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Hello Students,
I am aware that some of you recently sat for the SAT I exam in Hong Kong. Congratulations!! After weeks of careful study you can now exhale, relax for a moment and know that you have given your best.
Now - what is your next step? Many of you are diligently working on your university applications. The most important next step is to complete your essays as this aspect of the application requires a great deal of thought, reflection and time so here are some guidelines for completing your essays broken in fourteen steps:
1.Gather together all of your applications and make a list of the essays required by each. Note any similarities. Don’t worry right now about doing them all: one essay with variations can go a long way. The most important thing is to get the questions into your subconscious mind so that you will be brainstorming all the time. Always keep a paper and pencil handy—you never know when a good idea will hit you.
2. Before you even think about writing, you need to research and understand the subject matter, which is you! If you try to sit down and write without doing the necessary research, you will probably have a solid case of writer’s block. You may think that you know yourself,but to maximize what you think you know, you need to reflect a while, and then write it out.
3. Evaluate your self-assessment. What repetitions do you see? Are there any particular themes? Determine the kind of interests, talents, or motivations you have. Do you see a tendency to help those in need? A desire to be in public service? A business instinct that has been with you since childhood. Take some time with this. It doesn’t need to be done in one sitting.
4. Decide which information you will use to present a picture of yourself to the schools. (The picture may change from school to school depending upon what the essay asks for, and how you want to position yourself.) Give the essay questions and your proposed answers time to settle in your brain so that you can continue to generate ideas. Jot any and all nuggets down - you will forget them otherwise.
5. Read other successful essays to give you some ideas about about what has worked before and to keep those creative ideas flowing in your mind.
6. Choose one essay to work on. Based on the information, construct the central idea of your essay and develop supporting ideas. Then put those thoughts in the form of an outline.
7. Do a complete draft within a set time limit. Free yourself from the belief that it has to be perfect. The most important thing at this point is to get the ideas on paper. The refining and shaping will come later. Accept that you will not have a final essay after just one or two drafts. If you want a quality product, the process will take time. besides, bad essays can always contain seeds of valuable ideas.
8. After you finish a draft, let it sit for a couple of days. Distance from the piece will give you the necessary objectivity. You can start on another essay if necessary at this point, going through the same process.
9. Ask people whose opinion you respect to read through the essay and give you advice. Ask them questions like “ what stands out ? What’s your favorite part? What would you change? Which words/phrases do you remember? What do you want to hear more about? What does the essay reveal about me? What am I driving at?
10. Read the piece aloud-you’ll be amazed what your ears can detect regarding faulty grammar, awkward language, and the like.
11. Put special effort into your beginning and ending. Beginnings need to grab the interest of the reader. Some ways to begin: 1) start with an interesting or unusual fact or detail; 2) begin with an anecdote or story; 3) use an interesting quotation;make reference to a newsworthy or well-known event. some ways to end:
1) summarize what you have said: 2) summarize then extrapolate about the future:3) summarize some potential implications from your essay.
12. Rewrite! Why? Memorable writing comes from rewriting than it does from the first draft. By rewriting you will inevitably improve the piece.
13. Proof the essay, at least several times. Check for grammar, punctuation, spelling and other mechanical errors. One tried and true method; read the essay ( backwards) from end to beginning.
14. After your essays are error free and polished, send them out, and go celebrate a job well done!
---以下是译文-- 我知道你们其中一些人刚刚完成赴港的SATI考试。恭喜！经过几个月的刻苦学习，尽了自己最大的努力，你们终于可以松一口气，放松一下了。
那么，下一步你应该做什么？很多人已经开始辛勤地准备大学申请了。下一步最重要的是要完成你的申请文，因为这部分需要大量的思考，反省和时间。下面是对完成申请文的14项指导。
1、整理所有要申请的大学，列出每所大学的申请文题目要求，标注出相似性。不要担心现在就要完成所有的写作，一篇申请文可以变化成多个版本，可以运用到很多地方/还需要一些过程。最重要的是潜意识地理解问题，这样就可以一直头脑风暴，随身携带纸和笔，因为你从来不知道何时会有好的想法。
2、研究和理解写作的主题-你自己，才能思考如何写作。如果你仅仅是坐下来写，没有对主题进行深思熟虑，那么你很有可能遇到写作障碍，文思枯竭。你也许认为你很了解你自己，但是为了最大程度地了解自己，你需要反思，并且把它写出来。
3、自我评估。你看到多少个版本，是否有什么特别的主题？确定你的兴趣，才能以及动机，需要一定的时间，不一定要一次完成。例如：你有想帮助需要帮助的人的意愿吗？有投身于公共服务的渴望吗？有与生俱来的经商才能吗？
4、决定用什么材料向大学展现你自己。（根据不同学校的申请文要求以及你对自己的定位，所呈现的材料会不同）。思考申请文的问题，给出答案，思考一段时间，接下来能产生更多的想法。简单记下来所有的小点，否则你会忘记。
5、阅读其他成功的申请文，了解什么样的申请文是优秀的，谨记那些有创意的想法。
6、选择一篇申请文写作。基于现有的素材，构建文章的中心思想，找到相应的支持论点，然后以列提纲的形式把这些内容表达出来。
7、在某个时间限制内完成申请文的初稿。要接受初稿是不可能完美的事实，这个阶段最重要的是要把你的想法转移到纸上，之后再进行提炼和修改。申请文一般需要经过一次或两次修改才能得到最终稿。如果你想要写出优秀的申请文，这个过程是需要时间的。此外，往往失败的申请文中也包含很多有价值的想法。因此，修改申请文非常重要。
8、完成初稿好，搁置几天。远离申请文一段时间会给你带来一定的客观性。如果需要的话，你可以开始另外一篇申请文，经历相同的过程。
9、寻找你尊重其观点的人，让他们阅读你的申请文，并且给出反馈意见。问他们一些问题，例如：申请文的亮点是什么？你最喜欢哪部分？你要修改什么？你记得哪些词和短语？你还想多了解哪方面？这篇文章展现了我是一个什么样的人？我想要表达的主旨是什么？
10、大声地阅读申请文，你会惊奇的发现你的耳朵可以识别错误的语法，拙劣的表达及其他。
11、着重申请文的开头和结尾。开头需要抓住读者的兴趣。几种开头的方式：以有趣或是不寻常的事实或细节开头；以奇闻轶事或故事开头；使用有意思的引用；评价有报道价值的或众所周知的事件。几种结尾的方式：总结所阐述的观点；总结然后推断未来；总结申请文中一些潜在的蕴意。
12、改写？为什么？相对于初稿来说，难忘的写作来自于改写。修改必然会提高写作的质量。
13、校正申请文，至少几遍。检查语法，标点，拼写以及其他机器错误。一个屡试不爽的方法是从后往前读。
14、申请文确认无误，润色完成后，就可以提交了。
去庆祝一下吧，因为你出色地完成了申请文的写作！
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