怎样才能进入MIT？从MIT招生官的文章，重新审视今日之美本申请底层逻辑

 

本文是麻省理工学院招生官负责人Chris Peterson在2010年写的博客，名字叫“Applying Sideways，How to get in to MIT.” 至于Applying Sideways怎样理解，还需要细细品悟。本文暂译为：横向申请。

 

翻出这篇文章，原因有二。

一是因为作为三皮匠留学，五年以来，我们坚持的规划理念与此完全契合，用来强化自我及团队认知；

二是我曾与多位前30大学招生官聊天，以及目睹多位招生官每年暑假来到国内，与学生做模拟面试与材料模拟审核时的对话，深知美本招生逻辑简单而又深刻。我记得有很多家长会觉得招生官说来说去就几个关键词，比如passion/leadership/community，似乎故弄玄虚。甚至时常发问：为什么他们就不愿直接告诉我们一个明确标准，我们可以举所有力量，完成清单中的每一项要求。

 

博客截图

这篇文章写于15年前，也是被学生传阅最多次的Blog之一。重新发出来，希望在当下焦虑与夸张的美本申请环境下，给今日之学生及家长提供一个相信之源！
 

 

以下为Blog原文及翻译。

---

Every fall, like leaves tumbling exhausted from branches, admissions officers follow the winds to the corners of the country to talk to students and hawk their school.

每年秋天，就像从树枝上纷纷坠落的叶片一般，大学招生官们随着秋风去到全国的各个角落，和高中生们谈话并且推销他们的大学。

 

I recently returned from my travel, which took me from Raleigh, North Carolina to Atlanta, Georgia and a dozen places in between over the course of a few days. I visited big high schools and small high schools, cities and villages, and performed what amounted to a thousand-person MIT revival in an Atlanta auditorium.

我最近刚从一趟行程回来，短短几天去了北卡罗莱纳州洛利、乔治亚州亚特兰大、和其间十几个不同的地方。我拜访了大型高中和小型高中、城市和村镇，并且在亚特兰大的一座大礼堂中完成了一场上千人的麻省理工学院”造势”说明会。 

 

Whenever I speak to students or their families, be it on travel or during a campus information session, without fail I am asked the same question.

每当我和学生或是他们的家人们说话时，不论是在旅行的途中或是在校园的说明会中，毫无疑问地我一定会被问到一个相同的问题。 

 

This question may take many forms. What is it that you look for in an applicant?, some say. What makes someone stand out in your pool?, others ask.

这个问题有很多种不同的问法。“你想要在申请人身上看到什么？”有些人这么问。“要怎么样才能从众多申请人中脱颖而出？”其他人这么问。 

 

But these variants – and countless others – are all just versions of the same question, which is this:

How do I get in to MIT? 

然而这些不同的版本—还有数不清的其他的版本—其实都是同一个问题的翻版，那就是：“我如何可以进入麻省理工学院？”

 

And here is what I tell them: 

Apply sideways.

这是我告诉他们的： 

“横向申请。”

 

Let me unpack that. 

让我来分解这个答案。

 

When folks ask me this question, it is generally because they want to come to MIT, and they want me to tell them something they can do that will get them in. Maybe they need to be an Eagle Scout with a 4.0. Or a drum major with a 2400. Maybe they need to solve an open math problem or cure cancer before graduating high school. Just tell me what I need to do, their eyes implore, and I will attack each line item on the list like Ray Lewis cleaning a wideout’s clock on a slant route over the middle.

人们问我这个问题时，通常是因为他们想进麻省理工学院，希望我告诉他们做点什么才能被录取。或许他们得是个绩点4.0的鹰级童子军，或者是个SAT考了2400分的鼓乐队指挥。又或者，他们得在高中毕业前解开一道未解决的数学难题，或是攻克癌症。

“只要告诉我需要做些什么，”他们双眼征询着，“我会像雷·路易斯(史上最佳橄榄球线卫)掰倒那些最容易受攻击的对手般，勇猛、矫捷、精准地完成清单上的每一个项目。” 

 

Terrifying? Yes. Required to be accepted to MIT? No.

很吓人对吧？没错。但这是被麻省理工学院录取的必要条件吗？不是。

 

But it doesn’t work that way. 

Because here’s what you need to understand:

但是这件事情不是像这样的。 

因为以下这才是你所需要了解的： 

 

There is nothing, literally nothing, that in and of itself will get you in to MIT.

“没有哪一件事，真的，没有任何一件事，是可以因为这件事情的本身而令你被麻省理工学院录取的。” 

 

For example: 

A few years ago, we did not admit a student who had created a fully-functional nuclear reactor in his garage.

Think about that for a second. 

比方说，几年前，我们没有录取一位在他家车房造出一座具备完整功能的核子反应炉的学生。 

花一秒钟想想这个事实。 

 

Now, most students, when I tell them this story, become depressed. After all, if the kid who built a freakin’ nuclear reactor didn’t get in to MIT, what chance do they have?

大部分的学生们，当我告诉他们这个故事时，都会变得非常沮丧。毕竟，如果连一个能搭出一座”惊悚”的核子反应炉的孩子都不能被麻省理工学院录取，那他们还有什么机会？

 

But they have it backwards. In fact, this story should be incredibly encouraging for most students. It should be liberating. Why? Because over a thousand other students were admitted to MIT that year, and none of them built a nuclear reactor!

然而他们把事情弄颠倒了。事实上，这个故事对于大部分的学生而言应该是无比”鼓舞人心”的。这应该是彻底的”解脱”。为什么？因为在同一年麻省理工学院录取了超过一千多名其他的学生，其中没有任何一个人搭出了核子反应炉！ 

 

I don’t mean to discourage anything from pursuing incredible science and technology research on their own. If you want to do it, DO IT. But don’t do it because you think it’s your ticket to MIT. And that applies to everything you do – classes, SATs, extracurriculars.

我并不是想阻止任何人独立从事令人惊叹的科学技术研究。如果你想做，那就去做。但不要因为你觉得这是进入麻省理工学院的门票才去做。这一点适用于你所做的所有事情——课程、SAT、课外活动。

 

There is no golden ticket. 

世上没有万能的入场券。

So breathe.

所以，松口气。

 

Now that you are Zen calm, liberated from the pressures of not having cured cancer by your 18th birthday, what should you do if you still want to come to MIT?

现在你可以老僧入定般的冷静下来，并且从你在过十八岁生日前还没有找到治疗癌症的方法的压力中解放出来了，如果你仍然想要到麻省理工学院来上学，你该做些什么呢？ 

 

• Do well in school. Take tough classes. Interrogate your beliefs and presumptions. Pursue knowledge with dogged precision. Because it is better to be educated and intelligent than not.

在学校里好好表现。选难的课程。像审问犯人般地审察你的想法和推论。像狗跟踪一般紧追不舍并顽强地去追求知识。因为受过教育且聪明总比不这样要好。

 

• Be nice. This cannot be overstated. Don’t be wanton or careless or cruel. Treat those around you with kindness. Help people. Contribute to your community.

要友善。这一点再怎么强调也不为过。不要肆意妄为、粗心大意或冷酷无情。善待身边的人。帮助他人。为社区做出贡献。

 

• Pursue your passion. Find what you love, and do it. Maybe it’s a sport. Maybe it’s an instrument. Maybe it’s research. Maybe it’s being a leader in your community. Math. Baking. Napping. Hopscotch. Whatever it is, spend time on it. Immerse yourself in it. Enjoy it.

追寻你的热爱。找到你喜欢的事，然后去做。也许是一项运动，也许是一种乐器，也许是研究，也许是在社区中担任领导者。数学、烘焙、打盹、跳房子。无论是什么，都要花时间在上面，全身心投入，尽情享受。

 

If you do these three things, you will be applying sideways to MIT.

如果你做到这三件事，你会是正在横向地申请麻省理工学院。

 

See: 

你想想看

If you get into MIT, it will be because you followed these steps. If you do well in school, you will be smart and prepared for an MIT education. If you are nice, then your letters of recommendation will convince us that MIT would be a wildly better place with you on campus. And if you pursue your passion, you will have developed a love for and skill at something that helps distinguish you from other applications – something that is your “hook.”

如果你能进入麻省理工学院，那一定是你按这些步骤做了。如果你在学校表现出色，你将是足够聪明的，并且为麻省理工学院的学习做好准备。如果你为人友善，那么你的推荐信会让我们相信，有你在校园里，麻省理工学院会变得好得多。如果你能追求自己的热爱，你就会培养出对某件事的热爱和技能，这会帮助你从其他申请者中脱颖而出——这就是你的“亮点”。

 

But what if you don’t get into MIT?

但如果你没被麻省理工学院录取呢？

 

Well, you may be disappointed. But you learned everything you could, so now you’re smarter; you were a positive member of your community, and you made people happy; and you spent high school doing not what you thought you had to do to get into a selective college, but what you wanted to do more than anything else in the world. In other words, you didn’t waste a single solitary second of your time.

好吧，你也许会感到失望。但你已经学到了所有能学到的东西，所以现在的你更聪明了；你是社区里积极的一员，给人们带来了快乐；而且在高中时期，你没有去做那些你认为为了进入名牌大学必须做的事，而是做了这个世界上你最想做的事。换句话说，你没有浪费自己的一分一秒。

 

Applying sideways, as a mantra, means don’t do things because you think they will help you get into MIT (or Harvard, or CalTech, or anywhere). Instead, you should study hard, be nice, and pursue your passion, because then you will have spent high school doing all the rights things, and, as a complete side effect, you’ll be cast in the best light possible for competitive college admissions.

“横向发展”，作为一个信条，是指不要做那些你自认为会帮助你进入麻省理工学院（或哈佛大学、加州理工学院，或任何学校）的事。相反，你应该努力学习、待人友善、追求自己的热爱，因为这样一来，你在高中阶段就做了所有正确的事，而作为一个完全的附带效果，在竞争激烈的大学录取中，你会以最佳形象展现自己。

 

Sometimes, you really can have the best of both worlds.

有时候，你真的可以两全其美。

 

如果你不相信，那申请就只有玄学。