【收藏】哈佛大学公开2022年十篇优秀申请文书及专家点评!(下)

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文书是美本申请中至关重要的一环,随着2023届申请季开始,同学们陆续进入了主文书的构思和写作阶段。为此,智友留学为大家整理了哈佛大学最新发布的优秀文书及专家点评。

上期,我们带大家欣赏了出色的五篇新生文书(戳这里【收藏】哈佛大学公开2022年十篇优秀申请文书及专家点评!(上),今天一起来看看另外五篇吧!

PART6
06  Michelle C.'s Essay

Successful Harvard Essay

“You should scrub off the top layer of your skin whenever you lose a round,” my debate teammate once advised me.

“That’s not practical,” I replied.

“Neither is your refusal to wear clothes you’ve lost important debate rounds in. Your wardrobe has very little to do with your success.”

Half of me disagrees with him. I still bring three BIC Round Stic pencils with 0.7 lead to every test because my gut tells me this fastidious procedure raises my scores. I’m still convinced that labs receive better grades if written in Calibri. And I still won’t rewear clothes in which I’ve lost crucial rounds.

Yet the other half of me is equally dismissive of my own superstitions. I love logic, never failing to check that steps in a proof lead to a precise conclusion without gaps in reasoning.

Fortunately, I often abandon my penchant for pragmatism to accommodate for my unwarranted superstitions. And since I only feel the need to act logicalcally in selective situations, I am perfectly content with the illogical nature of my other habits:

Raised with my great-grandmother, grandparents, and parents all under one roof, I never lacked a consultant to help me transcribe Korean holiday dates from the lunar calendar onto my schedule. Yet whenever all four generations of my family celebrates with a traditional meal of bulgogi, my untraceable and admittedly nonexistent Italian blood flares in protest; I rebelliously cook myself linguine con le vongole that clashes terribly with my mom’s pungent kimchi.

If I plot a graph of “hours I spend in physical activity” versus “week of the year,” the result looks like an irregular cardiac cycle. The upsurges symbolize my battles with colossal walls of water in hopes of catching a smooth surf back to Mission Bay shore. The ensuing period of rest mirrors the hours I spend researching in that one spot in my debate team’s war room that isn’t covered in papers (yet), or at the piano sight-reading the newest Adele song. Then the diastolic tranquility is interrupted by the weekends when I’m sprinting through trenches to avoid paintballs swarming above my favorite arena at Paintball USA.

I find comfort in the familiar. I treasure the regular midnight chats with my brother as we indulge in batter while baking cupcakes for a friend’s birthday, keeping our voices hushed to avoid waking our mom and facing her “salmonella is in your near future” lecture. Yet, some of my fondest memories involve talking to people with whom I share nothing in common. Whether my conversations are about the Qatari coach’s research on Kuwait’s female voting patterns, or about the infinite differences between the “common app” and the Oxford interviewing process, or even about my friend’s Swedish school’s peculiar policy of mandating uniforms only on Wednesdays, I love comparing cultures with debaters from different countries.

My behavior is unpredictable. Yet it’s predictably unpredictable. Sure, I’ll never eat a Korean dinner like one might expect. But I’ll always be cooking linguine the moment I catch a whiff of kimchi.

☼ 专家点评 ☼

通常情况下,最成功的文书往往讲述的是“接地气”的话题。我的学生写过不少平凡的话题,例如:打扫卫生、启动洗碗机、削橡皮、寻找一块浮木,以及照顾不止一只柴犬。因此,我很享受阅读这篇文书。Choi选择了一个常常被他人忽略的话题——迷信,并成功地将它作为一个聚焦镜头,探索自己生活中的不同部分。

通过描述生活中看似不关联的事件,Choi展示了她的自省能力,同时让读者对她的个人形象有了更丰富的认识。Choi并不是一个没有特点的成功者。她的迷信,以及她在逻辑和迷信之间的反复挣扎,都使她极具吸引力,让人们情不自禁地喜欢她。正如我经常提醒我的学生:古怪就是酷。

Choi在文书开头引用了一段对话,瞬间吸引了读者的注意力。一想到要“擦掉自己的一层皮肤”,人们可能会感到畏惧,这是可以理解的。那么,接下来会发生什么呢?开头的对话促使读者继续阅读下去。

在文书的前半部分,我们看到善于辩论是她的性格特征之一。在下文中,她巧妙地将自己的迷信与生活中其他重要的部分联系起来,包括她的文化积淀、家庭、冲浪运动、音乐、彩弹射击、烧烤活动、与陌生人的对话,以及对世界各地不同文化的观察。这些联系让读者了解到,为什么Choi会成为一个极具好奇心、古怪的人。她富有创意,会采取不同方法解决问题:她将韩国和意大利美食结合起来(光是想象一下混杂的口味就令人舌尖颤抖);在钢琴上演奏流行音乐(可能是用与莫扎特或贝多芬截然不同的演奏方式)。

如果一定要提供改进建议,就是我在读完这篇文书后想了解更多。也许她可以从目前的内容稍微扩展一下:她从这个不寻常的过程中学到了什么?这些经历是如何影响她看待世界的方式并影响她的行动的?她在哪些方面应用了这种学习方式?

综上,在这篇文书中,Choi做了许多其他学生的文书中没有做到的事:她采取了一种独特的方法,用一个朴实的话题作为“线”,将她生活的各个部分串联起来。

PART7
07  Sophia's Essay

Successful Harvard Essay:

"Black Eyeliner Does Not Make You a Nonconformist"

Several years ago, my mother told me I listen to “white people music.” And I suppose that’s true—rock 'n' roll tends to spring from the middle-class basements of young, white men. Though I did point out that its origins trace back to jazz musicians of the Harlem Renaissance. Also that one of the greatest guitarists of all time—dear Mr.Hendrix; may he rest in peace—was black.

My devotion to punk rock began in seventh grade, when Green Day’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” came up on my iTunes shuffle. I started to look into their other releases, eventually immersing myself into the complete punk discography. My mother, having grown up
in a racially segregated New York, was more likely to listen to Stevie Wonder than Stevie Nicks.

But, she must have figured, to each her own. So while my compatriots indulged in the music of Taylor Swift, One Direction, and Lady
Gaga, my tacky Hot Topic headphones blasted Green Day, Ramones, and The Clash. My young adolescent ears drank in the raw, chaotic beauty, an echo of the pain of the past. The thrashing, pulsating vitality of the instruments painted a picture, connecting me to the disillusioned kids who launched an epic movement of liberation some 40 years ago.

Punkers question authority. Aggressively contrarian, they advocate for the other side—the side that seemed smothered silent during the post-Vietnam era. They rejected the established norms. They spoke out and weren’t afraid.

I had always felt different from my peers. In my girls’s prep school, the goal was to be blond and good at soccer. I was neither, which automatically deemed me “uncool”. I had a few close friends but never felt like I was part of a whole.

Then came the punk philosophy, for the outliers, for those who were different. That was something I could be part of.

Instead of trying to conform to my peers, I adopted an anti-conformist attitude. Much like the prematurely gray anti-hero of my favorite book, I sneered at all the “phonies” around me. I resented anything popular. Uggs? Wouldn’t buy them. Yoga pants? Never. Starbucks?Well, I could make a few concessions.

But I felt more cynical than liberated. I wasted so much energy on being different than I lost track of what actually made me happy. I insisted I didn’t care what people thought of me, which was true. Yet if I based my actions almost solely on their behavior, how could I deny their influence?

Luckily, as I transitioned from a private school to a brand new public high school, I got to clean the slate. I bought yoga pants and found they were comfortable. I listened to a wide variety of music, even the eh kind that wasn’t 100% hardcore punk. And I was happier.

I revised my punk philosophy: Do as you like—whether it fits into the “system” or not.

The Beatles’s “Revolution” lyrics sum it up well:

You tell me it’s the institution

Well, you know

You’d better free your mind instead.

What I think Lennon was getting at is questioning everything does not entail opposing everything. Defiance for the sake of defiance is unproductive at best, destructive at worst. I believe in life’s greater Truths, like Love and Justice. These Truths are what should govern my actions—not what’s popular and what isn’t. Striving to act on these ideals has helped me stay true to myself, regardless of what’s considered “conformist."

Perhaps I’ve failed the punk movement. We’ll have to wait and see. In the meantime, I’ll do what makes me happy and change what doesn’t. I’ll wear Doc Martens instead of Uggs; I’ll partake in a grande pumpkin spice latte; I’ll watch Gossip Girl; I’ll blare my favorite guitar solo over the speakers in my room.

And that’s as punk as it gets.

☼ 专家点评 ☼

读到尖锐的标题和言辞激烈的开头后,我立刻被这篇文书所吸引。我和许多同事从小就是学校荣誉课程中极少数有色人种,一直被告知自己在喜欢“白人的东西”。

当你在文书里讲述自己特别的个人经历时,它可以使有相似经历的读者产生情感共鸣,同时也会吸引经历截然不同的人。

这名学生对母亲言论的回复,对朋克摇滚的起源和政治背景的了解程度,都表明她不仅仅是一名朋克音乐的粉丝。她的好奇心促使她研究和学习朋克音乐的历史根源,并自信地就朋克音乐的起源和受众,提出了一个对立的观点。

我喜欢的部分是:学生对朋克摇滚的兴趣从爱好发展成激情,最终形成一种身份认同。文书不应只说明个人成长经历的开始和结束,也要展示其中复杂的过程。

该学生生动、简洁地描述了她在学校的经历。尽管她在学校并不合群,但并没有诋毁其他同学。当描写自己对“享受星巴克”让步时,她还运用了幽默和文字技巧。

这篇文书的转折点在于,作者开始对自己的坚持表示质疑:不追随主流文化是否真的能让自己开心,这也体现了作者更深层次的自我反省和个人成长。

在文书中使用引语和歌词可能会使读者转移注意力,但这位学生有效地利用歌词作为出发点,展开了深入的思考。文书的结论很有说服力,它让我们看到一个人接纳自己的方方面面,而不是固执地坚持自己的与众不同。

这篇文书以自信、充满活力的声音收尾,掷地有声,结尾的句子正如演出结束时一个华丽的“扔麦”。如果你想分享自己的激情如何促进个人成长、努力融入环境、逐步认识自我或确立价值观,这篇文书将是一个很好的例子。

PART8
08 Taras' Essay

Successful Harvard Essay:

 More Boluses to Dissect

Finally, I had found a volunteer opportunity at the Long Marine Lab, a marine biology research facility at UC Santa Cruz! I envisioned swimming with dolphins, or perhaps studying behavioral patterns of decorator crabs. But when I discovered the nature of my work on the first day of volunteering, my excitement turned to disappointment: I’d be picking through albatross boluses, the indigestible materials they cough up before going to sea. Sure enough, after three hours of separating fishing line from brown muck, I began to dread what I was in for. At that point, I had no clue of just how interesting the opportunity would turn out to be, and it would remind me of how easily I become engrossed and fascinated by all sorts of random stuff.

It didn’t take long for my boredom with the boluses to shift toward curiosity. In the first place, the project itself was fascinating. The idea was to research the behavior and diet of albatrosses at sea. These birds can fly for months without touching land! When the birds have chicks, they cough up whatever they’ve eaten at sea to feed their young. When the chicks become old enough to fly, they cough up the hard, indigestible materials left in their stomachs. These boluses contain squid beaks that can reveal the types of squid eaten and the area where the squid were caught. We volunteers would pick through the boluses, separating out anything that looked interesting.

As I got better at dissecting these blobs, I started finding crazy stuff, and my colleagues and I would often discuss important findings. There was, of course, the search for the biggest squid beak, and the fish eyes were always interesting. But most shocking was the plastic. Beyond the normal Styrofoam and fishing line were plastic bottle caps, lighters, even toothbrushes. Occasionally, Asian writing revealed distant origins. Once, I picked through a bolus permeated with orange goo, eventually to discover the round mouthpiece of a balloon. The origins of these artifacts were sad, but also fascinating. I learned of the Texas-sized trash heap in the middle of the Pacific, the effects of which I was witnessing firsthand. I gained a heightened awareness of the damage inflicted on the oceans by humans, and their far-reaching impacts. Perhaps most importantly, I realized that even the most tedious things can blow my mind.

If dissecting boluses can be so interesting, imagine the things I’ve yet to discover! I play piano and can see myself dedicating my life to the instrument, but I can’t bear to think of everything else I’d have to miss. I’d love to study albatrosses, but also particle physics or history, and preferably all three. At this point in my life, I can’t imagine picking just one area. At the same time, though, I love studying subjects in depth. I tend to get overwhelmed by my options, since I can’t possibly choose them all. But at least I know I’ll never be bored in life: there are just too many subjects to learn about, books to read, pieces to play, albatrosses to save, and boluses to dissect.

☼ 专家点评 ☼
真诚,使这篇文书在第一段就脱颖而出:Taras承认他从兴奋到失望的情绪转变,同时也自己承认对事态发展方向的手足无措。很多时候,申请者没有意识到阅读文书的招生官也只是普通人——他们也感受着失望、困惑等情绪。许多申请者写的文书充满细节和技巧,但真诚才是写出一篇好文书的关键。
此外,这篇文书还有一个看似简单、但十分重要的技巧:作者在第一句话中就说明他在Long Marine Lab的志愿者经历。太多申请者设法保持悬念,而事实上,最好为你的读者交代清楚事件的背景没有人会费尽心思“破译”一篇文书,招生官也不想花时间了解不重要的人、事、时间和地点。
Taras通过分享他工作中有趣的细节,成功展现了他对自己的研究有着诚挚的热情。无论是鸟类、模拟联合国还是其他主题,细节都是帮助招生委员会了解申请人智力与活力的关键。
这篇充满活力的文书通过独特的主题,吸引了读者的注意力,但也有可以改进的地方。例如,对许多读者来说,感叹号可能是一种人为的热情,但会使一篇文章失去应有的礼仪。此外,在最后一段中,Taras提到了粒子物理学和历史是他感兴趣的方向,但这与文书主题不符(并且可能会影响到最终的录取结果)。
PART9
09 Michelle G's Essay

Successful Harvard Essay

Red, orange, purple, gold…I was caught in a riot of shifting colors. I pranced up and down the hill, my palms extended to the moving collage of butterflies that surrounded me. “Would you like to learn how to catch one?” Grandfather asked, holding out a glass jar. “Yes!” I cheered, his huge calloused fingers closing my chubby five-year-old hands around it carefully.
Grandfather put his finger to his lips, and I obliged as I watched him deftly maneuver his net. He caught one marvelous butterfly perched on a flower, and I clutched the open jar in anticipation as he slid the butterfly inside. It quivered and fell to the bottom of the jar, and I gasped. It struggled until its wings, ablaze in a glory of orange and red, quivered to a stop. I watched, wide-eyed, as it stopped moving. “Grandpa! What’s happening?”
My grandfather had always had a collection of butterflies, but that was the first time I saw him catch one. After witnessing the first butterfly die, I begged him to keep them alive; I even secretly let some of them go. Therefore, to compromise, he began carrying a special jar for the days I accompanied him on his outings, a jar to keep the living butterflies. But the creatures we caught always weakened and died after a few days in captivity, no matter how tenderly I fed and cared for them. Grandfather took me aside and explained that the lifespan of an adult butterfly was very short. They were not meant to live forever: their purpose was to flame brilliantly and then fade away. Thus, his art serves as a memory of their beauty, an acknowledgement of nature’s ephemeral splendor.
But nothing could stay the same. I moved to America and as the weekly excursions to the mountainside ended, so did our lessons in nature and science. Although six thousand miles away, I would never forget how my grandpa’s wrinkles creased when he smiled or how he always smelled like mountain flowers.
As I grew older and slowly understood how Grandfather lived his life, I began to follow in his footsteps. He protected nature’s beauty from decay with his art, and in the same way, I tried to protect my relationships, my artwork, and my memories. I surrounded myself with the journals we wrote together, but this time I recorded my own accomplishments, hoping to one day show him what I had done. I recorded everything, from the first time I spent a week away from home to the time I received a gold medal at the top of the podium at the California Tae Kwon Do Competition. I filled my new home in America with the photographs from my childhood and began to create art of my own. Instead of catching butterflies like my grandpa, I began experimenting with butterfly wing art as my way of preserving nature’s beauty. Soon my home in America became a replica of my home in China, filled from wall to wall with pictures and memories.
Nine long years passed before I was reunited with him. The robust man who once chased me up the hillside had developed arthritis, and his thick black hair had turned white. The grandfather I saw now was not the one I knew; we had no hobby and no history in common, and he became another adult, distant and unapproachable. With this, I forgot all about the journals and photos that I had kept and wanted to share with him.
After weeks of avoidance, I gathered my courage and sat with him once again. This time, I carried a large, leather-bound book with me. “Grandfather,” I began, and held out the first of my many journals. These were my early days in America, chronicled through pictures, art, and neatly-printed English. On the last page was a photograph of me and my grandfather, a net in his hand and a jar in mine. As I saw our faces, shining with proud smiles, I began to remember our days on the mountainside, catching butterflies and halting nature’s eventual decay.
My grandfather has weakened over the years, but he is still the wise man who raised me and taught me the value of capturing the beauty of life. Although he has grown old, I have grown up. His legs are weak, but his hands are still as gentle as ever. Therefore, this time, it will be different. This time, I will no longer recollect memories, but create new ones.
☼ 专家点评 ☼
这篇文书对作者与祖父的童年经历进行了富有诗意的回忆,以优美的叙述方式展现了作者如何从短暂的美与艺术中感受人生哲理。同时,这篇文书也传达了作者的形象——敏锐的自然与人性观察者。
当你写一篇关于”谁影响你“的文书,保持平衡是非常重要的一点。你既要描述对你产生影响的人,同时也要紧扣文书主题,突出你的个人成长。在这篇文书中,Michelle成功展现出祖父的本质:生活经验丰富且富有同理心。他理解蝴蝶转瞬即逝的特征, 也理解Michelle对蝴蝶的关心。
同时,这篇文书的内容聚焦在Michelle多年来的成长。从祖父那里,她继承了对自然的热爱,以及对生活的感悟和反省。她将蝴蝶翅膀艺术描述为一种保护自然之美的方式,也让我们看到了她艺术性的一面。
这篇文书中有一个特别令人心酸的部分,当她九年后终于见到祖父时,她意识到祖父发生了怎样的变化。这篇文书做了一个绝妙的类比——她祖父的衰老和过去抓到那只蝴蝶的转瞬即逝。它让作者想起生命多么短暂,不要虚度年华,这也是她祖父试图教会她的。
尽管这篇文书聚焦在Michelle的祖父以及他的影响,我们仍然对Michelle有了很多了解…我们知道她很成功(跆拳道金牌)、有艺术细胞和充满爱心。她深思熟虑和擅长内省的性格特点在这篇文书中也大放异彩,这些无疑都是吸引招生委员会的优秀品质。
PART10
10 Lisa's Essay

Successful Harvard Essay:

Playing it Dangerous

In hazy stillness, a sudden flurry of colored skirts, whispers of “Merde!” Sternly, my fingers smooth back my hair, although they know no loose strands will be found. My skin absorbs heat from stage lights above—if only that heat would seep into my brain, denature some proteins, and deactivate the neurons stressing me out. A warm hand, accompanied by an even warmer smile, interrupts my frenzied solitude. I glance up. My lovely teacher nods, coaxing my frozen lips into a thawed smile. A complex figure, filled in with doubt, yet finished with shades of confidence: My body takes its place and waits.
One, two, three, four; two, two, three, four. On stage, the lights and music wash over me. Never having had a true ballet solo before, my lungs are one breath away from hyperventilating. Trying to achieve a Zen-like state, I imagine a field of daisies, yet my palms continue sweating disobediently. It’s not that I’ve never been on stage alone before; I’ve had plenty of piano recitals and competitions. Yet, while both performances consume my mind and soul, ballet demands complete commitment of my body.
Gently slide into arabesque and lean downward; try not to fall flat on face—Mom’s videotaping. In terms of mentality, I would hardly be described as an introvert; yet, a fear of failure has still kept me from taking risks. Maybe I was scared of leaping too high, falling too far, and hitting the hard floor. As I moved up in the cutthroat world of dance, this fear only increased; the pressure of greater expectations and the specter of greater embarrassment had held me contained. Now, every single eyeball is on me.
Lean extra in this pirouette; it’s more aesthetic. But is it always better to be safe than sorry? Glancing toward the wings, I see my teacher’s wild gesticulations: Stretch your arms out, she seems to mime, More! A genuine smile replaces one of forced enthusiasm; alone on the stage, this is my chance to shine. I breathe in the movements, forget each individual step. More than just imagining, but finally experiencing the jubilation of the music, I allow my splits to stretch across the stage and my steps to extend longer and longer, until I’m no longer safe and my heart is racing. Exhilarated and scared in the best way, I throw myself into my jumps. I no longer need to imagine scenes to get in the mood; the emotions are twirling and leaping within me.
Reaching, stretching, grabbing, flinging … My fear no longer shields me. I find my old passion for ballet, and remember the grace and poise that can nevertheless convey every color of emotion. Playing it safe will leave me part of the backdrop; only by taking risks can I step into the limelight. Maybe I’ll fall, but the rush is worth it. I’ll captain an all-male science bowl team, run a marathon, audition for a musical, and embrace the physical and intellectual elation of taking risks.
☼ 专家点评 ☼

Lisa通过她富有创意的描述性文字,成功地激发了读者的真实情感。这篇文书之所以能脱颖而出,是因为它描述生动的意象、传达作者发自内心的感受和有益的内省。

Lisa的寓言使我立刻联想到一只被关在封闭笼子的鸟。笼子象征着我们在生活中所面对的一切,以及我们的恐惧。Lisa的第一次芭蕾舞独奏非常精彩,就在某一刻,她抛开恐惧(打开笼子),并通过认真的自我反省,选择拥抱未来的挑战(勇往直前)。

在1-3段中,Lisa美丽丰富的语言和形象的描述瞬间吸引了我们。她讲述自己因压力,对失败、家庭和公众舆论的恐惧而动弹不得。我感同身受,并且想了解更多。她那温暖的幽默闪耀着完美的光芒:她想要放空大脑,并提醒自己不要摔倒,以免被她的母亲或家人责骂。Lisa将她“可爱的老师”看作她的后备力量、舒适区和支持者,这是许多人可以感受到的。她的焦虑是相对的,她用这一点解释她厌恶风险的本性。

在4-5段中,Lisa的单人表演生动地描述了她起舞和转变的契机——恐惧变成了激情和兴奋。她在转动的那瞬间充满诗意,微笑,摆脱了恐惧,像一杯温暖的牛奶一样拥抱风险。“安全总比后悔好吗?” 这是一个尖锐的问题。通过反省,Lisa表达了她追求挑战的愿望,因为这将使她进步。她也知道自己并不会总是成功,但“勇敢是值得的”。

Lisa最后列举了自己担任领导角色的具体活动,并表达她将在学校里继续参加的意向。招生官十分乐于看到渴望走出舒适区,并愿意在校园里继续挑战自己的学生。如果要使这篇文章更有说服力,Lisa可以更具体地强调她在大学将如何解决新障碍带来的恐惧,并将其与芭蕾舞中学到的经验联系起来。

这篇文书非常出色,它采用独特的叙事形式,写得充满活力、有趣、深刻和紧扣主题。Lisa的个人品质贯穿整篇文书,即创造力、决心、克服障碍、自我反省、在风险中成长,当然还有激情!在动力方面,她给我们上了一课:摆脱负面情绪,激流勇进——“playing it dangerous”。

Ref:

https://www.thecrimson.com/topic/sponsored-successful-harvard-essays-2022/