一、大学申请时，为什么要准备面试 首先得澄清，大学面试不和你的英文水平有关，但跟你的整个人的综合素质和临场应变能力有关。 学生的interview分两种：“friend to friend” 和“interviewer to interviewee”. 大多数大学面试是前一种，在一种相对很轻松的气氛里进行，一般时间大约45分钟，一小时，甚至一个半小时以上。“interviewer to interviewee”方式的面试，则类似于我们大人的求诊面试，有限的时间里给你机关枪似的一串的提问，一般是限制在30分钟以内。后一种面试对高中学生来说，难度相对大的多，很容易造成他们紧张。 不管哪一种形式的面试，孩子们最好都要稍做准备。比方说，你申请哈佛，常规问题：“为什么你想申请上这所学校？”你绝对不能说：因为这学校有名，因为这学校给的助学金比其它学校多。。。那你就完了！你得先上人家学校的网站，了解人家学校的具体情况及办学理念等，根据你所选的专业，看他们能否提供你机会，然后，你才能真的告诉别人为什么你要这所学校：学校的人文环境，学校的办学理念，具体program对你的吸引力，以及学校对你未来career的可能有的影响等来谈。这样，人家一看，你报这所学校不是盲目的，不是赶潮流，人云亦云。 其次，面试的关键是自信。一般无论长短的面试，都会问你起码4个问题左右或以上。在有限的时间里，如果人家问你：“你如何看待美国在国际上扮演的角色的重要性？”即便关心政治的成人，也要思考片刻看如何回答，对吧？更何况一个普通高中学生呢？你不想看到你的孩子在面对这类问题时没有思想准备的表情，和“嗯。。。啊。。。噢。。。”等语气词，你希望他胸有成竹，侃侃而谈，充满自信。 再次，注意谈话技巧，不要心里想什么，就马上倒豆子出来。一个例子，有个面试的人问学生：“你怎么看待同性恋这个问题？”孩子很正直，马上不假思索地说了一串来表达对同性恋的道德上的反对和谴责。等他说完，那个面试他的人平静地告诉他：“对不起，我就是一个同性恋者。”其结果，你怎么想都可以。 我方方面面观察了很久，从一般的general questions，到结合学校的兴趣所在，以及高中生的实际情况，准备了这些面试问题。我不敢说它几年后不会过时，但是，作为现在高中的学生的参考，我相信是可行的。我儿子上面提到的两种面试形式，他都遇上了，一个面试长达2个小时。另一个面试，人家排队的一大堆，每个人只允许有30分钟。面试他的人是一个50出头俄国裔career woman，当地一家大公司的总裁，说话精练，办事果断，雷厉风行。在30分钟里，不停地向你扔球，不给你任何喘息的机会。这种情况，你是需要心理承受能力的。我儿子不lucky，遇到这么tough的面试的人，但是，他有备而去，沉着接球，并勇敢地抛回去。在旧金山的某大学的校友会的面试会里，那天，30个学生，一个接一个，经历了这场某种意义上的拼杀。 我即使准备这些面试题给大家，也不代表每一个孩子都能因此有好的面试结果，因为各人对问题的理解不一样，答案也会不同；怎么地回答，大人指点可以，但其实不能代替回答。代替的回答，是变了味儿的，走了形的，人家听得出来。所以，就此而言，在面试，你的孩子回答，多少可体现出一些他/她的一向的综合素质的。 最后，我要说的是，好的面试，不会增加你孩子的录取机会，但是，糟糕的面试，绝对地，会hurt他/她的被录取的chance. 祝所有的高中生们努力至今，心想事成！ 二、如何做好申请大学的面试 所有的申请大学的面试，原则上高中生们都应该在其谈话深度上进行充分准备，主要要反映出他们的interests, experiences, and goals. 举一些例子吧，来说明如何准备面试。 Question 1: Why This College? 这个问题的重点是要显示出被面试的学生已经对该大学做了很深入地研究，和他/她对于学校而言是一个strong match. 那么，如果该学生给了一个generic response that can be applied to any school，这就不成其为一个好的答案。比方说，人家问你：Why Columbia? 你的回答是：“Columbia has strong academics and is in the middle of New York City”，就太泛泛而论了。 比较好的回答是，这个学生给了一个response that showes some level of research but was not specific about why the school is a good fit for him/her. 就好象这样的回答：“Columbia has very strong science programs and I want to study biology. I could also participate in lab work. There is also so much for students to do because of the many on-campus clubs and organizations. ” 我认为，理想的答案是去show这个学生的极强的enthusiasm for the school，并且给一些specific examples of what the school has to offer and how that directly connects with the students interests. 我如果这样回答，你觉得怎么样？“I love Columbia for so many reasons but the top three are: Access to Research, the Core Curriculum, and an Active Student Body. I hope to pursue my passion for science by working with Dr. Smith, who is working on Sleep Deprivation in Kids. Columbia’s unique core curriculum also really stands out to me. While I want to study in the sciences, literature is my second passion. I want to study Socrates, Emerson and Bronte with the best. And finally, I want to surround myself with an intellectually invigorating student body. As an active member of my school community, I want to get involved in college. At Columbia, the NY Outreach Program will allow me to continue my love of working with young disadvantaged kids. ” Question 2: Why Your Major? 大学一般都很清楚地知道，大多数高中生进入大学后，很可能会change their major，但是，他们仍希望通过这一个问题能看出这个学生已经有一些sense of direction. 换言之，it is okay to be undecided, but the student should still describe what majors are appealing. 于是，如果一个学生仅仅只是states a major but does not state why that major appeals to him/her，就像“I think I want to major in Chemistry” 之类的 ，显然这种答案是不能令人满意的。 较好的答案标准是，这个学生可以states a major without truly understanding what the major is but can support it with some activities. 举一个例子，如果该面试的学生这样回答：“I want to major in something science oriented. Currently, I am considering Chemistry because it is a good combination of my passion for science and math.” 我认为，这还凑合吧。 优秀的答案，其标准应该是，这个学生should demonstrate thorough knowledge of a major, evidence of some pursuit of knowledge in that subject area and can connect it to the school well. 比方说，或许这样地回答关于major的问题：“Chemistry is most likely what I will major in. I have taken two Chemistry courses at my school and scored a 5 on the AP test. I love Chemistry because it is the basis of almost everything that we use. This summer I worked with the Earth Science Department at Stanford where I helped a graduate student study the formation of ice on Antarctica. I had to use many of the chemical principles I learned, such as the difference between Oxygen 7 and Oxygen 8, to help date the dirt samples. I also realized that I love working in a lab, even though it can be tedious at times. MIT also has one of the best Chemistry Labs and the new Calorimeter is supposed to be the best in the world for dating samples. I want to be in that environment and learn from the best.” Question 3: What do you do just for Fun? 在我参观MIT的时候，他们的admissions officer告诉我，他们最引以为骄傲的是，他们的申请表和所有其它的学校最不一样的地方在于他们的第一篇essay就是问你，在业余的时间，不学习的时候，你喜欢做什么？那个Admissions officer对我说，很多亚裔的家长把孩子都包装得几乎完美，但千篇一律，缺乏个性。他们就是要通过这一问题，想看看学生们真正的本我。MIT不是光要high score的学生，他们更看中学生的创造意识和创造能力。Caltech, MIT的功课，绝对比Harvard的 要难念得多。在这两所学校里，零点几的课程需要你的脑子转得飞快！他们举例告诉我，有一个学生，在自家的后院里，按照所学的物理等原理，用干稻草做了一架飞机模型；还有一个学生，在自家的二楼卧房里，用电脑编写了一个洗衣程序，他不用下楼，通过他的电脑发出的alarm的叫声，便可知道他们楼下的洗衣房的洗衣机已经把衣服洗完了。MIT招生的人说：“我们需要什么样的学生？我们就需要这样的学生! ” 所以，那些high-end schools 问你“What do you do just for Fun ”这样的问题，其目的是要get to know the student outside of academics. In another word, what will the student bring to campus other than a tran and resume? 如果一个面试的学生数说一些他/她所做的事情，就是像watching TV or just hanging out with friends等，可想而知，人家会怎么评判你了。 对这一答案OK的标准是，面试的学生listed off extracurricular activities but did not mention why they are FUN. 最perfect的回答是，面试的学生应该show出自己的热情、热爱for things he/she does in free time. FUN things were not just extracurricular activities but also hobbies such as making models, running marathons, singing karaoke, etc. 就像我上面提到的MIT的那些学生所狂热从事的爱好一样。 Question 4: What are your three greatest strengths? 其实这是给你一个机会highlight what you want to the admissions committee. 你的回答应该是尝试着给人一种很thoughtful和nique的印象。千万别说：“I don’t really know what they are. Can we come back to this question? ” 如果你不能够很快地come up一个answer的话，这是很糟糕的一件事。 如果你只是给了3个（或n个）很generic attributes without providing details on how those attributes have been demonstrated，it’s fine but not perfect. 好像“My three greatest strengths are: hard-working, smart, and funny ”之类的。 The great response is that the Student mentions 3 attributes （or 3+ attributes） and describes where each comes from and where they have exemplified it. 举例，好像这样的一种回答：“My first strength is my compassion. I have been a peer counselor for the past 3 years and I have realized that I am able to connect with those that call. Many times people just want someone to listen to them without giving advice right away. I feel that, for the most part, I can find that line by just tuning into what the other person needs. My second strength is my ability to lead. For me leadership is not just forcing people to do something that I want but being able to build a common goal and inspiring others to reach it. As Vice-President of the Humanity Club at my school, it was hard to get people to volunteer their entire weekend to build a house because my classmates are so busy. But I created a poster board that told the story of a family that lost their house because of a fire. They had to live on the street and Habitat was helping them. I presented this family’s need to my club and also promised lots of pizza and soda for coming out to help. We took lots of pictures and posted them on the website and our school paper wrote a story about it. The next time the opportunity to build came up，we had more than enough volunteers. And my third strength is my curiosity. I love to ask questions and sometimes these questions lead to more questions than answers. But my curiosity is my drive to learn. I stay up late working on Physics problem sets not because I need to get them done, but because I truly want to understand how vectors are used to build bridges. ” Question 5: What are your favorite activities? 这是大学给你一个机会，让你去highlight你的1-3个activities and demonstrate their importance. 如果你仅仅list off several activities without showing why they are important and meaningful，这不算一个好的response. | 
