Study in the United States: The “hidden rules” of the U.S. admissions process

The current era in which studying abroad is becoming more and more popular has also become an era where misunderstandings are rife. Many students who are eager to attend prestigious foreign schools often believe many unconfirmed rumors as the Bible. In fact, even in a country with strict admissions procedures like the United States, there are still many "hidden rules".

1. Academics? Hidden rules?

The academic effort in the United States is more rigorous than in China

In the United States, is it just a matter of being a good social expert? Can a person who is a play expert become an elite in the school? Do all American colleges and universities have a large proportion of "play" elements? In many public opinions and rumors, American colleges and universities are often equated with "play". This is a misunderstanding of the American academic environment.

In the United States, the intensity and pressure of "curriculum" such as information searching, self-study, discussion, open-book examinations, and social surveys are much higher than the "rote memorization" of Chinese students. Whether in college or high school, the United States The academic intensity is very high.

It is never easy to advance from middle school or graduate from university. Students will spend a lot of time and effort doing research in all aspects in order to complete their studies. A great feature of the American education system is that it allows students to use their imaginations and actively think and innovate. But when putting it into practice, whether it is a paper, a speech or an experiment, students must rigorously collect data and historical materials to verify their opinions. Therefore, students spend a lot of time doing questionnaires and looking up information online or in the library. ?

2. What are the hidden rules when writing application documents?

Don’t use words like “orphanage, charity” anymore

In recent years, many students In their application files, they all showed that they had participated in charity activities in orphanages, which made American admissions officers feel like they were "putting on a show." These frequently appearing words may have become "taboo words" in the minds of American admissions officials.

Document writing should be consistent with the students themselves. Each student's document can be personalized and the highlights are diverse. We encourage students to participate in the writing of documents and create together. It is important that the essay corresponds to the student's own real-life experiences.

3. Interview? Hidden rules?

Personality? Don’t show it indiscriminately

Many international students think that American examiners like students with “personality”, so in They are very exaggerated in their words and deeds, and even use "alternative" ways to gain their position. In fact, in the United States, examiners also favor the "golden mean". They also don't like nonsensical exaggeration of personality, words and deeds. Humility, politeness, and gentleness are all Chinese. People's traditional qualities are still what they value.

Although the United States is a country that respects "minority", certain "minority" words and deeds are very "taboo", such as race, cultural discrimination, Nazis, religious prejudice, sexual orientation, etc. . In short, don't go to extremes. Personality is a self-expression within the conventional political consciousness, and it is an expression of temperament.

4. Culture? Hidden rules?

What Americans like? Chinese STYLE? students

What do prestigious American schools hope that Chinese students will bring? Some have already been chosen by Chinese students The things that are thrown away may be the qualities that American examiners value. For example, Chinese students’ academic research spirit, repetitive execution ability, traditional etiquette quality, etc. When applying to American universities, you must consciously retain traces of Chinese culture. American universities want you to bring something useful and special to the school. American universities don't care about Westernized things. No matter how Westernized you are, you will just imitate something from the East. The modesty, implicitness, restraint, and thousands of years of cultural connotation in Chinese culture are all the charm of Chinese culture. In other words, Chinese students must maintain "CHINASTYLE" rather than "AMERICASTYLE".

5. Favor? Hidden rules?

?Flattery? It also works in American recruitment interviews

In fact, the phenomenon of renqing is not unique to China. There is also a human element to the recruitment and recruitment process. Therefore, during the interview, how a candidate or applicant can establish a harmonious and relaxed chat environment and how to use his/her social skills to be familiar with others can also become potential bonus factors.

Therefore, how to please the examiner and flatter the examiner appropriately are also compulsory skills.

The American favor should be to pay more attention or caution on top of professional ethics, and it is precisely this attention or caution that adds a lot of possibilities for success. How to grasp and make good use of it is an intangible thing that can only be understood but cannot be expressed. In other words, whether the first few words of a meeting can open the door to communication is the most successful ability in an interview and in almost all situations.

6. Scores? Hidden rules?

Do Americans also care? Scores?

In the current study abroad context, prestigious American schools are often shaped by public opinion. A place that doesn’t care about test scores at all. In fact, this leads to another misunderstanding. In fact, in American schools, whether your report card is A+ or C- will directly affect the evaluation of you by parents, teachers and classmates. Problems such as low self-esteem, autism, and isolation from others due to low scores are also widely distributed in the United States.

7. Ranking? Hidden rules?

Professional liberal arts colleges have higher employment rates than prestigious universities.

In the United States, some small professional liberal arts colleges actually have It is more cost-effective than those "Ivy League schools" and "TOP10 schools". Because these are small and medium-sized colleges with accurate positioning, strong professionalism, and relatively concentrated hardware and software in a certain specialized field. They are good at cultivating high-end professionals, and the employment rate of these schools is even higher than that of traditional famous schools.

8. Degree conferring? Hidden rules?

The elimination rate of famous American schools is very high

Many international students like to chase famous schools blindly, but they don’t know that there are also certain degrees awarded by famous schools? Hidden rules? This "hidden rule" is the elimination indicator for prestigious schools. Taking key disciplines such as the Department of Economics at the University of Chicago as an example, the elimination rate is nearly 30%, which is also a guarantee of the high quality of graduates. The aura of graduates from prestigious American schools comes with huge risks.

There are also many names for the basis and quantitative standards for elimination of elite schools in the United States. It involves multiple indicators such as subject scores, extracurricular activities, social activity, speaking ability, professionalism, and paper level. The way to evaluate these indicators is not simply to take an exam, but through a variety of direct or indirect assessment methods, such as The reputation of classmates can also be a factor in the overall score fluctuation. This is a new "strict in, easy out" model in addition to the well-known "easy in, easy out" and "strict in, easy out" models. It is a warning to prospective international students: In the United States, it is absolutely impossible to enter a prestigious school. It's equal to a successful graduation.