Ivy Talent的文书专家-Adam 教授曾有在哈弗和卫斯理执教15年的经历， 更是一度担任卫斯理的招生官。他多年的英语创作教学经验，使他能够指点学生写出最有特点的个人文书，帮助学生提高批判写作和阅读技巧。亚当. 施瓦茨博士也为很多学生写过推荐信，从教师和撰写者的角度，他可以提供给学生如何写推荐信的宝贵指导意见。下面是Adam教授的正文：On my first day of orientation at the admissions office, the Dean of Admissions gave me an application file to read. It consisted of The Common Application, including the personal statement, transcripts, test scores, recommendations, and the supplemental essay. After I spent about twenty minutes reading through everything in the file, the Dean asked me, "What is this student’s story?" She had clarified for me the challenge faced by every admissions officer—to see a compelling individual story cohere from so many different sources of information.在我到卫斯理大学招生办上班的第一天， 招生办主任就给了我一个学生的申请资料， 里面包含了学生的统一申请表、学生陈述书、学生成绩单、标准考试成绩、推荐信、和学校要求的支持文书。 在我花了20分钟完成这个文档后， 主任问了我一个问题：“这个学生的故事是什么？” 她用现实行动告诉了我招生办工作中每天都会遇到的挑战： 你必须在短时间内用学生的资料信息拼凑这个学生个性化的故事。When I helped my students with their applications, we focused on how their transcripts, academic strengths, interests, extra-curricular activities and achievements all contributed to a story about them, the stories my students kept in mind as they drafted their personal statement. This six-hundred and fifty word essay is the student’s best opportunity to shape her story and to individualize herself, which is no doubt why it induces so much anxiety.当我在帮助我自己的学生完成他们的申请资料时， 我们总是以学生故事为主线来看学生的其他资料（比如成绩单、学术兴趣、课外活动、得奖经历等等）， 看这些资料是否在一定程度上支持或者来源于学生长久以来一直构思的个人故事。 在个人陈述书的650个字是学生总结、整理、甚至升华自己个性化故事最好的机会， 但是不得不承认这也是学生在申请过程中面临的一大挑战。 The personal essay can also be difficult because most high school students don’t have a great deal of experience with this type of writing; if they have written personal or "creative" essays, they usually haven’t written the numerous drafts that the very best writers require to produce a compelling essay. Indeed, the personal essay is the anti-five-paragraph essay; keeping this in mind is key to writing an excellent personal statement.个人陈述之所以是学生的一大难题往往是由于高中学生对于这一类型的文章写作练习很有限。 他们往往在练习创作性或者自由写作时不能做到像大多数成功的作者的写作那样一遍遍的修稿完善。 确实， 个人陈述书不属于学生习惯的5段话文章， 我把它归类为“反五段话文”。记住，反五段话的关键就是写出一篇成功个人陈述的重要因素。 The anti-five-paragraph essay? What exactly does this mean?什么是“反五段话文”？ 它的准确定义又是什么？It means that you don’t begin your essay with a sentence that sounds like a thesis statement; it means that the main point or thesis of your essay will emerge near the end; it means that you’re probably going to write many more drafts to produce an outstanding personal essay than you would for an accomplished five-paragraph essay.不同于传统的五段文（不了解文段文定义的同学可参照托福等标准考试的作文类型）， 反五段文的开始不需要写你文章的中心论点。 你极有可能将会在文章的写作尾端才能总结出自己文章的中心思想。 这也就要求学生不断的调整自己的写作已达到清晰表达自己故事的需求。 所以不同于你在写五段文是拥有的清晰的写作提纲， 个人陈述书的写作需要你在自己一篇篇的草稿中找到最贴合自己的故事。Personal essays are journeys of self-discovery. You don’t need to write about a Dramatic Adventure or Big Idea in order for your essay to be interesting. As someone who has read hundreds of personal statements, I can say that the most effective way to hold an admissions officer’s interest is to keep the reader in suspense about the meaning you discover in the experience you narrate.需要注意的是个人陈述书更像是一个个人的自我总结和挖掘潜力的过程， 所以你不需要费尽心思去写那些戏剧性的人生经历和冒险。 作为一个阅读了成千上万个申请文档的招生官， 我可以负责的说， 往往是那些可以把自己最真实的挖掘通过故事的描述展现出来的文章最能吸引招生官把文章读完。 In order to write an essay that creates a meaningful moment of self-discovery, you need to permit yourself to digress in early drafts. I realize that students are conditioned to stay on topic, but you can’t discover something about yourself unless you get lost, and the best way to get lost on the page is to digress. As author and psychologist Adam Phillips says, "Digression provides occasions in which people are surprised by their own minds."而想要写一篇有意义自我挖掘的个人陈述书， 学生需要有自我否决的勇气，不要局限于你自己最初写作的想法和构思。 在我的教学和招生的经历中， 我意识到学生往往习惯于为了抓住话题约束自己甚至去控制自己的写作。 但是学生需要明白， 你永远不可能在掌控中完全的挖掘自己。 你需要跳出你的惯性思维圈，而最好的办法就是“离题”！ 正如英国的心理学家和作家亚当.菲利普斯说的那样“离题往往能给人提供一些自己在常规思考中意想不到的思维成果。”I also suggest responding to two different essay prompts and then deciding between the two. Yes, I know that writing another essay seems like a real chore, but an additional essay can help clarify the key themes of your story. Indeed, a truly excellent personal statement can enhance your entire application by establishing a theme to which all the all the other materials contribute. More often than not, you can find a way to include details from the essay you don’t use in other sections of the Common Application.我同时也建议我的学生准备两篇不同题目的个人陈述书， 并在最后从中选取自己更满意的一篇提交。 当然， 我也知道准备两篇陈述书无疑是一件苦差事， 但是这第二篇个人陈述书往往可以帮助你找到一个最为适合描述你自己的故事。 毋庸置疑的是一篇真正好的个人陈述书可以确保你的整个申请资料档案更加的切合你， 使其他材料（例如成绩和推荐信等等）发挥出其应有的作用。 通常这个办法也可以帮助你去收集使用那些你在同意申请表中没有表达的重要信息。 Applying to college can feel like a game of chance, but you do have control over one of the most important factors: How you tell your story.申请大学可能会让你觉得你是在玩一场不受控制的豪赌， 但是起码你可以控制这场豪赌中一个重要的砝码：怎样诉说你自己的故事！