更新時間：2021-06-10 13:03:58作者：admin2
除了通用申請的Essay之外，有些學校還提供另外寫一篇Essay的機會。有些學校讓你在他們提供的題目中作出選擇；而有些學校則沒有任何限制。比如耶魯大學的要求非常簡單，只是要求你寫一篇500單詞以內的你想讓耶魯閱讀的Essay即可，基本沒有任何限制。哈佛大學也是讓你自行決定寫什么內容、什么題目，只不過給出了幾個可能的寫作題目建議：
a) 你生命中的一個不尋常經歷；
b) 你在其他國家旅行和生活的經歷；
c) 對你最具影響力的書；
d) 某學術經歷(課程、研究項目、論文、或研究課題)；
e) 過去一年中你讀過的一系列圖書。
請記住，這些只是哈佛建議的題目，決不是要限制你從中挑選，你完全可以自定題目來寫。 題目樣本請提供你的個人自傳及解釋你的教育目標。
挑選并詳細描述一次值得紀念或具代表性的生活經驗，好讓我們對你有更深入的了解。
描述你的一次最幽默或最尷尬的經驗。
你的教育和事業目標是什么？這所大學能怎樣幫助你達到這些目標？
你為何會選擇現在的學習科目？而你又會怎樣將你所學的回饋家國？
描述生活中一些啟發你成長或你從中有所得著的事件。
描寫你在家鄉在2100年的生活。
如果你可以遇見某個已去世的人，并可與他交談，你希望遇見誰又會和他說些甚么？提示：簡介影響你選擇主修科目的因素，特別注意那些引導你選擇研究這些課程的經驗或想法。入學申請文章的目的你的文章較你的學業成績或推薦書更能讓入學委員會了解你的自我和性情。
你能藉此向入學委員會介紹你特別的地方，從而顯示出你是與眾不同。
如你的學業成績記錄顯示弱點，例如你在某一班或某次考試有問題，你可藉此文章去解釋或彰顯你的長處。
向校方顯示你的寫作能力。
當有關的委員會難以決定是否接受你的申請時?這篇文章可顯示你的認真度以作最後決定。寫作提示應該做的仔細閱讀題目并花多些時間去思考。
保證你沒有問非所答。
與你的父母、朋友或教師討論該題目。
同樣認真地回答那些短問答。當被問及你參與課外活動的表現時，應列舉你花費大多數時間參加的幾個活動來回答，并說出該些活動對你的意義。
花費幾天的時間去思考題目及準備寫作。
先做一個大綱及組織文章的內容。
寫一個初稿：使用一種簡單的文體和語調寫作，并力求簡潔。使用你感舒適的字眼，有助別人更易於理解你的想法。讓別人過目并對你的草稿提出意見。
改正和修輯你的文章。
整齊寫出或者打印出你的終稿。
校對你的文章。不應做的不要只是重復你已經填寫過的資料。
不要詳述或恭維你想申請的學院。委員會想要知道的是有關你的東西，而非該學校的情況。
不要以相同的散文套用在不同的學院。
不要寫一些你不知道或認識的東西。
不要使用艱深的字眼以圖使委員會對你有更佳的印象，你可能會錯漏百出。使用簡單、易於理解的字眼去清楚表達自己更為重要。
不要請其他人代寫你的文章，因委員會通常都能夠辨別出來。如果他們查明屬實，你可能會被取消資格。 Too Easy to RebelIn my mother’s more angry and disillusioned moods, she often declares that my sisters and I are “smarter than is good” for us, by which she means we are too ambitious, too independent-minded, and somehow, subtly un-Chinese. At such times, I do not argue, for I realize how difficult it must be for her and my father—having to deal with children who reject their simple idea of life and threaten to drag them into a future they do not understand.For my parents, plans for our futures were very simple. We were to get good grades, go to good colleges, and become good scientists, mathematicians, or engineers. It had to do with being Chinese. But my sisters and I rejected that future, and the year I came home with Honors in English, History and Debate was a year of disillusion for my parents. It was not that they weren’t proud of my accomplishments, but merely that they had certain ideas of what was safe and solid, what we did in life. Physics, math, turning in homework, and crossing the street when Hare Krishnas were on our side—those things were safe. But the Humanities we left for Pure Americans.Unfortunately for my parents, however, the security of that world is simply not enough for me, and I have scared them more than once with what they call my “wild” treks into unfamiliar areas. I spent one afternoon interviewing the Hare Krishnas for our school newspaper—and they nearly called the police. Then, to make things worse, I decided to enter the Crystal Springs Drama contest. For my parents, acting was something Chinese girls did not do. It smacked of the bohemian, and was but a short step to drugs, debauchery, and all the dark, illicit facets of life. They never did approve of the experience—even despite my second place at Crystal Springs and my assurances that acting was, after all, no more than a whim.What I was doing when was moving away from the security my parents prescribed. I was motivated by my own desire to see more of what life had to offer, and by ideas I’d picked up at my Curriculum Committee meetings. This committee consisted of teachers who felt that students should learn to understand life, not memorize formulas; that somehow our college preparatory curriculum had to be made less rigid. There were English teachers who wanted to integrate Math into other more “important” science courses, and Math teachers who wanted to abolish English entirely. There were even some teachers who suggested making Transcendental Meditation a requirement. But the common denominator behind these slightly eccentric ideas was a feeling that the school should produce more thoughtful individuals, for whom life meant more than good grades and Ivy League futures. Their values were precisely the opposite of those my parents had instilled in me.It has been a difficult task indeed for me to reconcile these two opposing impulses. It would be simple enough just to rebel against all my parents expect. But I cannot afford to rebel. There is too much that is fragile—the world my parents have worked so hard to build, the security that comes with it, and a fading Chinese heritage. I realize it must be immensely frustrating for my parents, with children who are persistently “too smart” for them and their simple idea of life, living in a land they have come to consider home, and yet can never fully understand. In a way, they have stopped trying to understand it, content with their own little microcosms. It is my burden now to build my own, new world without shattering theirs; to plunge into the future without completely letting go of the past. And that is a challenge I am not at all certain I can meet.點評Comments:1.This is a good strong statement about the dilemma of being a part of two different cultures. The theme is backed by excellent examples of the conflict and the writing is clear, clean, and crisp. The essay then concludes with a compelling summary of the dilemma and the challenge it presents to the student.2.A masterful job of explaining the conflict of being a child of two cultures. The writer feels strongly about the burden of being a first generation American, but struggles to understand her parents’ perspective. Ultimately she confesses implicitly that she cannot understand them and faces her own future. The language is particularly impressive:“It smacked of the bohemian,” “subtly unChinese,” and “a fading Chinese heritage.” That she is not kinder to her parents does not make her unkind, just determined.