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发信人: westpoint (一只脚站不住两只脚走不动路的老糊涂), 信区: AdvancedEdu
标  题: How To Prepare The Best Application
发信站: BBS 水木清华站 (Sun Dec 20 18:58:34 1998) WWW-POST

Many of you may wonder what you can do to craft an application that creates
such a favorable impression. The task of crafting an application is to stand
out from other applicants who have similar grades, scores, academic pursuits,
and personal experiences. Changing your undergraduate grades, academic
pursuits, and personal experiences is impossible. Thus, in your application,
you can only exert influence over your scores, recommendations, interviews,
and your personal statement or essays.

Most applicants will start by focusing on their GRE scores. They will either
use one of the many test prep services or study by themselves. While it is
important to prepare for the test, and we suggest that you do, remember that
the schools always look at the scores on a relative (percentage) basis. As a
result, only a handful of all test-takers will be able to distinguish
themselves by their GRE scores no matter how much every test taker prepares.

The inability to differentiate yourself through scores is why successful
candidates focus on their personal statement, recommendations, and
interviews. Thus, to craft an effective application you need to write a
statement that shows how the various components within your application
present a compelling picture of you. Such a picture needs to highlight your
distinctiveness and your motivation for attending graduate school.

Drafting The Statement

Drafting your statement involves the following tasks: selecting content,
developing a clear focus, establishing a meaningful purpose, creating a
logical structure, and writing the actual drafts.

Selecting Content

In this portion of the writing process, you need to list those items
contained within your self-assessment which you plan to use in your response.
Each item selected should be related to the question asked and should help
achieve the ultimate goal of presenting a comprehensive autobiographical
portrait of yourself

Developing a Clear Focus

In the next step, you need to define a clear focus that ties together the
various items that you plan to discuss within the body of the text. You start
by identifying the common themes between those items you selected in the
previous step. You then examine these items to determine how best to define a
one to two sentence of a statement which both incorporates the items and
addresses the question asked in the application.

Establishing a Clear Purpose:

In addition to a focus, you need to determine the central message that you
want to convey through your statement. To develop a central purpose, you
first explain how each item reveals you unique traits and is connected to
your desire to attend graduate school. The material you generate through this
exercise will help you formulate a one to two sentence explanation of the
intended purpose for your statement.

Creating a Structure

Creating a structure is a simple task once you understand the focus and
purpose of your statement. We begin by having you write an introduction that
clearly states the focus. You then craft a conclusion which uses the items in
the text to highlight the statement's central purpose. Some applicants then
chose to prepare a brief outline of each item which will be discussed in the
body of the text.

Revising The Statement

Revision is the key to turning your draft into a well-polished statement. You
should begin the revision process by performing a macro level revision in
which you evaluate the focus, purpose, and accuracy of your statement. You
need to check that a reader other than yourself can understand both the focus
of your statement and how it is related to the question asked by the school.
These outside readers should also be able to describe your intended purpose
in two sentences or less and explain how your statement supports the stated
purpose.

Once your have ensured that your statement holds together as a unit, you need
to revise at the paragraph and sentence level. Here, you check for interest,
voice, and clarity. To revise for interest, identify passages that describe
abstract generalizations rather than concrete details. In checking for voice,
see if you use a narrative voice that fits you, not a voice that is more
appropriate for a copywriter or a professor. Check for your use of the active
instead of the passive voice as well as your use of a variety of sentence
structures and sentence lengths. Finally, in revising for clarity look for
structural and grammatical errors that might confuse a reader or undermine
your credibility.

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