Muslims?
• Has the student spent a month trekking in the Canadian wilderness?
• Has the student retraced the lives of his grandparents and discovered what happened to them during the Great Cultural Revolution?
• Has the student tried to understand the proof of Fermat's Last Theorem?
• Has the student created a viral mobile app and sold it?
如果要那些热门美国大学，学生的申请必须要让人眼前一亮才行。当招生官看到你的申请时，会不会惊叹“真不错”？
你有没有利用暑假去到中国西部，一边更好地了解穆斯林文化？有没有在加拿大荒野体验一个月徒步旅行？有没有探寻过在文化大革命期间所发生的事情？有没有尝试理解费马大定理 ？有没有创建一个手机软件并投入使用？
Has this student done anything to make the world better?
• Why did he do what he did?
• How did the experience change the way he views himself? the way he views his family? the way he views his place in the world?
• How will he transform the world once he gets to college?
你有没有做过任何事情能让社会变得更好？之前的经历是怎样让你重新审视自己的？你的经验对自身，家庭，和社会有什么影响？你进入大学后要如何改变世界？
Applying to university is in many ways similar to dating. Students have to show the university that they are interested in that school. Colleges like students who have shown genuine interest in the college:
• Visit the school;
• Read everything there is to read about the school;
• Apply early decision or early action
申请大学的过程就像是在约会。学生们需要展现出他们对这所大学极大的兴趣。学校也喜欢学生展现出情有独钟喜欢。比如:参观学校、阅读关于学校的材料、提前申请。
It is important to understand that there are only a few spaces for international students. And of those few places, only a fraction is available for Chinese students. Not every Chinese student will be admitted to Harvard. But the good news is that there are almost 4,000 colleges and universities in America and most of them are fabulous.
请学生和家长理解的是，国际学生的录取名额是有限制的，中国学生的比例只占其中一部分。并不是每一个学生都会被哈佛录取，但好消息是，在美国有超过4000所大学，而且大部分学校都非常好
I'd like to close by giving you some advice about how to best prepare for success in an American university.
I will speak about them from the easiest to the most difficult:
First, please encourage the student to watch English-language television, read English language books and magazines and even internet. If you speak English, please speak with him in English!
Second, slightly more difficult is that most students benefit from going to non-academic summer camps in America. Send them to a camp that has as few Chinese students as possible. Have them learn how to dance (hip-hop, swing or ballroom dancing is good). Have them go to National Outdoor Leadership School or Outward Bound. Or even send them to a summer camp where he can learn to play American football... something that few Chinese students do.
最后，关于如何能够成功入读美国大学，我希望给您如下建议：
从易到难地讲，首先请鼓励学生观看英语电视，阅读英语书刊、杂志，甚至使用英语上网。如果您可以说英语，请用英语跟学生交流。其次，比较难的一点建议是，大多数学生都可以通过参加在美国举行的、非学术性夏令营来提高自己。请让学生参加赴美夏令营。让学生们学会如何跳舞（嘻哈、摇摆舞、交际舞都好）
Third, ask the students to work part time. But make sure that the part-time job is a real teenager's job. Having a student "work" at your friend's accounting office or doctor's office is not impressive. Such a job just means that his parents don't think that their child is capable of doing something on his own so the parents had to arrange something.
Even helping an elderly or sick relative is good work experience if the student uses that to learn valuable life lessons.
最后，学生们可以进行兼职，但请注意这个兼职是一个真正的青少年的工作。让学生在家长朋友的会计事务所或者诊所工作并不会让我印象深刻。这样的工作意味着家长并不认为自己的孩子可以靠自己的力量做一些事情，而是需要家长来安排。
如果学生能从兼职中学到宝贵的人生经验，即使是帮助年长者或者病人也是一个很好的经验。
Fourth, and I think this will be nearly impossible for most of you: Chinese mothers should try to relax and find a hobby that is NOT "taking care of the baby".
Every time that mom wakes the student up, it is another wasted opportunity for the student to learn self-reliance;
Every time that mom plays "taxi-driver", it is another wasted opportunity for the student to learn that he can take care of himself;
Every time that mom feeds the student, it is another wasted opportunity for the student to learn how to cook and know that he can feed himself.
Every time that mom treats the student like a baby is another confirmation that mom things that the student is not capable of being an adult. Please stop. This is really damaging your child's ability to compete and function in the adult world.
第四，我认为这个也是对在座家长的意见，家长们应该放松，在照顾孩子之外培养别的的爱好。您每次的叫孩子起床，都浪费了一个让孩子自律的机会。每次母亲送孩子上学，学生们就会浪费一次照顾自己的机会。每一次母亲为孩子们准备好饭菜，都浪费了学生自己学习如何做饭的机会。每一次家长像对待小宝宝一样对待孩子时，都表示家长不相信自己的孩子具备了成年人的能力。请您停下来，因为这样真的会伤害您孩子在成人社会里的竞争力。
Instead, please praise your student's accomplishments. And refrain from criticizing your child. You may be impressed by how capable your child can become.
Thank you very much for your attention. If any of you have any questions, I will be happy to try to address them.
请开始表扬您的孩子，不要批评他们。您将惊讶于自己孩子的变化。
