email比較長(cháng)，講的也非常全面，看完以后對我的幫助也很大。尤其是essay和ps方面。很多中國學(xué)生覺(jué)得這兩個(gè)不是很重要，隨便寫(xiě)寫(xiě)或者套中介的模板就行。我的看法是千萬(wàn)千萬(wàn)千萬(wàn)不要這么做，錄取委員會(huì )的教授們每天閱申請無(wú)數，一個(gè)平凡的ps和雷同的模板式eassy他們一眼就能看出來(lái)，中國學(xué)生的gpa和tofel gre gmat成績(jì)一般都不差，要想讓自己stand out，核心競爭力我認為就在履歷，ps和essay上。 下附翻譯內容，我翻譯的很粗糙，盡量看原文吧。
Hi Cassandra!
I've gone and written you a long, long email. It has helped me to clarify some of my ideas about business school, and I thought it might be interesting to send to some of my friends in the future if they ever consider business school. I haven't discussed EMT at Stern specifically, because although that is my planned major, I won't start until September so I can't tell you much yet. I did, however, just finish the whole application process, so I am very familiar with that and have described my experience in detail below. So apologies about the length and lack of specifics on Stern, but I hope this is helpful.
The preamble:
You've got a long, long time to prepare, so my first piece of advice would be not to think too far ahead. I know you probably hear this all the time, but the most important thing for your application is that you follow your interests, study what you're interested in, and do what you do best and do it well. It also means making sure that you are well-rounded, that you take time to pursue hobbies and activities outside of class, and that you remember to push your boundaries and do some activities that will make you grow as a person.
One of the big differences between Business School and other graduate schools is that they aren't necessarily looking only at academic achievement. B-Schools want to pick a class of well-rounded, experienced people from diverse and interesting backgrounds. This makes for a much more equitable (or sometimes much more "random") selection process. Unlike Law School, where a certain GPA and LSAT score can almost guarantee admittance, with B-School, you often find people with lower grades or lower scores but really strong experience are admitted to top programs. It can be very difficult to predict or control where you stand in the admissions process.
With that general material out of the way:
Business School applications are all about "telling your story." The schools want to see that you have a clear, organized plan for your life, and that you have a very specific idea about how business school fits into this plan and why. Of course, very very few people are lucky enough in their early or mid-twenties to have anything remotely resembling an organized life plan. Therefore, business schools become all about the "story:" how do you shape, twist, make up, and imagine your experiences and desires into a coherent argument to present to B-Schools.
Some small basic things can help. Make sure you have enough Math, Economics or Statistics courses on your transcript to demonstrate that you are good with numbers and won't struggle with the academic side of B-school. The level of Math in business school is pretty basic, so even just taking one or two classes in these areas would probably be enough to show you have the required skills. If you are planning to major in Economics or Science, don't worry about this. But if you are a humanities student, consider taking a Micro Economics class or something similar. This will also demonstrate that you had an early interest in the Business field.
Following on that, you should try to demonstrate an interest in economics or business, or in how they relate to your chosen field of interest. If you are interested in Media and Entertainment, sit down and try to work out how going to business school would help you advance in that field. It's important to remember that B-Schools see themselves as a means to an end, not an end in themselves. They want students who are ambitious and plan to use business school to get them ahead in their chosen fields. They DO NOT want students who are applying to business school because they want the credential on their record, or because they don't know what they want to do and need more time to figure it out. That being said, B-School is full of those kind of people (who have no idea what they want to do yet), but all of them managed to tell a compelling story on their applications about how business school was the right place for them and how it would help them in their careers.
Try to display initiative and become a leader in an area that interests you. Try to become the head of a club, the captain of a sports team, the editor of a magazine, or the director of a movie. B-schools will look for that kind of engagement and "management" experience. They want to know that you are good at interacting with people, that you have some "leadership" skills, and that you are invested enough in what you do to want to take ownership of it.
Now, about work experience. It used to be the case that very few students came straight from undergrad programs into Business School. Although schools now seem to be admitting more and more students straight out of college, it is still rare and you may find yourself struggling with many parts of the application. Each application asks specific essay questions about "leadership" and personal experience, and the more varied and interesting your responses, the better your essays. Since most undergrad programs are similar, it will therefore be harder for you, as an undergrad, to put the same amount of color and diversity into your application as someone who has been out of school for a few years. It will also be difficult for your to argue convincingly that you understand how business school fits into your career, not having begun your career.
I would strongly advise looking for a summer internship at a company or NGO in the field that you are interested in during college. I would also strongly strongly advise trying to find a job in your field for at least 2 years after college before considering school. For many people, Business School IS NOT an intelligent choice. If you already have a great job at a company you like, with opportunity for upward mobility, why spend $200,000 for a school that at best can only send you back into the same field with a small promotion? I think business school is best for those who are interested in changing careers, or who have reached a ceiling in their upward momentum and need business school to help them take that next step. I feel the situation is slightly different in China, where graduate education is becoming more and more of a basic threshold for employment, but in the US it is certainly worth trying to succeed on your own before spending a lot of money to do so.
Those few years after college will also give you a chance to become a more well-rounded person, to travel places you've always wanted to travel, to see things you've always wanted to see, and to take some risks that might be harder later in life. Start a company, write a book, move to Peru--even if you fail, you will be demonstrating to schools that you have a passion and are independent and ambitious about pursuing it. And if you succeed or discover something new that you really love, it will either give you a great story to tell on your application or maybe even make you so successful you don't need to apply at all!
If you finish college and you have a really strong idea that B-School is the place for you, then by all means, apply. Consider looking into the growing number of special scholarship programs B-Schools offer for students coming straight from undergrad programs.
Basics about the application:
Business schools considers the following: your transcript, your GMATs or GREs, your essays and your recommendations.
Transcript: pretty simple here, get good grades! But also remember that grades aren't quite as important to B-School as other grad schools. The average GPA is usually somewhere around 3.5.
GMATs/GREs: Personally, I took the GMATs, but GREs are an option too. My understanding is that the GMATs' math section is a little harder, while the GREs' verbal section is a little harder. Take whichever you feel most comfortable with but make sure you study hard and do well, as this is by far the easiest part of the application.
Essays: And this is the hardest part of the application. I applied to five schools and had to write somewhere around 40 essays by the end of the process. These will take endless drafts and revisions. Since you are thinking so many years ahead, my advice would be to start practicing now. Not seriously, yet, but take a moment every once in a while to jot down essay ideas. Try to remember the important moments in your life, what you felt and how they changed you. What is especially meaningful to you and why? The more you practice, the better a writer you'll become. The same subjects that make good essays might make good blog postings, diary entries, or even publications in a student journal somewhere. Consider those options as a way to practice. When you start applying for real, make sure you send your essays to be read by friends who are in business school already. They will know best what makes a good application essay. The more people who read your work, the better it will be.
Recommendations: B-schools discourage applicants from using academic references, although this must not apply for undergrads. Nevertheless, consider looking for a mentor at a summer job or internship who might help advise your career and eventually write you a recommendation. The schools want to see who you are as a person, as a worker and as a colleague, not just as a student.
About applying and the process:
Start early, in January or February before the year you want to apply. Take the GMATs and get them out of the way, giving yourself time to retake them if necessary. If you are really well prepared, you could take both the GMAT and the GRE, and send only your best score, that way avoiding having to send two scores if you mess up the first time. Start researching schools and get an idea about what makes them different. Although B-schools all claim to be unique, I found them to be quite similar in terms of on campus offerings. One big difference, however, can be what sort of access they give you off campus. Make sure each school is known by recruiters in your chosen field and that they have a good track record in placing students in that area.
Start your essays early so you can get several rounds of revisions done for each. Your goal is to have everything wrapped up by the end of July so you can make the Round 1 application deadline for every top school on your list. This will give you a slightly better chance of being accepted and also give you the opportunity to apply to safety schools if the first round doesn't go well. Keep in mind that the application process is quite time intensive, and most people I know only applied to a small handful of schools, like five or six.
Try and visit as many schools as you can to see if you would enjoy life on that campus and in order to become familiar with specifics of the schools that you can use in your essays. Try to meet and talk to students, either on campus or through your school friends and alumni, as those one-on-one conversations can become useful material in your applications.
Then the waiting begins. You sit and wait for interview invitations. An invitation to interview is a very good sign, it means the school likes you, is strongly considering you, and is now ready to meet you. Most top schools require interviews in person in order to offer you a place in the class. To prepare for these, keep working on your story. Why Business School? Why Now? Why at School X? Call on your research into the subtle differences between each program, and your experiences with students from those schools and during visits. You usually have the opportunity to attend a class or two on the day of your interview, so if you schedule your interview for the late afternoon, it will give you a chance to look around campus and have a very fresh impression in your mind when you go into your meeting.
Try not to get discouraged. The waiting process can be long, and you may be rejected from schools you were confident about or accepted to schools you never dreamed would take you. Try not to think about it too much and try not to compare yourself to others. In the end, it is your unique strengths that will get you into school, not your similarities to the rest of the class. Just because someone has a low GMAT score doesn't mean they don't have a high GPA, amazing extracurriculars, or are just a fantastic and charismatic storyteller. It's impossible to know the details of everyone's application, so don't try. You will be a happier and less-stressed applicant if you try to put the waiting out of your mind and focus on the things you can control, like preparing for interviews.
That being said, it's impossible not to be curious and I did find a few useful websites where applicants posted their experiences in interviews, including the questions they were asked, which can help you prepare.
In conclusion:
1) Be true to yourself, figure out what you're interested in, good at, and passionate about and pursue those things aggressively. This more than anything will make you a strong candidate.
2) Begin trying to explain how B-School fits into your career plan. Do you need B-School to succeed? Why? Why would School X help you more than School Y? Play the Devil's advocate, force yourself to come up with strong answers to these questions.
3) Prepare and apply early. The more time you give yourself, the better your application will be.
4) Don't let worrying about Business School make you forget to enjoy college. Enjoy your undergraduate experience and try to focus on getting the most out of that for now. Happy people with fun stories make good classmates.
Hope these thoughts help. Best of luck with the next two years and good luck if you decide to apply to school. I'll just be graduating then, but if you have further questions, you know where to find me.
Yours,
Andrew
我已經(jīng)過(guò)去了紐約大學(xué)，給你寫(xiě)了這封很長(cháng)很長(cháng)的電子郵件。它幫助我澄清我對商學(xué)院的一些想法，我想這有可能幫助到我的那些未來(lái)考慮申請商學(xué)院的朋友。 我現在無(wú)法具體的討論EMT專(zhuān)業(yè)，因為直到九月我才開(kāi)始正式上課。但是，我剛剛完成了整個(gè)申請過(guò)程，我對此非常熟悉，下面詳細地描述了我的經(jīng)驗。
序言：
你有一個(gè)很長(cháng)很長(cháng)的準備時(shí)間，所以我的第一條建議是不要想太多太遙遠的事情。我知道你也許經(jīng)常聽(tīng)到這句話(huà) ，你的申請首先應該基于你的興趣 ，學(xué)習你感興趣的專(zhuān)業(yè)，做你擅長(cháng)的事情 ，才能做得很好。這也意味著(zhù)要確保你是完善充實(shí)的，你需要時(shí)間來(lái)追求的愛(ài)好和課外活動(dòng)，并且你需要記得你要不斷地向外探索，冒險。這將讓你成長(cháng)為一個(gè)人。
商學(xué)院和其他研究生院的最大區別之一是，他們不一定看學(xué)術(shù)成果。商學(xué)院要挑選一些完善充實(shí)的，來(lái)自不同背景的、擁有有趣的經(jīng)驗的人。這使得整個(gè)申請更為公平（或者有時(shí)更“隨機”）。 不像法學(xué)院，在那里一份漂亮的成績(jì)單，一個(gè)高的Lsat成績(jì)一定能保證你的錄取，在商學(xué)院， 你常常會(huì )發(fā)現分數較低 ，但是有豐富經(jīng)驗的學(xué)生，他們也能被頂尖商學(xué)院的錄取。所以，在申請過(guò)程中，預測你的處境是非常困難的。
基本材料：
商學(xué)院的申請，重點(diǎn)在于 “講述你的故事”。學(xué)校希望看到你是一個(gè)對未來(lái)事業(yè)有明確計劃的人，他們渴望了解你為什么要申請商學(xué)院，商學(xué)院如何成就你的未來(lái)事業(yè)。 當然，極少數人，能夠很幸運的20歲出頭，就能將自己的人生事業(yè)規劃完整。 因此，商學(xué)院是一個(gè)你能夠重塑自我的地方。
請確保你有數學(xué)，經(jīng)濟學(xué)或統計學(xué)課程背景，你的成績(jì)單應該足以證明你有良好的數學(xué)運用能力，不會(huì )讓數學(xué)成為你今后在商學(xué)院的絆腳石。 商學(xué)院對數學(xué)的要求很基本，所以，如果你是經(jīng)濟學(xué)專(zhuān)業(yè)，相信數學(xué)對你來(lái)講不是問(wèn)題。
在此之后，你應該嘗試證明，你對經(jīng)濟或者商業(yè)的興趣。 重要的是要記住，商學(xué)院將自身定位成達成目的的手段，而不是目的本身。他們希望錄取那些雄心勃勃、計劃利用商學(xué)院為自己的事業(yè)推波助瀾的學(xué)生。 他們不希望學(xué)生申請商學(xué)院，只是因為他們看中名校的一紙文憑，他們也不會(huì )錄取那些對自己的人生毫無(wú)規劃，希望通過(guò)商學(xué)院的這兩年來(lái)尋找目標的人。 商學(xué)院中充斥著(zhù)這樣的人：他們也許不知道未來(lái)究竟要干什么，但是，每個(gè)人都能講一個(gè)完整的引人入勝的故事，一個(gè)關(guān)于他們未來(lái)規劃的故事。
嘗試在你感興趣的領(lǐng)域，成為領(lǐng)導者。嘗試成為一個(gè)俱樂(lè )部的頭，一個(gè)運動(dòng)隊的隊長(cháng)，一本雜志的編輯，或者一個(gè)電影導演。商學(xué)院將尋找那些接觸過(guò)“管理”理念，具有管理經(jīng)驗的人， 他們想知道你是否和他人互動(dòng)良好，你是否有一些“領(lǐng)導”的技巧，你是否在你所領(lǐng)導的領(lǐng)域付出了組夠多的努力 。
現在，我們來(lái)談?wù)劰ぷ鹘?jīng)驗。曾經(jīng)，極少的本科生能畢業(yè)之后直接進(jìn)入商學(xué)院 。雖然現在商學(xué)院似乎越來(lái)越多的錄取了本科畢業(yè)生，但是他們所占的比例還很小。 你會(huì )發(fā)現你在申請過(guò)程中會(huì )遇到很多麻煩，因為每一個(gè)申請的作文題目，基本都是關(guān)于領(lǐng)導力和個(gè)人經(jīng)驗的。你的答案越不普通，越具有多元性，就越好。作為一個(gè)本科生， 由于大部分本科課程都是相似的，因此回答這樣的問(wèn)題會(huì )讓你很頭疼，比起那些有成堆經(jīng)驗的已經(jīng)工作的人，你的答案更加不容易出彩。你的答案也很可能是令人難以信服的，因為甚至在你開(kāi)始你的職業(yè)生涯之前，你就要大談特談職業(yè)發(fā)展。
我強烈建議你在一家你感興趣的公司或者非政府組織實(shí)習， 我也強烈強烈建議你在你感興趣的領(lǐng)域工作至少兩年再考慮申請商學(xué)院。 對于很多人來(lái)說(shuō)，商學(xué)院是不是一個(gè)明智的選擇。如果你已經(jīng)有一個(gè)公司，你還想往上級流動(dòng)，為什么你要選擇花費20萬(wàn)美元，而商學(xué)院畢業(yè)以后，你很可能在你原有的行業(yè)內僅僅只有小步提升。 我認為商學(xué)院尤其適合那些有興趣轉行，或者已經(jīng)達到了事業(yè)的瓶頸，需要重回課堂來(lái)為他們充電的人。 我覺(jué)得美國的情況略有中國，在中國研究生教育越來(lái)越普及，成了就業(yè)的基本門(mén)檻，但在美國，在花費一大筆學(xué)費進(jìn)入商學(xué)院之前，先拼搏一番看你有沒(méi)有可能成功是很值得并且很必要的。
大學(xué)畢業(yè)后的數年也將讓你有機會(huì )成為一個(gè)更完善的人，去你一直想去的地方旅游， 看你一直渴望看的東西，冒險一下也無(wú)妨，盡管失敗會(huì )把你的生活推向一個(gè)較為艱難的境地，但是你還年輕，你的年齡給了你選擇激情的權利。你可以啟動(dòng)一個(gè)公司，寫(xiě)了一本書(shū)，搬到秘魯，俄羅斯，南非 - 即使你失敗了，你將展示各學(xué)校，你有一種激情，一種對獨立的追求，你雄心勃勃。如果你成功了，你好到了你真正能投入進(jìn)去的事業(yè)，也許你已經(jīng)不再需要商學(xué)院為你推波助瀾了，你已經(jīng)很成功了。
如果你讀完大學(xué)，你有一個(gè)非常強烈的想法，商學(xué)院是你渴望進(jìn)入的地方，那么不惜一切代價(jià)，通過(guò)各種手段，去申請。如今商學(xué)院提供給本科生越來(lái)越多的特殊獎學(xué)金。
商學(xué)院會(huì )參考：你的成績(jì)單，你的GMAT或GRE ，你的文章和你的推薦信。
成績(jì)單：這個(gè)很簡(jiǎn)單，取得好成績(jì)！但也請記住，成績(jì)不是很重要，因為其他學(xué)校的畢業(yè)生到商學(xué)院， 通常的平均GPA是3.5左右。
GMAT和GRE：就個(gè)人而言，我選擇了GMAT ，但GRE也是一種選擇。我的理解是，GMAT的數學(xué)部分有點(diǎn)難度，GRE的的詞匯部分是有點(diǎn)困難。選擇最擅長(cháng)的 ，但要確保你努力學(xué)習，做好，因為這是迄今為止申請中最容易的部分。
Essay：這是申請中最困難的部分。我申請了五所學(xué)校，在所有申請中寫(xiě)了約40篇文章 。我不斷地打草稿，不斷地修改 。既然你現在還有這么多年時(shí)間， 我的意見(jiàn)將是現在開(kāi)始練習。在任何你有靈感和想法的時(shí)候記錄下來(lái)它們，記錄你生命中重要的時(shí)刻，以及它們是如何改變你的。什么對你有特別意義，為什么？你練習得越多，就會(huì )成為一個(gè)越好的作家。這些文章可以是博客，可以是日記，甚至可以是發(fā)表在校園刊物上的文章。一定要把你的Essay發(fā)送給那些已經(jīng)被商學(xué)院錄取的朋友們讀一讀，他們比誰(shuí)都清楚什么樣的文章是商學(xué)院的教授們想看的，你發(fā)送給越多的人閱讀修改，你的勝算也越大。
建議：商學(xué)院不主張學(xué)生把學(xué)術(shù)成就拿來(lái)作為參考，顯然，對于本科畢業(yè)生，這一點(diǎn)也不盡然。不過(guò)，找一位你在實(shí)習中、工作中遇到的能給你的職業(yè)規劃提出真切意見(jiàn)的上級或雇主給你寫(xiě)推薦信，是非常有分量的。學(xué)校想看看誰(shuí)是你作為一個(gè)人，作為一個(gè)雇員和一個(gè)同事表現如何，不僅是一個(gè)學(xué)生。
關(guān)于申請和過(guò)程：
年初開(kāi)始，你應該在你想申請的前一年的1月或2月就開(kāi)始準備所有材料。早考GMAT,讓它不要成為擋在你申請過(guò)程中的攔路石 ，留給自己充足的時(shí)間準備其他更難的事項。 如果你真的準備好了，你可以GMAT 和GRE都考，如果你搞砸了其中一個(gè)，你完全可以不寄給學(xué)校你考的不好的那項成績(jì)。然后你應開(kāi)始研究學(xué)校，清楚沒(méi)一所你想申請的學(xué)學(xué)校的特色。 雖然商學(xué)院都聲稱(chēng)是獨特的，但是我發(fā)現他們在校提供的課程十分相似，真正不同的是，不同學(xué)校能提供的校外的資源接口。確保你選擇的學(xué)校，在你未來(lái)的雇主那里有良好的口碑。
早日開(kāi)始你的文章能給你提供充足的準備時(shí)間， 你的目標是在7月底讓一切準備材料就緒，以便你可以趕上所有的一流學(xué)校的申請截止日期 ，這也能提高你被好學(xué)校錄取的可能性 ，如果你的第一輪申請不理想，你還有機會(huì )選擇一些退一檔的學(xué)校。 請記住，申請過(guò)程是很耗費時(shí)間的，而且大多數我認識的人只申請了五六所學(xué)校。
嘗試去那些你想申請的學(xué)?？纯?，看看你是否能適應并且享受你在那里的生活和學(xué)習。嘗試和在校生見(jiàn)面并且交談，因為那些單獨的面談經(jīng)歷能夠成為很好的寫(xiě)作申請的材料。
然后，等待開(kāi)始。你等待著(zhù)你的面試邀請 。面試邀請是一個(gè)非常好的跡象， 這意味著(zhù)學(xué)校喜歡你，也會(huì )考慮你，現在準備來(lái)面試你。最熱門(mén)的學(xué)校在接受你之前要求親自面談， 為了準備這些，你的故事應該繼續。為什么商學(xué)院？為什么是現在？為什么是X校？一定要清楚每個(gè)學(xué)校和每個(gè)項目之間的細節差異。
盡量不要氣餒，等待的過(guò)程是十分漫長(cháng)的，也盡量不要想太多，盡量不和別人比較。 最后，為你敲開(kāi)商學(xué)院大門(mén)的，是你的獨特之處，不是你有別人也有的共性。有些人GMAT成績(jì)不高，并不意味著(zhù)它在學(xué)校時(shí)候成績(jì)不好，也不意味他沒(méi)有卓絕的能力，也不意味著(zhù)它不是一個(gè)會(huì )講魅力故事的人。你不可能知道每個(gè)申請人的細節，于是不如花時(shí)間在那些你可以掌控的地方上，比如好好準備面試。
總之：
1）忠實(shí)于自己，找出你的興趣和擅長(cháng)所在，記住，你的興趣和你的充滿(mǎn)激情的追求，比任何其他條件能讓你成為一個(gè)更為出色的競選人。
2想清楚你需要商學(xué)院么？為什么？為什么是A學(xué)校，不是B學(xué)校？商學(xué)院能給你今后的事業(yè)哪些幫助。我知道這樣的問(wèn)題也許很難，但你無(wú)法回避，逼迫自己去回答吧。
3）準備并盡早提出申請。你給自己的時(shí)間越多，越可能成功。
4）不要讓對商學(xué)院成為你享受現在大學(xué)生活的沉重負擔，抓住現在能有的一切并且好好利他，做快樂(lè )有趣完善的人。
希望這些想法幫助。希望你未來(lái)好運，如果你大學(xué)畢業(yè)以后決定申請的話(huà)，到那時(shí)我已經(jīng)從紐約大學(xué)畢業(yè)了。如果你還有更多的問(wèn)題，你知道去哪里找我。
此致，
安德魯
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