|
|
发表于 2011-4-1 19:31:01
|
显示全部楼层
下面是我孩子的信，讲为什么，怎样，如何得到全额奖学金。我读了一遍，我强力推荐给高中生们读一读：As a high school senior, I knew I was interested in Vanderbilt. When I heard of the Lanier Scholarship, which gives its recipient a full-tuition grant, I immediately decided to apply. At the time I applied, the supplemental application for the Lanier Scholarship asked for two additional essays: an academic interest statement, asking for my academic passions, and a “Why Vanderbilt?” essay. I approached both essays with as an opportunity to explain why Vanderbilt was a great fit for me, with the hope of persuading Vanderbilt that I would be a good addition to their class. I wrote about academic interests of mine that Vanderbilt has particularly strong departments in; for example, Vanderbilt has a fantastic Spanish department, and is known for being a good pre-medical school. I also quizzed my friends who attended Vanderbilt on what made it unique. For example, if you like country music, the fact that Vanderbilt is located in Nashville is a great plus! There are also quirkier aspects of Vanderbilt that I referred to specifically; for example, the campus is a designated national aboretum (which is home to many, many squirrels!). And people always dress up to go to football games, which I found rather charming.
After I submitted my application, I waited to hear back about an interview. I was one of about nine semi-finalists selected for an interview, which took place downtown, at a law firm office. I bought my very first suit for this interview, and prepared for a week, downloading every sample question I could find and trying to think about all of them. I tried to think about the most interesting stories from the activities I had done (often, you don’t think things are a big deal when they happen, but on reflection, you realize it was an important learning experience for you). I also thought about what qualities about myself I wanted to get across, for example, intellectual curiosity, and tried to make sure that the stories I thought of exemplified those qualities. I also thought a bit more about what I would get involved in at Vanderbilt. I spent a lot of time on the student organization pages on the Vanderbilt website and talking to my friends again about what kinds of extracurricular opportunities there were, and what sounded interesting and made sense for me to get involved in based on my past background. At the same time, I tried not to write out answers to anything so that during the interview I would still sound natural and not rehearsed. I just wanted to have a mental list of events, moments, and thoughtful responses to hypothetical situations to draw on during the interview, so that I would never just draw a blank.
Finally, on interview day, I showed up at the law firm. An aide ushered me into the interview room, which was a huge conference room filled with people. I can’ remember how many, but there were at least six people, some representing Vanderbilt and others representing the Lanier foundation, sitting around the enormous table, with me at the end! It was extremely intimidating, but I tried to hold on to things I had thought about in my interview preparation process. The interviewers were all very nice, though, and complimented my essays. They mostly asked questions that were specific to my resume (for example, I had worked on the student paper, and they asked me what the controversial issue we had covered was). I had actually brought a sample newspaper to show them in a folder, and they asked me briefly about the folder, but I was so nervous I completely forgot I had planned to show them the paper! But in the end, I tried as best I could to smile and answer their questions. And whatever happened, it worked --- I found out a few weeks later by mail that I was chosen to receive the scholarship. |
|
匿名
发表于 2011-3-30 10:39:22
楼主