有些美国人的藤校情结很浓,甚至到了迷信的程度。我一个朋友向老板抱怨手下某人工作效率差,想把他换掉。老板却要求朋友Give him more time,理由就是某人是哥伦比亚毕业的,相信他一定会做好。十几年前,一个朋友的儿子同时被布朗和卡内基梅隆的计算机系录取。我们几个中国朋友都认为他应该去卡内基梅隆,因为该校计算机专业赫赫有名众所周知。但她所有的美国朋友尤其是犹太人,都力劝她一定要让儿子去布朗。后来她儿子上了布朗,毕业至今曾多次感慨他的布朗经历对他人生道路的帮助。不要以为只有华人才尊哈佛为名校之首,很多美国人本来就是如此,还说“先有哈佛,后有美国”。当年我女儿被好几所藤校录取,还没决定去哪里。我工作公司的老板以及我家两个在外州的美国朋友,都坚定地忠告我同样一句话:“Of course Harvard! This is a life benefit!”
就像一些藤校学生家长介绍经验时说的,“每个藤校只要 the most fitted, not the best。”当年女儿的一个好朋友既聪明又用功,成绩应该是学校第三名还有很多其他强项,申请耶鲁被拒,最后去了加州的一个大学。几个被耶鲁录取的同学,成绩及各方面能力都不如她,但家里都有来头。其中一个是里根时代财政部长的孙子,耶鲁有楼以他家族命名。当时,我很替那个女生叹惜,认为有些不公平。可我先生却认为,如果名校招的学生个个都是既聪明又用功的,那我们女儿就没好日子过了。
我们家是需要学校资助的。女儿提早申请时选了Early Action,同时报了哈佛和布朗。那时布朗还是Early Action,我们选它来保底,而哈佛是她的目标学校之一。12月上旬收到两份录取通知后,女儿仍然按计划常规申请了其他几个学校。四月初收到录取通知后,我们比较了所有学校提供的Financial Aid Package,还是哈佛的最好,耶鲁要稍微多交一点点。那时哈佛要年收入三万五千以下才能全免学费,我们家是一定要出一部分的。先生抱着试试看的态度,就拿耶鲁的录取去和哈佛招生办说事,磨了一番嘴皮之后,哈佛同意让我们少交一千多元。实际上,就是哈佛不减免这一千多元,女儿还是要去哈佛的。因为相比较耶鲁而言,女儿更喜欢哈佛和波士顿地区。
我女儿所选老师的推荐信肯定都写得很好,这从每学期的学校报告中就可看出,其中物理老师的评语几乎把她写成了天才。她申请短文的题目就是“Who Am I”,既突出了其灵气好动、善于影响玩伴的个性亮点,又写得流畅有趣。学校的升学顾问说它一气呵成,像个小电影一样,读完了还想再读一遍。这就保证她至少在招生官员读文章时,不会被刷掉。她还写了另外一篇Optional的短文,就是想让招生官员从不同侧面尽量多了解自己。女儿还利用申请表中要求叙述课外活动影响的短短几行,来表现自己的另一特质,强调了几年来辅导小学生的经验,让身为独生子女的她得到的快乐和成长。这大概也和别人不一样吧。当女儿的提早申请材料一寄出,我就相信女儿会被哈佛和布朗录取。
我那时就是让女儿在暑期中就写好Essay,还让她将Common申请表填个初稿,找出下面重点要做的事项来。前几年的在校成绩以及某些活动已经是过去时,是不可改变的了。而自己现在还可控制的因素就是,开学后选哪些老师写推荐信,哪个运动队能争取当上队长,某门SAT2十月的重考哪些是她的弱项要加强准备,等等。即使我这样盯着,女儿一回到学校,就忙得天昏地暗,很少有时间再去考虑准备申请材料。很多常规申请的材料还是等到放寒假回家后,她才匆匆忙忙在Very Last Minute完成,再赶在邮局下班前把申请寄出。
爬藤之路很艰辛,以下是偶娃在收到录取通知时的感想:
早上六点。打开email里那个账户链接。淡定的输入密码。Click "view your application decision"。电脑立马开始播放凯旋进行曲。Then I know, the wish two years ago has come true. But not necessarily the wish today.
"Congratulations! Dean James Valentini and the members of the Committee on Admissions join me in the most rewarding part of my job - informing you that you have been selected for admission to Columbia College."
无论我收到的是"congrat"还是"sorry",我知道,那一刻,决定人生未来的一刻,我第一次做到了不以物喜,不以己悲。“Congrat”,我会欣然接受。“Sorry”,我就free from ED binding了,possibilities will be endless. Anyway will work for me.
Whatever. Columbia is perfect, at least to me, at least to the creed of DIY.
I AM DIY。在这个中介铺天盖地的年份里,我是快要灭绝的DIY党之一。除我本人和我爸妈外,没有第四个人看过我的essay或者其他任何申请材料。
没有很高的分数,没有美帝交流,没有数学金奖,没有哈佛模联,没有RSI
我想起了当年Andersson大师在伦敦的一场载入史册的象棋赛(The "Immortal Game")。在被对手干掉一匹马,两个车,无数个兵之后,Andersson又牺牲了他的Queen。只剩下double bishop and a lone knight。But that's enough. 下面一步就是Checkmate and Victory. 比赛后,他留下那么一句话给对手:sometimes, a few active pieces are worth, or possibly more powerful than a dozen inactive.
苦逼的我没有收到任何答复,no accept no defer no reject。想想Caltech是不是连reject的信都不屑于给我了呢= =。毕竟别人是超级神牛校啊,每年总录取的人是三位数,EA更是寥寥无几,谁让全美最好的天文台在那边,钱学森老也在那边,Sheldon大神还在那边呢。。。 拒我这个单打独斗的DIY也是再正常不过的。本来就没抱任何希望。也好。
"It is an honor to offer you admission to the California Institute of Technology and the Class of 2016.
The staff, faculty and students on the Admissions Committee see in you not only a student with great curiosity, but also a person with the passion and creativity to pursue mathematics, science and engineering at the highest level. You have an opportunity to take your place amongst a community of scholars with an extraordinary record of accomplishment and a shared commitment to become leaders in the scientific world."
My Holy Goodness.
加州理工。理工科的圣殿。MIT's deadly rival. A great honor to all.
这回,却是我要痛心的把她拒了. But not vice versa.
We have made a difference today. 相信自己,因为只有自己最了解自己。申请不仅是一个向神秘而骇人的AO办公室展现自己的过程。申请更是一个了解自己,总结自己走过的路的过程。如果这一步让别人代做了,我们会失去申请季里一件宝贵的礼物------ DIY让我们学到的东西是用金钱不能估量的,因为只有知己知彼,才能百战百胜。而且,知己比知彼在某种意义上说可能更加重要。
But I've staged a comeback. 我不需要你们复旦RSI神马的承认。我已经拥有了世界最顶尖的理工学院的承认。在我的application package中,同样没有创新大奖,没有AMC成绩,没有高分,没有做题控的一切。
But, I wrote in the essays about science, so intimately known, profoundly felt, deeply loved. 这些,我事后诸葛亮一下,或许是我能打动Caltech AO的最大因素。
P.S. 我觉得,如果从适合角度来讲,I belong to Columbia. 哥大的人文情怀会帮助我更好的融入美国的生活。文科是养心的,或许在undergrad years,我更应该多花点时间在莎士比亚、荷马史诗上。这些经典会给我带来和理科完全不同的感受。
(转)
The Intel Science Talent Search (Intel STS) is the nation's most prestigious pre-college science competition. Intel STS alumni have made extraordinary contributions to science and hold more than 100 of the world’s most coveted science and math honors, including the Nobel Prize and the National Medal of Science. The Intel STS recognizes and rewards 300 students, as well as their schools, as semifinalists each year. From that select pool, 40 finalists are then invited to Washington, DC in March to undergo final judging, display their work to the public, meet with notable scientists, and compete for $630,000 in awards, including the top award of $100,000.
The Intel STS 2013 finalists are listed below in alphabetical order, and more detailed information can be found by clicking on their name.
Bhattacharya, Paulomi (The Harker School)
Cupertino, California
A Novel AAA-ATPase p97/VCP Inhibitor Lead for Multiple Myeloma by Fragment-Based Drug Design: A Computational Binding Model and NMR/SPR-Based Validation
Bhupatiraju, Surya (Lexington High School)
Lexington, Massachusetts
On the Complexity of the Marginal Satisfiability Problem
Bowman, Adam (Montgomery Bell Academy)
Brentwood, Tennessee
Apparatus and Analysis Techniques for Portable, Low-Voltage Pulsed Plasma Sources
Chan, Jennifer (Academy for Medical Science Technology)
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey
Activation-induced Cytidine Deaminase (AID): A Common Target for ER-Dependent and ER-Independent Breast Cancer Therapies
Chen, Kevin (Mission San Jose High School)
Fremont, California
Development of a Low-Cost Analyzer for Ferroelectric Characterization
Chin, Lillian (The Westminster Schools)
Decatur, Georgia
Agent-Based Modeling of Collective Cell Movement During Wound Healing
Cordwell, Katherine (Manzano High School)
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Lower Central Series Quotients of Finitely Generated Algebras over the Integers
* Dai, Annie (Desert Vista High School)
Phoenix, Arizona
Development of "Smart" Hydrogels for Three-Dimensional (3D) Dynamic Tactile Displays
* Unable to participate
Dantzler, Alexa (Bishop O'Connell High School)
Manassas, Virginia
Quantification of Perchloroethylene Residues in Dry Cleaned Fabrics
Garbe, Kevin (Saratoga High School)
Saratoga, California
Patterns in the Coeffecients of Powers of Polynomials Over a Finite Field
Gunderman, Lane (The University of Chicago Laboratory High School)
Chicago, Illinois
Investigating the Fenna-Matthews-Olson Complex Using Molecular Dynamics Simulations: Exploring the Mechanics of Energy Transport in Photosynthesis
Johnson, Jacob (Acton-Boxborough Regional High School)
Boxborough, Massachusetts
Integrative Genomic Analysis of a Mouse Model of Malignant Breast Cancer Reveals Crucial and Novel Cancer Drivers
Kallenbach, Jonah (Germantown Academy)
Ambler, Pennsylvania
Characterizing and Identifying Interactions of Intrinsically Disordered Proteins
Kraft, Peter (Munster High School)
Munster, Indiana
Synthesis and Analysis of Novel Coordination Polymers Containing 3- or 4-Pyridylnicotinamide and Benzenedicarboxylates
Larson, Hannah (South Eugene High School)
Eugene, Oregon
Classification of Some Fusion Categories of Rank FOUR
Le Breton, Stephen (Greenwich High School)
Greenwich, Connecticut
In vivo Regeneration of Tooth Enamel using an Innovative Hydrophilic Polymer-Coated Retainer
McQuaid, Daniel (Ossining High School)
Ossining, New York
Identification of Post-Translational Regulation Sites on the KLF6 Tumor Suppressor as Novel Targets for Cancer Therapies
Mehrotra, Pavan (Sierra Canyon School)
Simi Valley, California
Facile, Single Step Conversion of Biomass to Electricity
Mundkur, Naethan (duPont Manual High School)
Louisville, Kentucky
Investigation into the Thermal and Rheological Properties of CuO Nanofluids for Heat Transfer Applications
O'Leary, Vincent (Wheeling Central Catholic High School)
Wheeling, West Virginia
A Multi-Year Analysis of Orconectid Crayfish Invasion Dynamics in West Virginia Utilizing Laboratory and Field Methodologies
Padmanabha, Akshay (Houston High School)
Collierville, Tennessee
Predicting, Detecting, and Treating Seizures through Vagus Nerve Stimulation
Peng, Jiayi (Horace Greeley High School)
Chappaqua, New York
A Cellular Automaton Model for Critical Dynamics in Neuronal Networks
Popova, Lilia (Ann Arbor Huron High School)
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Elucidating Environmental and Genetic Mechanisms of Magnetically Altered Plant Growth
Scibelli, Samantha (Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake High School)
Burnt Hills, New York
Census of Blue Stars in the Eighth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
Selvakumar, Raja (Milton High School)
Alpharetta, Georgia
Gastro Microbial Fuel Cell: A Novel Implementation of a GMFC in Capsular Nanorobotics
Shah, Naomi (Sunset High School)
Portland, Oregon
The Toxicological Effect of Airborne Pollutants on Lung Health
Shea, Meghan (Unionville High School)
West Chester, Pennsylvania
Optimizing the Coagulating Property of Moringa oleifera Seeds: A Novel Approach to Water Purification Techniques in Low-Income Countries
Shi, Kensen (A&M Consolidated High School)
College Station, Texas
Lazy Toggle PRM: A Single-Query Approach to Motion Planning
Solimano, Jamie (Stuyvesant High School)
New York, New York
Super-Resolution STED Microscopy Provides Insight Into the Dynamics of Intraflagellar Transport and Reveals Novel Distribution of Adenylate Cyclase III in Primary Cilia
Sridhar, Mayuri (Kings Park High School)
Kings Park, New York
Computational Analysis of the DNA-Binding Mechanism of the p53 Tumor Suppressor and its Inactivation through the R249S Mutation
Takahashi, Jack (Lynbrook High School)
Saratoga, California
Wnt Independent ß-catenin Activation is Associated With Increased Pulmonary Artery Smooth Muscle Cell Proliferation in Idiopathic Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
Traver, Chris (Croton-Harmon High School)
Croton-on-Hudson, New York
Investigating Noise Pollution Using Smartphones and Citizen Scientists
Tripathi, Raghav (Westview High School)
Portland, Oregon
Design and Synthesis of Novel Fatty Acid Binding Protein Inhibitors for Analgesic and Anti-Inflammatory Effects through Increases in Endogenous Anandamide Concentrations
Vasudevan, Sahana (Gnyanam Academy)
Palo Alto, California
Minimizing the Number of Carries in the Set of Coset Representatives of a Normal Subgroup
Volz, Sara (Cheyenne Mountain High School)
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Optimizing Algae Biofuels: Artificial Selection to Improve Lipid Synthesis
Wang, Joy (Parkland High School)
Orefield, Pennsylvania
Polyoxovanadate-based Surfactants: The Search for an Effective Heterogeneous Catalyst
Wenger, Brittany (Out-of-Door Academy)
Sarasota, Florida
Global Neural Network Cloud Service for Breast Cancer
Wong, Catherine (Morristown High School)
Morristown, New Jersey
A Novel Design for Wireless Low-Cost Cardiac Examination Over the Mobile Phone Platform: Telemedicine for the Developing World
Zbarsky, Samuel (Montgomery Blair High School)
Rockville, Maryland
On Improved Bounds for Bounded Degree Spanning Trees for Points in Arbitrary Dimension
Zhang, Kelly (The College Preparatory School)
Orinda, California
Fluorescent Imaging for Nano-Detection (FIND) of Cancer Cells for Future Surgery
Zhang, Michael (Smithtown High School East)
Saint James, New York
Role-Inducted Perspective Visual Behavior during Scene Free-Viewing. 作者: pp_dream 时间: 2013-4-1 04:32