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最近Ross商学院也公布了2014-2015年秋季入学的essay question。与去年相比，essy题目缩减为两篇，字数也由原来的950字减为800字。
The University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business joined a growing number of top business schools in cutting back on the required essays and recommendation letters to apply for admission to its full-time MBA program. Ross said that for the coming year it will required two essays instead of three with a word count of 800 compared with 950 last year.
The school also said it will need only a single letter of recommendation this year and will ask recommenders two common questions that several other highly selective schools have adopted from Harvard and Stanford. This follows a report by Poets&Quants that many top schools are moving toward a common recommendation system to reduce the burden on many recommenders and lead to more honest appraisals of candidates.
Ross商学院今年只要求申请人递交一份推荐信，要求推荐人回答两个经典问题即可。近几年众多商学院为了从推荐人那里得到更多有关申请人的真实信息，一直在尽力减少推荐人的负担，改善推荐信系统。
So far, both Stanford and Dartmouth have eliminated one essay question each this year to make it easier for prospective students to apply to their schools. Ever since Harvard Business School started the trend two years ago, one school after another has followed suit, lowering required word counts, chopping essays, and even letters of recommendation. Stanford this year went to two recommendations from three.
目前，斯坦福商学院和塔克商学院都削减了一道essay题目，让申请人更容易准备自己的申请材料。 今年从哈佛商学院开始，相继公布essay题目的商学院都在减少essay限定字数，削减essay数量，甚至是推荐信。今年斯坦福商学院就将推荐信由三封封缩减为两封。
‘WE’RE CHANGING IT UP’ “We’re changing it up this year,” said Soojin Kwon, director of admissions, in a blog post. The school recently told The Wall Street Journal that its applications are down 7.7% up until this time compared to last year. Ross said it received 2,443 applications for the Class of 2016 versus 2,647 a year earlier. It was the single biggest decline reported by any of the top U.S. schools that gave data to the Journal.
Ross商学院的招生主管Soojin Kwon 在博客里面曾写道：我们今年正在尝试有所改变。学校曾告诉华尔街日报，2014年秋季入学申请人数与2013年相比，减少了7.7%左右。申请人数由2647降低到2443.
Ross商学院今年的essay题目如下：每篇字数最多400字
• What are you most proud of professionally and why? What did you learn from that experience? • What are you most proud of personally and why? How does it shape who you are today?
“Our goal with these new questions is that we’ll get a sense of who you are, how you think about yourself and how you process your experiences,” wrote Kwon. “The range of responses can be quite wide – from an accomplishment to a challenge or difficult situation that you overcame or a characteristic about yourself. There isn’t a ‘right’ or ‘preferred’ type of response. Applicants often ask how they can differentiate themselves. The essays are the best way to do it. Your undergraduate school and major may be similar to another applicant’s. Your career path and goals may be similar to another applicant’s. But your experiences and what you take away from them will be unique.”
Kwon在博客里面曾写道：Ross商学院今年的essay题目目的在于希望了解申请人对自己的看法，申请人是如何慢慢成长起来的，怎样的人生经历塑造了现在的自己。每个申请人对这些题目都会有自己的看法，提交的essay也肯定会五花八门的，有晒成就的，有分享遇到的挑战或困境的，有介绍自己性格特点的…..没有所谓的preferred 回复。申请人需要在动笔以前，思考自己与其他申请人相比有何不同。这两篇essay是展示自我最好的平台。申请人的本科学校，专业，职业轨迹还有职业目标都可能会与另一个申请人相似，但是个人的成长经历肯定是独一无二的。
Kwon said the one rec letter “should be from a current direct or immediate past supervisor. To keep the process simple for applicants and recommenders, our questions are the same as those of many other schools:”
申请人最好选择一位所在公司的supervisor当自己的推荐人。为了减少推荐人的工作量，Ross商学院的推荐信题目与许多商学院一样。推荐信题目如下：
• How do the candidate’s performance, potential, or personal qualities compare to those of other well-qualified individuals in similar roles? Please provide specific examples. (300 words) • Please describe the most important piece of constructive feedback you have given the applicants. Please detail the circumstances and the applicant’s response. (250 words)
She also said the school’s application will go live by July 15 and set a round one deadline of Oct. 6 with notifications going out by Dec. 19. The second round deadline is Jan. 5, with a decision by March 13. The third and final deadline is March 23, with notification by May 15.
Ross商学院的网申系统将在7月15日开始对外开放，第一轮申请的deadline是10月6日，12月19日会公布第一轮的申请结果。第二轮申请的deadline是1月5日，3月13日公布结果。第三轮申请（最后一轮）的deadline是3月23日，5月15日会公布申请结果。 | 
