万源学子绝不简单

Versatile XieHe

学习不仅仅是在课堂，也在生活的每一个角落。多彩协和系列报导的宗旨是通过不同的视角来帮助大家发掘万源个性化、多元化的教育特色。“东方和西方每朝对方迈近一步，它们之间的距离就更近一点，我相信它们终将相遇。”协和教育一直秉承着中西融合之路，“和而不同，协力创新”的理念，致力于培养具有世界胸怀的合格公民。在万源，不仅仅有学术成就，还有多彩多元的人文素养；文韬武略，尽展英姿。

Learning is far beyond classroom teaching and is intrinsic to our lives. The series of “Versatile XieHe” reports aim to help discover a diverse life in school education from different perspectives. “Whilst Mr. East and Ms. West move one step towards to each other, the gap between the two will be getting ever smaller, and I believe they would finally meet up.” Sticking to the value that “unity in diversity, innovation through collaboration”, XieHe is always dedicated to cultivate world citizenship with a great open vision, where east meets west. In Wanyuan, lives are enriched with colorful and versatile elements, which are huge enrichment to the academic achievements.

吕怡润

Grace Lyu

Grade 12 student

录取院校

维克森林大学（Wake Forest University，又译作“维克弗里斯特大学”）建于1834年，是美国一所极富盛名的综合性研究大学。因小班制精英教学体制，维克森林也被称作“南哈佛”、“南方达特茅斯”。维克森林大学2023 U.S. News美国最佳大学排名中，维克森林大学位列全美29名。“Strong Commitment to Teaching”全美本科教育质量排名在2017年US News达到第5名，前4名为普林斯顿大学、耶鲁大学、布朗大学 [4] 。维克森林大学被誉为“常春藤的小后门”，意在学生在维克森林完成本科学业后有高于其他众多大学进入常春藤联盟顶尖大学继续接受更高等教育的机会。维克商学院在Businessweek本科商学院中排名11，教学质量全美第1名。其会计硕士专业全球著名，10年来具有全美国第1的注册会计师考试通过率 （97%）及100%的毕业生就业率。

我在万源协和的经历

My experience at SUIS WY

也许是机缘巧合，也许是无心插柳，懵懂年幼的我进入了浦东协和开始了我的求学生涯，谁曾想，协和的魔力深深吸引了我，初中，我来到万源开始先锋课程的学习，而后，到万源高中部，就这样，协和这份情缘持续了12年，而万源，也成为我的一部分。

Maybe it was just an unintentional coincidence that I entered SUIS Pudong to start my school career, yet who would have thought that the magic of SUIS attracted me so much that I came to Wanyuan for Middle School, and then to US High School.

初中的第一天，我鼓起勇气去竞选了班长，我的班主任张老师给了我这个机会。现在回望，是这次开始启发了我高中3年的学生会经历。我还在万源邂逅了新的乐器——长笛。六年级开始，我加入了初中部的管乐团，开始正式地学习管乐与长笛，毕业后又加入了校外的乐团。与朋友一起排练、演出、比赛的日子总是让我感到格外难忘，我在乐团这个对音乐拥有长久追求的环境中感受到了格外的凝聚力和团队协作能力。在我看来，协和是从容的，它从容地给予了学生们很多成长的空间与时间，鼓励大家探索自己的兴趣。升入高中，我并没有感到十分鸡血的竞争环境。正是这样的一份不功利的从容提供给了我尝试各种社团的机会。从策划部成员到策划部部长，我在学生会领导组织了许多次校园活动，这些经历不仅丰富了我的社区服务意识，也为我积累了许多组织经验。还有，成为一名校园大使和与贝拉一起创办学术社团的过程都让我通过不同的角色受益良多。

On my first day of middle school, I had the courage to run for class representative, and my homeroom teacher, Ms. Zhang, gave me that opportunity. Looking back now, it was this start that inspired my three years of student council experience in high school. I also met a new instrument in Wanyuan, the flute. Starting in 6th grade, I joined the middle school's wind ensemble and began to formally practice flute in a wind band. Later, I joined an off-campus ensemble after graduation. The days of rehearsals, performances and competitions with my friends were always extraordinarily memorable, and I felt extraordinarily cohesive and collaborative as a team in an environment where the orchestra had a longstanding pursuit of music. In my opinion, SUIS is calm, it gives students a lot of space and time to grow and encourages everyone to explore their interests. When I entered high school, I did not feel a very high-pressured competitive environment. It was this ease that provided me with the opportunity to try out various clubs. From being a member of the planning department to the head of the planning department, I led many campus events in student government, which not only enriched my sense of community service, but also provided me with a lot of organizational experience. Also, becoming a campus ambassador and starting an academic club with Bella have both benefited me through my different roles.

除此之外，我还参加了两项校队：排球和飞盘。是飞盘这项全新的运动带给我了关于拼搏、追逐极限的启示。在与校队打盘的三年里，我缓慢却又突然的进步不仅让我逐渐爱上了这项自觉，包容，单纯的运动，也在无数次烈日或大雨的赛场下，我建立了与队友间的默契和时常与搞笑沾边的友谊。对于十二年级申请季时期的我来说，一周两次训练或者课余扔盘的时候是最快乐的。我很感激飞盘在我对未来最感到焦虑不安的时候能够数次带着我短暂地放空，专注在飞盘本身，使我健康地调节着压力。学习不仅仅是在课堂，还在生活每时每刻。协和从容的自由其实带给了学生从方方面面汲取知识与经验的能力和机会，这使得我们成为了更加全面、丰满和立体的学生，而不只是学习书本知识的理论家。维克森林大学一向注重立体的全人发展，也许恰巧是因为协和的这一份从容使我在十二年里成长为了一个具有一定探索精神和社会责任感的学生，才得以和维克森林双向奔赴。

In addition to that, I played on two varsity teams: volleyball and ultimate frisbee. It was frisbee, a brand-new sport, that brought me the revelation about striving and chasing the limits. During my three years of playing ultimate with the varsity team, my slow but sudden progress not only made me grow to love this self-conscious, tolerant, and pure sport, but also built a bond with my teammates and a friendship that was often tied to being funny on countless occasions under the burning sun or heavy rain. During my twelfth-grade application season, I had the most fun when I practiced twice a week or threw a disc after school. I am grateful that frisbee was able to take me out of mental chaos briefly when I had the most anxiety about the future. By focusing on the disc itself, it allowed me to regulate my stress in a healthy way. Learning is not only in the classroom, but in every moment of life. The freedom of SUIS actually gives students the ability and opportunity to take in all aspects of knowledge and experience, making us more holistic and well-rounded rather than just theoreticians learning from books. Perhaps it is because of this ease at SUIS which enabled me to grow into a student with a certain spirit of inquiry and social responsibility in the past twelve years so that I got admitted to Wake Forest University.

Applications

申请拙见

01从一开始就要注意GPA

大学申请的cumulative GPA是四年成绩的平均，如果放纵了九、十年级，到了十一、十二年级就会是亡羊补牢，补不了一点。残酷地讲，GPA的高低几乎直接划分了申请学校的档次。

Pay attention to GPA from the very beginning.The cumulative GPA is the average of four years of grades. If you indulge in the ninetieth grade, by the eleventh or twelfth grade it will be a dead end that can't be repaired. To be brutally honest, the GPA is almost directly classified the level of school you are applying to.

02标化考试

虽然现在大部分学校依旧采用test-optional的政策，但随着疫情时代的渐渐过去，标化考试又重新变得能够增加许多竞争力了。几乎所有大学都强调“holistic review”，这意味着大学不会因为没有好的标化成绩而毙掉你的申请，但也同样意味着拥有一个标准化考试的分数可以使你的材料更加“holistic”和可衡量。但是，我个人更建议大家想好自己到底是更需要一个好的标化成绩，还是更需要把这部分时间花在其他可以更加进步的东西上，一定要三思而后行。如果决定考标化，就要全力以赴速战速决，不要三心二意地拖长战线。我就是因为没有想清楚且没有一鼓作气地准备而最后没有考出理想的标化成绩，花费了大量时间和金钱成本依旧被迫走了test-optional的申请。我们常说美本的申请很玄学，因为并不知道招生官是以什么样的角度和标准考量我们的申请，这其中充满了不可控性。但是，标化考试是为数不多的“事在人为”我们能控制的事情之一，而我没有做到全力以赴，又为我的申请增添了更多不确定性。回看我的申请季，这大概是我做得最不好且感到遗憾的事情。如果拥有一个理想的标化成绩，可能我会离我的梦校和其他也非常喜欢的学校更近一些吧。

Standardized testing. Although most schools still have a test-optional policy, the standardized test is becoming much more competitive again as the era of COVID fades away. Almost all colleges emphasize "holistic review," which means that colleges will not shoot down your application for lack of a good standardized score, but it also means that having a standardized test score can make your application more "holistic" and measurable. Although, I personally recommend that you think twice about whether you need a good standardized score more or whether you need to spend that time on something else that can be more progressive. If you decide to take the standardized test, you should do your best to get it done quickly, and don't be duplicitous and prolong the battle. My application was a test-optional one because I didn't think clearly and didn't prepare for ACT with a bang. We often say that U.S. college applications are arcane, and we do not know what kind of perspective and criteria admissions officers use to consider our applications, which is full of uncontrollability. However, the standardized test is one of the few things that we can control, and the fact that I did not give it my best shot added more uncertainty to my application. Looking back on my application season, this is probably the thing I did the worst and regret the most. If I had an ideal standardized score, I probably would have gotten closer to my dream school and other schools that I also really liked.

03文书不一定是改得次数越多越好

有很多人会觉得一篇文书经历了反复的七八九十稿后会打磨地非常立体和到位，但其实恰恰相反，过多次的修改会导致文章表达断断续续，行文卡顿不连贯。我的建议是先自己在脑子里展开三到四轮的头脑风暴，发散性地列出一些生活中的经历与表达的主题，再与升学老师进行三到四轮的讨论，在讨论的过程中逐步形成一个关于合适主题的大纲和内容后，再动笔写初稿和开始后续修改。这样的前期讨论是非常关键的，它能在我们申请季一开始迷茫时帮助我们对后续的文书方向和整个申请所塑造的形象有一个尽可能全面清晰的了解。

It is not always better to revise a college essay as many times as possible. Many people will think that a piece of writing will be well polished after many drafts, but on the contrary, too many revisions will lead to intermittent expressions and incoherent lines. My advice is to brainstorm three to four rounds in your own head, make a loose list of life experiences and topics of expression, then have three to four rounds of discussions with your counselor to gradually form an outline and content on the right topic before writing the first draft and starting subsequent revisions. This pre-draft discussion is crucial to help us have a clear understanding of the direction of our application and the image we want to project at the beginning of the application season.

04在尽量可行的范围内，跟随自己的内心做出决定吧

如果有目标就去做，如果有梦校就要踮起脚尖跳着努力够一够。也许在某个后申请季的夜晚，你会因为害怕风险求稳而没有在ED时去尝试申请一下你的梦校而觉得遗憾。也有可能在某个后申请季的夜晚行文至此的时候，虽然在ED1被翠拒，也依旧对自己当初将这次机会尝试着去触碰过自己最渴望的目标而感到满足和洒脱。申请策略并没有对错，只是要在先坚定自己的内心后再仔细地做出尽可能不让自己后悔的决定。

Follow your heart and make a decision as far as it is feasible. If you have a goal, do it. Maybe one night in the post-application season you will regret not trying to apply to your dream school at ED round because you were afraid of the risk and wanted to play it safe. Or maybe on a post-application season night, you're still satisfied and relieved that you took this opportunity to try to reach your most desired school, even though you were rejected at ED1. There is no right or wrong application strategy, it's just a matter of being committed to your heart before carefully making a decision that you won't regret as much as possible.

录取心得

Admission Experience

我的申请季一直在“自信、自我肯定、冲冲冲”和“焦虑、自我否定、要不算了”这两种状态反复横跳。我父母看到我这样的心理状态后多次表示“简直看不出是从九年级就开始想学心理的”。是这样的，并不是每个想学心理的人都拥有好的心理素质。我认为，是我的申请策略把我稍微地拉出了焦虑的无底洞。在择校伊始，我便没有只看重综合排名，而是也仔细地考察了专业排名和当地声誉。在这样的考量下，我选出了几所我较为满意的几所大概率能为我托底的学校作为EA申请，例如匹兹堡大学，伊利诺伊大学香槟分校，明尼苏达大学双城分校。这些学校都有着十分强劲的心理系，在生活环境和安全上也属于比较满意的选择，其中，明尼苏达大学双城分校还为我提供了丰厚的奖学金。因此，我心里便觉得有底很多，因为即便被梦校拒绝，我也知道我会在这些我还算比较喜欢的学校中选择一所前往。于是，我便一往无前地在ED1 all in了我的梦校韦尔斯利学院。ED1的过程里，我要特别感谢Ella Xiao学姐所给予我的鼓励、支持、和一切美好影响。出结果的那天晚上我紧张地打开了portal迎接到了意料之内的拒信，虽然也意料之内地伤心了好几天，但我庆幸其中没有掺杂遗憾的成分。

My application season has been bouncing between confidence and self-denial. After seeing my state of mind, my parents commented many times, "I can't believe I've wanted to study psychology since ninth grade. I think it was my application strategy that pulled me slightly out of the bottomless pit of anxiety. From the beginning of my school selection process, I didn't just look at overall rankings, but also looked carefully at major rankings and local reputation. With this in mind, I selected a few schools that I was comfortable with that had a high probability of getting in for EA applications, such as University of Pittsburgh, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. All of these schools have very strong psychology departments and are more than satisfactory choices in terms of living environment and safety, with the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities offering me a generous scholarship. As a result, I felt a lot better because even if I was rejected by my dream school, I knew I would go to one of these schools that I liked. So, I went ahead and applied to my dream school, Wellesley College, in ED1. I’d like to say thank you to Ella Xiao for her support, encouragement, and all the inspiring influences in this process. The night the results came out I nervously opened my portal and received the expected rejection letter, and although I was expectedly sad for a few days, I was glad there was no regret mixed in my emotions.

ED2开始后，我陷入了维克森林大学与另一所我也非常喜欢的人文类院校的纠结之中，期间询问了很多人的意见、与父母讨论了很多、也自己权衡了许多利弊。做出决定的那天下午，我午睡醒来坐在床上，脑子里居然先想到了维克森林 “促进人类博爱“的校训。就是这句校训打动了我，让我觉得在这样充满人文气息的学校中学习有关人类思维的学科是及其合适和可贵的经历。Cherry老师说，她一早便觉得我与维克森林的气质很贴合，也谢谢这所充满人文气息的学校能够通过材料敏锐地察觉我与之相契合的特点。

When ED2 started, I was torn between Wake Forest and another humanities college that I really liked. I asked a lot of people for their opinions, discussed a lot with my parents, and weighed the pros and cons on my own. The afternoon I made my decision, I woke up from a nap and the motto of Wake Forest, "Pro Humanitate," suddenly came into my mind. Ms. Cherry said that she felt from early on that I was a good fit for Wake Forest, and I am thankful that this humanistic school was able to see through the materials that I was a good fit.

《对赌》中有一句话如是讲到：永远不要因为结果而判断决策过程。如果没有好的结果，并不能证明过程是错的，可能只是不走运地错过了那个大概率。如果有好的结果，也要常常提醒自己并不能证明过程是对的，可能只是走运地恰好踩中了中奖的小概率。

There's a quote from "Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts" that says: " never judge the decision-making process because of the outcome. If you don't have a good result, it doesn't mean that the process is wrong; you might just be unlucky enough to miss that big probability. If you have a good result, you should always remind yourself that it doesn't prove the process is right, you may just be lucky to step on the small probability of winning the lottery.

我想以我最喜欢的电影《律政俏佳人》中艾尔·伍兹在毕业典礼上的台词作为结尾：“要敢于按自己的信念，以及坚强的自我意识，才能令我们踏足世界, 记住，第一印象不一定是对的。永远要对人有信心。并且，最重要的是，你永远要对自己有信心。”

I‘d like to end with a line that Elle Woods, from my favorite movie “Legally Blonde”, says at the very end of her commencement “It is with passion, courage of conviction, and strong sense of self that we take our next steps into the world, remembering that first impressions are not always correct. You must always have faith in people, and most importantly, you must always have faith in yourself.”

文章转载自：【万源城协和双语学校】