根据美国高等教育协会的数据，美国是世界最大的留学目的地国，中国则是美国和全球最大的国际学生来源国。不同于高考，美国留学申请有更多灵活性，它不决定于某一次考试，不决定于某一项成绩，也不决定于某一个奖项，也正因如此才充满了无限的可能。当你花了几个月的时间准备自己的申请材料，打包上传然后开始漫长的等待。但另一边的招生办公室正在发生什么呢？他们如何看待你的申请材料？是怎么做出决策的？会发生怎样的对话？为什么一个学生能收到Offer而另一个不能？

此次，新藤汇采访了旗下多所顶尖学校资深学校招生官，他们帮助新藤汇众多学员收获了心仪offer，成果丰硕。作为中国一站式留学服务机构，新藤汇服务经验丰富，具备一批丰富的美国藤校级别前任招生官资源，长期致力于中国家庭的申请指导。招生官从校方视角，基于名校录取需求、招生经验倒推给学生做名校规划，帮助学生精准施测，斩获名校通行证。本期新藤汇对话芝加哥大学招部办副主任Mitchell老师，招生官现身说法，揭秘名校录取的通关秘籍。希望能够带给大家清晰的思路，新鲜的想法和不断前进的力量。

Mitchell招生生涯：无限热爱 全情投入

Mitchell老师毕业于芝加哥大学，并且担任芝加哥大学招部办副主任多年，拥有丰富的招生经验。他非常热爱此项工作。除此之外，他还拥有多元的文化背景。热情的感染力使得Mitchell 老师深受中国学生的喜爱。他擅长与学生沟通，按照学生的个人情况精准匹配申请学校，深度文书亮点挖掘。他曾帮助学生成功录取到杜克大学，康奈尔大学，西北大学等名校。

新藤汇：请问Mitchell老师为何选择招生顾问作为职业呢？

Mitchell：Hey, there！I am honored to share my experience of application guidance through the education platform of IvyMax. My name is Mitch song and I'm a former admissions counselor and current admissions consultant for students from all around the world. I began my admissions career at the University of Chicago where I read applications again from all around the world. Every year I'd read between 2000 and 2500 applications. And I really got a sense of what goes into an application and what makes an application successful one. I hope students and parents can get something out of this interview.I'm originally from a small town in the Midwest and I was actually the first person in my family to go to college, a 4 year college. And I think that this is one of the reasons that I'm so passionate about this work, because my family didn't know very much about the process. And now I make it my mission to help people understand what goes into the college applications.

你好，我是Mitch song！我很荣幸通过新藤汇的教育平台分享我多年的申请指导经验。我以前的职位是一名学院招生顾问，现在致力于为全世界各地学生的提供招生咨询。我在芝加哥大学开始了我的招生顾问生涯，在那里我阅读了来自世界各地的入学申请。每年我都会读到2000到2500份申请书。我对申请流程以及如何成功申请学校有一定的认识。希望学生家长们看完后这段采访有所收获。我来自中西部的一个小镇，我是我们家第一个上大学的人，四年制的大学。我认为这是我对这项工作如此热情的原因之一。因为我的家人并不了解申请学校的过程。我现在致力于帮助人们理解大学申请的流程和内容，并且我把它当作我的唯一使命。

招生官“最佳录取建议”：学会讲好故事

新藤汇：请问招生官在众多大学申请中究竟在关注什么呢？

Mitchell：When I was at the University of Chicago, I read applications from all around the world. And, several years ago I began consulting with international families who were interested in attending universities in America. Specifically, I was working with Chinese families,of course including those which had sought help at IvyMax, and I have been doing so ever since. Probably the greatest thing I've learned is that while there are certainly different cultures when it comes to China and America telling a good story is universal, and that's really what a college application is. Yes, of course college admissions officers are making decisions based on your grades and your testing and your extra curricular activities you're writing. But at the end of the day what they're really trying to do is get a sense of your story, no matter where you're from and they want a sense of who you are. How did you get to be? Who you are How did you get to be? Who you are? And why do you want to bring your story to their university. That's the greatest lesson I learned in international consulting, is that it's so important to be able to share your story with people from all around the world.Under my guidance, some students had greatly improved their ability to share stories, and finally they had received offers that they were interested in. So learning to share stories is very important.

当我在芝加哥大学的时候，我阅读了来自世界各地的申请。几年前，我开始为有兴趣在美国上大学的国际家庭提供咨询。具体来说，我一直在与中国家庭合作，当然也包括在新藤汇寻求帮助的一些中国家庭，我做了很长一段时间。在这中间，虽然中国和美国的文化背景截然不同，但精彩人生故事的分享是不可或缺的，这才是真正的大学申请。是的，大学招生人员当然会根据你的成绩、考试和你的课外活动以及你的写作来决定你是否被录取。但他们最终真正想做的是了解你的故事，不管你来自哪里，他们都想了解你是谁，你是怎么做到的? 你是谁，你是怎么变成这样的?你是谁，为什么你想把你的故事带到他们的大学。能够与来自世界各地的人分享你的故事是我在国际咨询中学到的最重要的一课。一些学生在我的指导下，分享故事的能力得到的很大的提升，最终他们也拿到了自己心动的offer。所以学会分享故事是非常重要的。

新藤汇：很多学生会觉得自己的生活很平淡，没有很多亮眼的经历，Mitchell老师认为应该如何挖掘自己的故事，讲好故事呢？

Mitchell：An important part of the college admissions process is telling a story about yourself or several, to help the admissions counselors understand your life experience. Of ten times, students will ask how can I tell a good story about myself. A few things to keep in mind, number one, it's okay if you haven't saved anyone's life yet, It's okay if you haven't ran into a burning building to save a dog from danger, It's okay if you haven't designed the next medicine that will help cure the planet of the next disease. That's okay, most students don't have dramatic stories like this. Number one, Number two, remember, that stories are everywhere! For example, if you take a look at what's on your desk at home, I've had every object has at least one story behind it about how it arrived in your life. And that story believe it or not tell something to us about your lived experience. I tell you that because sometimes students stress out about writing a really good story instead of remembering to keep things simple. Begin by brainstorming, what are some important life experiences you would have. Make sure not to judge yourself too much about whether or not this experience was important enough to tell a stranger. Actually, when I worked with some families of international students in China, I found that they had the same concerns. If you think it’s had an impact and who you are today, that's usually a pretty good sign that it may be worth sharing with another person. Specifically an admissions counselor. In addition, what are the stories that you enjoy telling, brainstorming usually will help you understand which stories you want to spend time on. which stories you'd rather push inside. Remember! If you'd rather push a story inside, it doesn't matter if that story seems really dramatic to you, you have to like it. And then the end at the end of the day because you're spending so much time with your writing. Be honest with yourself, what do you like to talk about? What do you like to think about? What are the stories that make you laugh? There's a good chance they'll make an admissions counselor excited as well.

大学招生过程中一个重要的部分就是讲述一个关于你自己或几个人的故事，以帮助招生顾问了解你的人生经历。通常，学生们会问我如何讲好一个关于自己的好事。务必记住以下几件事： 第一，如果你没有记录有关你自己或者有关任何人的故事，如果你没有跑进火场救出一只身处于危险之中的狗，如果你没有设计出来可以解决这个世界上某种疾病的药物，这些都没有没关系，大多数学生都没有像第一，第二这样戏剧性的故事。但记住，你的故事很简单。其实故事是无处不在的! 例如，如果你看一下你家里桌子上的东西，每件物品背后至少有一个故事，讲述它如何进入你的生活就是一个故事。不管你信与不信，其实每个故事都会告诉我们一些你生活中的经历。有的时候，学生们因为写一个真正的好故事倍感压力的同时，而忽略了保持事情的简捷性。从头脑风暴开始，你要思考你有哪些重要的人生经历。请不要对于这件事是否重要到足以分享给一个陌生人做出自己的评判。其实我之前在给一些中国的国际生家庭做指导时，我发现他们也有这样的顾虑。如果你认为它对你有影响，或者对于今天的你有影响，这通常是一个很好的迹象。这恰好证明这个故事值得与另一个人分享，尤其是招生顾问。另外，头脑风暴通常会帮助你认识到你想花时间在哪些故事上，你究竟喜欢讲什么故事，或者你想把哪些故事放进你的经历里面。记住! 不管这个故事对你来说是否很戏剧化，你都必须自己先喜欢它。然后多花一些时间在写作上。诚实面对自己，你喜欢谈论什么? 你想的都是些什么? 有哪些故事让你发笑? 这些很有可能也会让招生顾问感到兴奋。

学校与申请者双向选择：合适是最高标准

新藤汇：很多学校会强调招生并不是选择最好的学生，而是选择最适合这所学校的学生，请问合适的标准如何理解呢？

Mitchell：Admissions counselors are also looking for fit. what does fit mean? Every school you apply to will have a culture. Just think of it a very big state school that has 40,000 people attending it, is a different place than a small liberal arts school with maybe 5,000 people attending it. So, every school is different and we want to know when we read your application does it seem like you could fit in on our campus. So, how can you show us that you have fit research the school？ Understand what do students enjoy about the school? How does the school view itself? What's the school's mission? Why does this school think it's important that it exists? Once you understand these values that the school holds, you'll be able to better reflect those values back to the school, to help them understand that you would be a good fit, you would make a great member of the campus community.

If you were admitted, schools are also looking for passion. What does passion mean? Well, everyone around the world has at least one thing that gets them really excited and we wanna know what yours is. Because it's likely that when you come to our campus, you're gonna wanna do that or something related. Passion is a always a little bit difficult to wrap your mind around because it looks different for everyone. Put another way, don't be ashamed about what you love. Show us that you love it and help us understand why you love it so much. It's a time for you to celebrate what you love and to share that with the world.

招生顾问也在寻找“合适”，”合适”意味着什么？你申请的每所学校都有自己的文化。可以想象一下，一所拥有40000人的大型公立学校与一所只有5000人的小型文理学院是截然不同的。所以，每所学院都是不一样的。我们想要知道的是，当我们看到你的申请时，我们要怎样才能知道你适不适合我们的学校？通过你对学校的了解，告诉我们你为什么适合我们的学校？了解学生喜欢学校什么？学生是如何看待自己的学校的？学校的任务是什么？为什么你认为这所学校对你很重要？一旦你了解了这所学校的价值观，你将能够更好的将这些价值观反映回学校，帮助招生官了解你是否是一个很好的人选，你是否能成为一个优秀的学校成员。如果你被入取了, 学校还在寻找学生身上另一种特质，那就是激情。什么是激情？世界上每个人都至少有一样东西能让他们感到兴奋，我们想知道你的激情是什么？因为当你来到我们校园，你需要去做相关的事情。激情是一种难以理解的东西，因为对每个人来说都不一样。换一种说法，不要为你所爱的事物感到羞愧，让我们知道你喜欢它并让我们知道你为什么喜欢它。到这个时候你应该为你自己祝贺一下了，因为你正在把你所爱的事情与全世界分享。

新藤汇：现在申请有一个导向是排名决定一切，很多学生和家长主要关注这所学校的世界排名，竭力申请排名靠前的学校，请问您如何看待这种导向？

Mitchell：Sometimes students will say “I'm not sure if I fit at that school, but I know it's ranked really highly. So I want to go there”. Here's why you may want to rethink that strategy, It doesn't really matter if a school is highly ranked, If you don't like being there. College is a long experience, often time that's 4 years or more.You can talk to your school counselors and relevant professionals to find out about the country, school, and major you are interested in. If you don't find a campus culture, a campus location, campus traditions, campus values, that you relate to. Regardless of how highly ranked a school is, you might be unhappy there. When admissions counselors read your application, they are trying very hard to understand If I admit this student will the student be happy here. For that reason, in your college search, in addition to looking at the programs and looking at the activities and looking at the rankings. Ask yourself, if I'm admitted here can I see myself being happy here? That is usually a very good sign that there may be some fit between the school and you and you can continue in the process of applying to that school。有时学生会说:“我不确定我是否适合那所学校，但我知道它的排名很高，所以我想去那里。”这就是为什么我想跟你说，你可能要重新考虑你选择的学校。如果你不喜欢这所学校，学校排名高低对你来说根本不是最关键的事情。大学是一段很长的经历，他会陪伴你四年的时间或更长。你们可以找学校的辅导员，相关的专业人士去咨询你们感兴趣的国家、学校以及专业等。如果你找不到能让你感兴趣的校园文化、校园位置、校园传统、校园价值观，不管这所学校的排名有多高，你在那里都不可能快乐。其实当招生顾问审核你的申请时，他们非常努力地想要了解，如果我录取了这个学生，这个学生在这里会快乐吗? 因此，在你选择大学的时候，除了查看课程，活动和排名。问问你自己，如果我被录取了，我的大学生活会开心吗? 这通常是一个很明确的信号，它能显示你和学校之间相互适应的地方，以此来证明你可以继续申请这个学校。

新藤汇：申请外国高校往往需要提供多种多样的材料，成绩单、文书、实践经历、科研活动等等，这么多材料，招生官会如何考量把握申请者的能力呢？

Mitchell：The admissions process can be a daunting one. Because sometimes it feels like you're sending very personal details about yourself and your family out there into the world to a total stranger who's gonna make a very important decision about your future. So It might help if we break down the admissions process, So you can understand exactly what college admissions counselors are looking for. In any college application, no matter what you're applying to. The number one, most important aspect about your application is the academic profile. And here's why college admissions counselors want to be sure that when they admit you to their university you can be successful there. It wouldn't be good for you or the university, If you were admitted to the school of your dreams and then you were unable to do the work there. So, this is why all college admissions counselors begin with your academic transcript, they wanna know what classes you've taken in high school, what the rigor of those classes were, and how successful you were in those classes. Sometimes we talk about looking at a student's trajectory, we want to understand over the course of your high school experience. How are your grades? What was there arc where they always going up or they sometimes going up and then they took a dip but then they went back up. Did they go down for a very personal specific reason to you which is something that you want to share with universities. But all college admissions counselors are first and foremost gonna look at your transcript, then they'll go to testing to understand where your strengths are. Now, it's true, testing is changing all around the world right now and every school is adjusting how it relates to testing. But if you provide test scores that show your strengths, college admissions counselors will find that Information to be very valuable. After looking at your academic profile, will then take a look at your extra curricular life. What do you do when you're not in class? Your academic transcript will give us a sense of your strengths and your academic passions and your extra curricular profile will help us understand what you like to do with your life when you're not in the classroom. This will also give admissions counselors an idea of how you will contribute to the campus culture once you arrive. After looking at that we'll take a look at your recommendations from your teachers, we want to know how your teachers related to you over the course of your 4 years and what their perspective and you as a student is. This will help us get a sense of how you will perform inside the classroom, not only in terms of testing and grades but also how will you contribute to the classroom environment. And then of course there's the writing, we always wanna understand what's your perspective on the world. A lot of students are very scared by the writing because the word count can sometimes be very high and Sometimes if English isn't your first language that can be a little daunting to write a whole essay in that language. However, the most important thing to know about the essays is to keep it simple. We're really just trying to understand your perspective on the world. That's why the questions are pretty simple, and we're not expecting you to write an entire novel or to write a Pulitzer Prize winning piece of writing. Instead, we want to know do you understand basic writing structure? Can you give us an introduction and you give us a body, several paragraphs that help explore what was in your introduction? Can you give us a conclusion that wraps everything up? And through it all, can you tell a simple, clear story. Now, this takes a lot of practice, some students are surprised to find out they may need to write four five even six drafts of their big essays for the college admissions process. But every time you return to that writing the quality increases as well as the clarity.If students are unable to improve their writing skills on their own,  I believe that in professional planning services, there are courses to cultivate essay writing and critical thinking writing, so as to improve students' necessary reading and writing ability.

招生过程可能是令人生畏的。因为有时候你会觉得你在向一个陌生人分享关于你自己和家人非常私人的信息，而这个陌生人的一个决定可能会影响你的未来。所以如果我们把招生过程分解一下，这也许会对你有所帮助。这样你就能清楚地知道大学招生顾问到底在意哪些地方。在任何大学申请中，不管你申请的是什么。第一，关于你的申请最重要的就是学术概况。大学招生顾问想要确保他们录取你进入他们大学时，你可以在大学中获取得什么样的成绩。如果你被你梦想的学校录取了，但是你并不适应这里的课程，这对你和学院都没有好处。所以，所有的大学招生顾问都从你的成绩单开始。他们想知道你在高中上过什么课，这些课的严格程度，以及你在这些课上获得了哪些成绩。有时我们会讨论观察一个学生的成长轨迹，我们想要了解你的高中经历，你的成绩如何? 这里会有一个曲线，这个曲线是否总是上升，或者它们有时上升，然后下降，然后又上升。对你来说，这个成长曲线的变化是你个人原因造成的吗? 这是你需要分享的东西。所有的大学招生顾问首先会看你的成绩单，然后他们会去测试，了解你的优势在哪里。现如今确实全世界的测评标准都在改变，每一所学校都在调整它与考试的关系。但是如果你提供的考试成绩显示了你的优势，大学招生顾问就会发现这些有价值的信息。在看完你的学术简介之后，再看一下你的课外生活。比如，你不上课的时候都做些什么? 你的成绩单会让我们了解你学术的优势和热情，你的课外经历会帮助我们了解你在课外喜欢做什么。这也会让招生顾问去了解一旦你来到学校，你将如何为校园文化做出贡献。在看了这些之后，我们会看看你老师的推荐信，我们想知道你的老师在这四年里跟你的联系，他们的观点和你作为一个学生他们对你的看法是什么。这将帮助我们了解你在课堂上的表现，不仅是在测试和成绩方面，还包括你将如何对课堂环境做出贡献。当然还有写作，我们想知道你对这个世界的看法。很多学生对写作感到非常害怕，因为字数要求会很多，有时如果英语不是你的第一语言，用这种语言写一篇文章会有点令人畏惧。然而，关于论文最重要的是要保持简单。我们只是想了解你对世界的看法。这就是为什么这个问题很简单，我们不指望你写一整本小说或写一篇赢得普利策奖的作品。相反，我们想知道你是否理解基本的写作结构? 你能不能给我们一个开头，给我们一个正文，或者几个段落来帮助我们了解你介绍的内容? 你能不能对你的论文做出以后完美的总结? 通过这些，你能不能讲述一个简单明了的故事? 这需要大量的练习，一些学生会发现，他们可能需要写4个，5个，甚至6个初稿来申请大学。但是每当你反复修改你的文章的时候，你的写作的质量就会提高，清晰度也会提高。如果学生自己实在是无法提高自己的写作水平，相信在专业的规划服务中，也都有培养文书写作，培养批判性思维写作等课程，来提升名校学子必备阅读和写作能力。

申请通关秘籍：有的放矢

新藤汇：语言对于很多出国留学的学生是第一道槛，入学后也会很大影响学生们在校园里的体验，请问老师对提高语言能力有什么建议呢？

Mitchell：When it comes to international students, colleges are also looking for language fluency. Why? Again, we want to make sure that when you arrive on the campus you will be able to be successful. Now, of course many people take courses to improve their language fluency,for instance, IvyMax will provide to help students, professional teachers, professional programs.Many people watch movies. These are great things to do. I recommend two other things that might seem kind of boring, but if you do them repeatedly over time they will increase increase your language fluency. Number one, read! It doesn't matter what you're reading, probably something that you don't have to scroll through. So a book is usually a good choice and it doesn't have to be a very dense, heavy academic text. It can just be something you love, It can be a mystery or a romance or a suspense novel. But reading will help you better understand how to use the language that you're applying them.

说到国际学生，大学也在寻找语言流利的学生。为什么? 再强调一次，我们希望确保当你来到校园时，你将能够完全适应这里的生活。现在，很多人通过语言学习班来提高他们的语言流利度，像新藤汇就会提供这样的资源来帮助学生，专业的老师，专业的规划；还有很多人也通过看电影的方式。这些都是非常不错的办法。我推荐另外两种可能看起来有点无聊的方法。如果你反复练习，它们就会提高你的语言流利度。第一个就是阅读! 不管你读的是什么，可能是一些不需要滑动的方式（类似于手机阅读）。所以一本书通常是一个不错的选择，它不需要是非常密集，厚重的学术文本。可以是你喜欢的东西，可以是玄幻小说、浪漫小说或悬疑小说。但是阅读将帮助你更好地理解如何使用你正在使用的语言。

Number two right！Keep a journal！Even if you're just detailing what you did that day，practicing writing in the language. If you're applying in is like exercising a muscle, the more you do it the stronger that muscle will get. So when it comes time to apply, you'll be ready to do so.

第二点就是写日记！尽管你只是记录每天做的琐碎小事，但通过这种方式就是会练习到用这种语言写作的能力和应用能力。着就像你在锻炼你的肌肉，你做的越多，肌肉就会越强壮。当你真正要使用的时候，你已经做好了全部准备。

新藤汇：大家都知道有的放矢更能事半功倍，请问想留学本科的学生高中阶段应该对应做哪些储备丰富自己的简历呢？

Mitchell：The college admissions process can often be the culmination of very hard work over the course of 4 years. Oftentimes, students in 9th , 10th , 11th and 12th grade will ask me, what can we do to prepare for the college admissions process？So, let's break it down! For 9th, and 10th graders remember that this is the time to explore your interests. Many students will use 9th and 10th grade to take classes that might help them understand what they want to do once they go to college. Always remember to stay on top of your homework because that's gonna be the foundation, 9th and 10th for us to understand How you grew as a student over the course of 4 years. It's also important in 9th and 10th grade to do extra curricular activities, join a club, start a club, join a team, do activities with other people to help yourself understand how you work in a group and also to help yourself understand what you're going to enjoy when you go to college. For 11th and 12th graders it's more important than ever to stay on top of your grades, I know that these years can be very intense. Sometimes you're working very hard in school and then you have a full day of extra curricular activities. And then you have homework, and when it comes to the college admissions process you might have to work on that. After all of the rest, Keep call! Number one, remember to breathe, everything's gonna be okay, remember that 11th and 12th grade is also a great time to start researching colleges. Specifically, in the summer between 11th and 12th grade that's when you want to start putting together your list. And you wanna even start the application process, then so you can go into 12th grade knowing that you've got a good handle on this thing. Also, remember that all of this stuff should be taken step by step. It's impossible to accomplish everything you want to accomplish in one day. So, make a list What do I hope to accomplish in 9th and 10th grade, what are my goals for 11th and 12th grade. It may even help to make this list with your parents or a teacher who you respect. This will help you stay accountable to yourself and also help you feel that you're on track throughout your high school career.

大学的录取过程通常是经过4年的刻苦学习后的结果。很多时候，9年级、10年级、11年级和12年级的学生会问我，我们能为大学入学做些什么准备? 所以，让我们来分析一下吧! 要记住对于9年级和10年级的学生，这个时间段是探索你的兴趣的时候。许多学生利用一些9年级和10年级的课程，帮助他们了解一旦他们进入大学，他们会想要做什么。但是，一定要记得做好你的作业。因为这是让我们了解你作为一个学生4年里如何成长的基础。同样重要的是9年级和10年级的课外活动, 加入一个社团，或者自己创立一个社团, 再或者加入一个团队, 做一些活动可以帮助你了解，在一个团队里你应该如何发挥自己的价值，同样也有益于你正式步入大学后的生活。 对于11年级和12年级的学生来说，保持优异的学习成绩才是至关重要的事情，我知道这个时候你可能会感到非常紧迫。有时你需要在学校非常努力的学习功课，然后你还有一整天的课外活动。然后你还有家庭作业，当你进入到大学录取阶段的时候，你可能还需要在这方面做些工作。在这一切之后，一定要保持平常心! 第一，记住要深呼吸，告诉自己一切都会好起来的。11年级和12年级也是开始研究大学的好时机。具体来说，在11年级和12年级之间的夏天，这是你要开始整理你清单的时候。你甚至得想开始进入申请大学的流程，这样当你步入12年级的时候你就可以很好地处理了这件事。此外，请记住所有这些都需要循序渐进。你不可能在一天内完成所有你想要完成的事情。所以，列一个清单，比如在9年级和10年级的时候我需要完成什么，11年级和12年级的时候我的目标又是什么。你可以和你的父母或者你崇敬的老师一起列出这张清单，这可能会对你有所帮助。这也是你对自己负责的方式，也是让你高中生涯一直保持在正确轨道上的方式。

听完Mitchell老师的分享，大家是否心里更有数了呢？俗话说，知己知彼方能百战不殆，锁定新藤汇留学，一流高校招生官揭秘北美高校录取“潜规则”，揭开招生官审批流程背后的故事，运用招生院工作经验带你申名校。大家持续关注哦，新藤汇助你斩获名校offer！