Brown University, 作為常春藤聯(lián)盟大學(xué)之一，正如大家所知，歷史久遠(yuǎn)，學(xué)術(shù)領(lǐng)先。這個(gè)學(xué)校不同于其他常春藤大學(xué)的地方有三點(diǎn)：

非常注重本科教育

沒有核心課程，換句話說，就是沒有必修課，可以自己選任何自己想上的課

宗教信仰和政治觀點(diǎn)Fr/EE/Dom，Min/Zhu的氣氛很濃

布朗的地理位置非常好，在一個(gè)海邊的古老小城普羅威登斯，建筑風(fēng)格大多為意大利式，很有藝術(shù)文化氣息。與布朗相鄰的是美國最好的美術(shù)學(xué)院，羅德島設(shè)計(jì)學(xué)院（Rhode Island School of Design），簡稱RISD。布朗大學(xué)和RISD的學(xué)生可以在兩所大學(xué)間交叉選課。08年開始試行一種Brown-RISD dual degree program，即同時(shí)在兩所學(xué)府學(xué)習(xí)五年，畢業(yè)后同時(shí)獲得兩所大學(xué)的雙學(xué)位。這樣的項(xiàng)目對很多有藝術(shù)愛好的人極其有吸引力，但是這個(gè)項(xiàng)目每年只招收２０人。想要參加這個(gè)項(xiàng)目，必須要同時(shí)被布朗大學(xué)和羅德島設(shè)計(jì)學(xué)院同時(shí)錄取，而這兩所學(xué)校都以每年極低的錄取率和極高的申請難度聞名。

下面是我申請并被布朗大學(xué)的全過程，如果有對這個(gè)dual degree program 感興趣的，也可以特別關(guān)注一下羅德島設(shè)計(jì)學(xué)院的portfolio和original drawings的要求，我會在另一個(gè)帖子里具體介紹申請美國藝術(shù)類學(xué)院的過程。

第一步，提高英語能力，完成標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化考試?？己肧AT和托福不僅僅為了申請大學(xué)的幾個(gè)有力的數(shù)字；標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化考試是用來證明一個(gè)學(xué)生的英語水平的?？梢赃@么說，一個(gè)SAT考的很高的人，英語不會差的，但是，一個(gè)SAT考的不高的人，英語也不一定就差。對于大多數(shù)的國際申請者來說，critical reading部分和writing部分的essay無疑是最大的障礙，而我認(rèn)為，往往這正是美國大學(xué)考察的重點(diǎn)。記得曾經(jīng)波士頓大學(xué)的 International Admission Officer對我說，“我們知道亞洲學(xué)生的SAT數(shù)學(xué)都很高。”鑒于中國基礎(chǔ)教育的突出，很多中國申請者的數(shù)學(xué)部分往往都是接近滿分。因此AO對數(shù)學(xué)得分可以ignore了。Writing部分的語法往往可以通過培訓(xùn)機(jī)構(gòu)教授的技巧，在短時(shí)間內(nèi)突破，而且美國人相比較來說不太注重語法。得出的結(jié)論就是，critical reading和essay是無比重要的；它們較好地反映了一個(gè)申請者的真正英語水平。

我的critical reading考了630分，essay 部分12分滿分。前者在我周圍的人中不算特別高。對于前者大家唯一可以借鑒的是我的復(fù)習(xí)效率，我的詞匯量十分有限，我考之前，由于時(shí)間有限，我選擇了只背 Baren詞表的high frequency vocab list，即出現(xiàn)頻率最高的幾百個(gè)單詞，但是我把這個(gè)詞表過了很多遍，每個(gè)詞都確保記住，而且理解，這比背幾千個(gè)詞，但是過一陣子就全忘了要好。對在短期內(nèi)要考試的同學(xué)們，如果沒有太多時(shí)間復(fù)習(xí)，可以采用這種方法。背透這幾百個(gè)詞，你再看填空部分的時(shí)候，就會發(fā)現(xiàn)選項(xiàng)里有很多熟悉的詞。只背這么點(diǎn)單詞，需要與之相結(jié)合的閱讀方法，那就是忽略大部分不認(rèn)識的詞的意思，直接看文章，求大體的意思。當(dāng)然，如果能在充足的時(shí)間里好好復(fù)習(xí)，多背單詞，將會獲得更好的成績。

對于essay，我一直都挺喜歡寫作，沒事的時(shí)候，經(jīng)常用英文記日記，或者寫blog，長年下來，就發(fā)現(xiàn)越寫越順手，腦子里想的，就在筆下，或在鍵盤上flow了。另外，平時(shí)經(jīng)?？丛谑诌叺囊恍┙?jīng)典英文美文集，也給我提供了很多很有哲理的好句好段，熟記于心后，考試的時(shí)候很自然的就能流露于字里行間。這些句子，一旦出現(xiàn)，就會給改卷子的老師帶來極大震撼，對你佩服不已，自然給你高分。

我的toefl考了108分。Toefl其實(shí)沒什么好說的，就是一個(gè)過關(guān)測試，只要過了線，考多少分都沒有太大關(guān)系。

第二步，積累自己的學(xué)術(shù)優(yōu)勢。簡單點(diǎn)說，就是讓自己的學(xué)術(shù)實(shí)力變得很強(qiáng)，并且看起來也很強(qiáng)。學(xué)術(shù)實(shí)力的強(qiáng)弱主要看以下三點(diǎn)：

1. Transcript

2. 競賽

3. Teachers’ evaluations: (我有三封美國老師寫的推薦信，分別是我的AP physics, AP calc, 和art 老師。) 下面以AP physics老師的推薦信作為例子。

May 14, 2007

whom it may concern,

It is with great pleasure that I write this letter of recommendation on behalf of Ling Zhou. Ling was a foreign exchange student from Nanjing, China. She is fluent in English as well as her native Chinese. She selected a very demanding schedule of classes that included AP Physics, AP Calculus and AP Chemistry. As a student at Dighton-Rehoboth Regional HS, she has distinguished herself in both academic and extracurricular activities.

I have known Ling for about one year. She was a student in my Advanced Placement Physics class during the year that she was in the United States. In the classroom, Ling who has a solid A average, proved to be an able student. She tacked difficult problems with enthusiasim and presented solutions that showed a well developed capability for critical thought. Her comments and questions were insightful and often triggered interesting in-class discussions. As a very organized worker in the laboratory, she displayed professionalism in analyzing date, in drawing conclusions, and in writing reports.

her year at Dighton-Rehoboth, Ling was a member of the mathematics team , the speech team, and the girls’ volleyball team. She also participated in a student ambassador project where she did a presentation of Chinese culture at the Carpenter Museum in Rehoboth, Massachusetts and the local girl scouts troop. She won a Gold Key Scholastic Art Award from the Boston Globe and was a top scorer on our math team. She enjoys playing piano and playing table tennis.

Finally, I believe Ling possess the honesty, responsibility, dedication and insight characteristic of the most successful college students. She is well-liked and respected by all who know her, students and faculty alike. She sets the highest standards for herself and works tirelessly to achieve them. I feel that Ling would be a welcome member of any college or university community. Her creativity, intellect, and strong work ethic are enhanced by an even temper, a positive outlook on life, a pleasant sense of humor, and a sincere concern for others. She is truly a pleasure to have in class. She faithfully completes assignments, accepts constructive criticism without complaining, and never makes excuses. I have been teaching honors and advanced placement students for thirty-six years. In that time, I have known many talented and highly motivated young people. I would rank Ling well within the top 2% of that highly select group. For both personal and academic promise, I believe Ling to be a most worthy applicant for admission to your institute. She has my most enthusiastic support.

Sincerely,

David. H. Harwood B.S.,M.S, N.B.C.T Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School

Counselor’s evaluation(這個(gè)挺麻煩，要高三的counselor.，主要是自己寫的)

To whom it may concern,

Ling has been a student of mine for three years since she entered our high school, Nanjing Foreign Language School in Sept 2005. She is a bright, dedicated and well-rounded student who always has enthusiasm for challenges, and is one of the hardest workers I know of. I am honored to write this letter of recommendation to Dartmouth for Ling’s undergraduate studies.

As Ling’s counselor, I had many contact with her throughout the years on different matters. Ling first came to me and told me about her interest in the Academic Year in America Exchange Student Program; she asked me for some advise. In the end, as a mature, determined and careful young lady, she made a decision as well as a plan, for her education and future, by which I was truly impressed. She eventually became one of the 12 students selected from our school among hundreds, to go to America as an exchange student. Ling came back to us in August, 2007. In two months, she has already caught up with her peers at school even though there was a great deal of difference between what she had learned in the US and what other students had learned in China. It was her determination and desire to be challenged that contributed to such achievements.

Ling is also an excellent leader. She was one of the elected student leaders for her homeroom class of 58 students during the 2005-2006 school year. In the fall of 2006, she was in charge of graphic designing for the Art Festival in NFLS, which came out a great success.

Undoubtedly, Ling has consistently demonstrated a strong desire for challenges together with careful planning, an incredible determination on her work and impressive abilities as a leader. I am sure she will be a great college student and eventually a great achiever in the future. Therefore I strongly recommend Ling to your institution.

Sincerely,

School Counselor

Oct 1st, 2007