“Your Essay Game Plan” by Alan Gelb, author of the bestselling book Conquering the College Admissions Essay in 10 Steps

当你在准备为申请大学做文书的时候，需要牢记在心的很重要的一点是你将有一个系列的文书要去写。申请美国的大学和院校并不轻松。这个过程不仅需要持久的毅力、良好的态度和高度的专注，还需要一种组织能力。脑子里首先应该有一个完整的规划，然后你会发现你需要至少完成以下内容：

  • 篇五百字的通用申请文书
  • 篇简短文书，其中主要涉及你的课余活动，包括一些个人参加的社团活动或者工作经验

除此之外，你还需要准备一篇大约2,000字的文书阐述你的学术兴趣，大部分学校都会要求这部分内容。很多学校会要求学生交一个很重要的文书，阐述你将怎样针对他们的学校做出自己的学术贡献或者如何应对一个伦理难题，当然中国学生也同样需要写这部分内容。另有一种文书，比如斯坦福大学，会让你写一个自我介绍给未来的室友。这个部分对于留学生来说尤为重要，因为学校是想通过此来确认你有能力为将来的社区做出自己的宝贵贡献。因此，再次重申，你需要准备以上所有的东西。如果你特别热衷拉小提琴，那么你就应该在那个简短文书（有关课余爱好）中阐述你对拉小提琴的感悟，而不是在那篇主要的500字的文书中提及小提琴。如果你有大量的社会活动和工作经验，那么你将会很轻松地应对这种战略写作。但是，如果你除了课程学习以外没有其他太多的活动，那么你将需要特别准备一番，以避免你在后面的写作中过多的重复自己。

English version:

One of the things that is important to keep in mind as you approach the essays you’ll need to write for your college admissions application is that you’re going to have a whole lot of essays to write. Colleges and universities in the United States do not make this process easy. Not only does the process require stamina, a good attitude, and a sense of focus, but it will also require some organizational effort. Keep in mind the big picture of what lies ahead and you’ll see that you’ll have to write at least the following:

  • The 500 word common application main essay.
  • A shorter common application essay about your most significant extracurricular, personal, or work activity/experience.

You should also be prepared to write an essay of about 2,000 characters on your academic interests; this will be required by most schools you apply to. Many of the schools are also asking students to write significant essays on how they will contribute to the college’s diversity–a natural for anyone coming from China–or on an ethical dilemma you may have confronted. Another kind of essay–required by Stanford University, for instance–has you telling your future roommate something about yourself. This one is particularly important for international students, as the schools want to make sure that you will be able to make valuable contributions to the social community.
So, again, you have to plan all this out. If you are a serious violinist, then your main common app 500-word essay shouldn’t be about being a violinist if you’re then planning to write your shorter common app essay (extracurricular activity) on being a violinist.
If you have tons of experiences and activities to choose from, then you won’t find this kind of strategizing too taxing. If, however, you haven’t been that active beyond your studies, then you’ll really have to pay attention to what’s going where in order to avoid repeating yourself.