1.SAT and TOEFL-
Students who are sophomores in TOP50 or even TOP30 universities, don't believe that SAT and TOEFL are just floating clouds, and the activity competition is king. 1. Meet the TOEFL and SAT standards with peace of mind, and strive to achieve ideal results in the SAT before June. TOEFL will also strive to achieve ideal results during the summer vacation:
My personal advice on whether to take the SAT2 and how many appropriate questions to rely on is: 1) If you think it is difficult to reach SAT2000+ and TOEFL 100+ at present, don't prepare for SAT 2 in a hurry; 2) If you are currently preparing to attack TOP30, and your target major is also science and engineering, SAT2 can be prepared to apply for two courses, with the matching method: Math 2+ Physics, or Math 2+ Chemistry/Biology; Both SAT and TOEFL have achieved ideal results, and SAT2 has sufficient preparation time. Matching method: two courses, math 2+ American history, or three courses, math 2+ physics/biology/chemistry+American history. In addition, it should be noted that the test scores of AP corresponding subjects cannot replace SAT2.
2. Strategic aspects of the application-
In the choice of ED/EA schools (EA aside for the time being), the admission rate of EA is too erratic, and the admission results of some EA schools will not come out until the middle of June (such as the University of Virginia and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), so ED is the focus of our previous application. However, it is important to remember that the proportion of blind selection is too high in ED selection. Many students choose ED without looking at the school after TOP20, which also leads to the continuous decline of ED admission rate in recent years. At the same time, when choosing EA, we should be as conservative as possible, and choose several schools that can produce results in mid-June+February of 5438 as guaranteed schools, so as to have double insurance. Once the ED admission in mid-June+February of 5438 is not ideal (refused/postponed), we can still get the EA school admission, so that it will not cause difficulties in the final choice of schools for RD in June+February of 5438.
Regarding the choice of ED2, firstly, there are fewer schools offering ED2. Secondly, ED 1 is more competitive and has a higher admission rate than ED2, but both ED 1 and ED2 have higher admission rates than RD. Secondly, ED2 can accept grades of 1 1 and 12, so if you apply for grades early, TOP50, a comprehensive university, provides ED2 schools: Vanderbilt University, Emory University, Tufts University, brandeis University, new york University, case western reserve university, Caspian University and Rensselaer Institute of Technology.
At the same time, the number of schools should be listed reasonably to improve the application efficiency. It is suggested that the number of universities to apply for should be 10- 15, and should not exceed 20, because energy and time are limited. The more universities to apply for, the less attention and investment they will pay to each one. These include:
1) There are 2-4 guaranteed schools (it is difficult to predict the future application situation, in case the difficulty increases greatly, I have to go to school).
2) 4-5 schools that match their current or predicted results (give yourself more choices, in case of bad luck, how to get into 1; There is no need for such schools to apply too much. It's useless to paint too much, because it's all the same grade, and it will cause waste. )
3) There are 4-6 or more schools with higher grades than themselves (as long as one school hits, there will be a prize).
Knowledge Literacy Application: RD (Regular Decision) "Regular Admission" refers to the ordinary application submitted during the normal application period, and the application deadline is generally 65438+ 10/0/65438+1 0/5 and April 1 0 each year. RA (rolling admission), "rolling admission", that is, there is no fixed deadline for admission, and most of them are admitted on a first-come-first-served basis until they are full. "Early application" is divided into two forms: ed and EA. ED (early decision) "early decision" refers to binding early admission. Some schools offer two rounds of "early application", namely ED 1 and ED2. The deadline for ED 1 in most American schools is 10/0 1, while the deadline for ED2 is 10/0, which is similar to that for regular applications. There are exceptions. The deadline for individual liberal arts colleges is 1 1.5438+0.05. When applying for ed, students, parents and school consultants need to sign an ED agreement, that is, the ED agreement. After signing the agreement, once students are admitted to the school, they must make a commitment to study. At the same time, when applying for ED, students can only apply for one school, not multiple schools at the same time, which is absolutely unique. EA (early action) refers to non-binding early admission, including restricted EA and unrestricted EA. Compared with ed's binding commitment and uniqueness, EA application does not need to sign any agreement, and students do not need to make any commitment. Among them, unrestricted EA is not exclusive. You can apply for an ED and several EA schools at the same time, such as the University of Chicago and the University of Virginia.
3. Improve the success rate of application by changing majors-
If you want to study a good major in your intended university, if you don't have excellent grades, you really need to think carefully. For example, China students' popular lover school, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, got a s at score of 2 100-2300. Therefore, if your grades are not so high, you can consider applying for liberal arts, and then transfer to a major after attending, or you can apply for a major indefinitely. It should also be pointed out that there are no unpopular majors in American undergraduate courses, and some parents think that mathematics and even history are actually applied by a large number of students.
Besides considering the difficulty of admission, there are two reasons for choosing the method of applying for liberal arts majors in science and engineering schools: before enrollment, American universities have the relationship between enrollment and application, while after enrollment, it has the relationship between teachers and students. The school will pay great attention to students' development, do everything possible to help them and choose a path suitable for their future development, so that once students succeed in the future, they will also be grateful to their alma mater, help them publicize or donate money, and form a very good circular ecology of upward and benign development. Therefore, it is normal for many Americans to change their majors after entering school. It's hard to say that the major chosen in the application stage must be the job you like and will be engaged in in in the future.
In addition, most schools in the United States have indefinite majors and are specially equipped with consultants to guide students' future major choices. The undergraduate education in the first two years of college is mainly liberal arts and general education. I hope that through the education in the first two years of college, students can determine their future professional direction. Therefore, in this sense, it will not bring any adverse effects to the application itself if the freshman application is not specialized. You only need to reflect your learning ability, curiosity, thirst for knowledge and research desire in at least one or two academic fields of interest in the application documents of some schools, that is, supplementary documents of academic interests.
It is indeed feasible to improve the success rate of application by changing majors. However, I would also like to remind you that if you want to transfer to a business major or an engineering major in the future, you should not only log in to official website in advance to learn about the curriculum of the selected major and the requirements of the school's prerequisite courses, but also learn about the transfer difficulty of specific majors in specific schools from your seniors and sisters in advance. If the GPA requirements are too high and the international students who change majors are too harsh, the possibility of successfully changing majors in the future will be very small.
4. Study and course selection during senior high school-
This is often overlooked by friends, but it is actually very important! Most American universities, at the time of application, have minimum requirements for the curriculum content of senior high school, except the grade of grade three:
The following is the suggested "strong" high school curriculum content. Therefore, my friends, even if you are preparing to go abroad from the second year of high school and don't take the national college entrance examination, you can't completely give up some science and engineering courses or liberal arts courses.
In addition to the reasonable choice of high school courses, we can also choose more AP courses on the premise of school opening. These courses will not only make it easier for you to get high marks, but also indirectly prove to the school that you can master the learning level of the university in high school. From the analysis of this year's admission, American universities pay more attention to the difficulty of the courses taken by domestic high school students than before, that is, they study AP or A-LEVEL or IB while completing the domestic high school courses, and get excellent results, which is more dominant in the application. In addition, students with low GPA should not be discouraged (GPA is defined as below 3.5 on the basis of full score of 4.0, and the weight below 3.8 is above 4.5). Admissions officers in American universities are not necessarily masters when they study in universities or high schools. They sincerely understand that every applicant will make mistakes in the process of study, just like himself in the past, such as choosing an inappropriate course, failing to do a certain course well and so on. Although these mistakes are irreversible, you should be full of confidence, insist in the document that the choices you have made on your current life path are correct, and write these choices into your application materials for studying in the United States, so that GPA is no longer a key point in your application.
In addition, in the process of studying in high school, remember: character is very important! The external expression of personality is the evaluation of others on themselves. The most intuitive influence on the application is how the teacher describes and evaluates you in the recommendation letter, which has a great influence on the application result. For example, although you are a genius, like the perfect resume mentioned at the beginning, I have some doubts about whether this student has quit, so the admissions officer will find you difficult to get along with. In addition to professional study, there are also interpersonal relationships in universities. Everyone has to deal with others more or less, and it is impossible to be completely isolated from the world. What kind of person you are, you will attract what kind of people. Therefore, in addition to studying hard, it is important to learn to be kind to others, learn to be grateful and complain less!
Finally, let's talk about a topic that everyone is very interested in: getting into the Ivy League. According to the statistics of colleges and universities, more than 90% of the students admitted to Fujitsu school are 10% GPA before high school. Of course, due to well-known reasons, this requirement will be higher for China students. Some students may say: my school is very strong, and it is the target school of rattan school. It has a fixed enrollment quota every year, but? In top high schools, you may be overwhelmed by schoolmasters. You don't have a chance to enter the student union, get a seat in the club, and win an academic competition, not to mention that the GPA is within TOP 10%. How can you climb the vine? But suppose you enter an ordinary high school, and you compete with ordinary students. If there are no tigers and monkeys in the mountains, you will win more easily. But the premise is: you have to study hard and work hard. Without hard work, all this is empty talk. So you don't have to go to the top high school in China or the top high school in the United States to climb vines, but try to find a high school that matches your own level, so that you can win in the grade and become the leader in that group. In my opinion, it is easier to apply for rattan school.
5. Interview-
In addition to preparing some common questions, you also need to think hard, find the fit point between yourself and the school, and think about what you can bring to the school. If you compare the enrollment process to the formation of a mountaineering team of several people, you will climb the mountain of study and life together in the future. If you are one of them, why do you want to join this mountaineering team? What can you bring to your teammates? In view of your matching points with the school (such as initiative, exploration spirit, etc. ), prepare a few stories related to your growth background and life experience, incorporate exciting details, share your stories in the interview, and win resonance with true feelings. Finally, just be yourself during the interview. Never pretend to understand or pretend to be what you think the interviewer likes. Interviewers with life experience will soon find out that you are faking in the interview, which will make both sides uncomfortable. Sincerity is very important. If the interviewer asks you questions that you don't know or can't answer, you can speak your mind frankly.
6. As far as musical instruments are concerned-
The documents of undergraduate application in the United States mainly focus on two questions: "Who are you" and "Why did you choose". Preparing the question "Who are you?" You must be soberly aware that it is impossible to show your life, all your personality characteristics or your deepest thoughts through a short 650-word application document. What you can give the admissions officer is your unique way of thinking and the subtle aspects of your life experience, that is, you should control your topic and tell something meaningful neatly. For example, you can't clearly explain the negative impact of Hong Kong legislation restricting mainland tourists from visiting Hong Kong on Hong Kong's economy in the application documents, but all you can say is a trip to Hong Kong, an article about Hong Kong you read in the Global Times, or your thoughts when listening to your good friend (maybe a Hong Kong person) telling his experience, all of which can reflect the limitation and integrity of the jurisdiction of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region under one country, two systems and your future. Note: Don't turn such documents into declarations of justice or morality. On the other hand, in the first-line job search for so many years, I often lament that some of the most effective and touching application documents are often about ordinary things in life, but they are interesting because of their chosen perspective and unique observation of daily life. So the events discussed in this article need not be earth-shattering. On the contrary, I prefer a meaningful and fluent application document that tells me how the applicant views the world and is interested in it.
To answer the question "Why choose", you can show your enthusiasm for an academic field in combination with your own activities and tell the admissions officer that you want to join a place dedicated to promoting the progress of liberal arts or science or technology. You have made up your mind to be a member of the school. For example, try to choose something unusual or even strange to arouse the curiosity of admissions officers. For example, you have a crush on a pet animal. You cultivate this interest, learn about animals, own them, and help them as much as you can. The final result is to be interested in your archaeology, history, biology, chemistry and other majors. If you are interested in engineering, you can describe how you took apart the radio, tables and chairs in your dormitory when you were a child, or hung a homemade Sect on the door. At the same time, you can reflect these unforgettable experiences in the document, so that the admissions officer can know how you work as a team and understand the importance of teamwork.
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