Ivy Talent的文書專家-Adam 教授曾有在哈弗和衛斯理執教15年的經歷， 更是一度擔任衛斯理的招生官。他多年的英語創作教學經驗，使他能夠指點學生寫出最有特點的個人文書，幫助學生提高批判寫作和閱讀技巧。亞當. 施瓦茨博士也為很多學生寫過推薦信，從教師和撰寫者的角度，他可以提供給學生如何寫推薦信的寶貴指導意見。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.在我到衛斯理大學招生辦上班的第一天， 招生辦主任就給了我一個學生的申請資料， 里面包含了學生的統一申請表、學生陳述書、學生成績單、標準考試成績、推薦信、和學校要求的支持文書。 在我花了20分鐘完成這個文檔后， 主任問了我一個問題：“這個學生的故事是什么？” 她用現實行動告訴了我招生辦工作中每天都會遇到的挑戰： 你必須在短時間內用學生的資料信息拼湊這個學生個性化的故事。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.當我在幫助我自己的學生完成他們的申請資料時， 我們總是以學生故事為主線來看學生的其他資料（比如成績單、學術興趣、課外活動、得獎經歷等等）， 看這些資料是否在一定程度上支持或者來源于學生長久以來一直構思的個人故事。 在個人陳述書的650個字是學生總結、整理、甚至升華自己個性化故事最好的機會， 但是不得不承認這也是學生在申請過程中面臨的一大挑戰。 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.個人陳述之所以是學生的一大難題往往是由于高中學生對于這一類型的文章寫作練習很有限。 他們往往在練習創作性或者自由寫作時不能做到像大多數成功的作者的寫作那樣一遍遍的修稿完善。 確實， 個人陳述書不屬于學生習慣的5段話文章， 我把它歸類為“反五段話文”。記住，反五段話的關鍵就是寫出一篇成功個人陳述的重要因素。 The anti-five-paragraph essay? What exactly does this mean?什么是“反五段話文”？ 它的準確定義又是什么？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.不同于傳統的五段文（不了解文段文定義的同學可參照托福等標準考試的作文類型）， 反五段文的開始不需要寫你文章的中心論點。 你極有可能將會在文章的寫作尾端才能總結出自己文章的中心思想。 這也就要求學生不斷的調整自己的寫作已達到清晰表達自己故事的需求。 所以不同于你在寫五段文是擁有的清晰的寫作提綱， 個人陳述書的寫作需要你在自己一篇篇的草稿中找到最貼合自己的故事。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.需要注意的是個人陳述書更像是一個個人的自我總結和挖掘潛力的過程， 所以你不需要費盡心思去寫那些戲劇性的人生經歷和冒險。 作為一個閱讀了成千上萬個申請文檔的招生官， 我可以負責的說， 往往是那些可以把自己最真實的挖掘通過故事的描述展現出來的文章最能吸引招生官把文章讀完。 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."而想要寫一篇有意義自我挖掘的個人陳述書， 學生需要有自我否決的勇氣，不要局限于你自己最初寫作的想法和構思。 在我的教學和招生的經歷中， 我意識到學生往往習慣于為了抓住話題約束自己甚至去控制自己的寫作。 但是學生需要明白， 你永遠不可能在掌控中完全的挖掘自己。 你需要跳出你的慣性思維圈，而最好的辦法就是“離題”！ 正如英國的心理學家和作家亞當.菲利普斯說的那樣“離題往往能給人提供一些自己在常規思考中意想不到的思維成果。”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.我同時也建議我的學生準備兩篇不同題目的個人陳述書， 并在最后從中選取自己更滿意的一篇提交。 當然， 我也知道準備兩篇陳述書無疑是一件苦差事， 但是這第二篇個人陳述書往往可以幫助你找到一個最為適合描述你自己的故事。 毋庸置疑的是一篇真正好的個人陳述書可以確保你的整個申請資料檔案更加的切合你， 使其他材料（例如成績和推薦信等等）發揮出其應有的作用。 通常這個辦法也可以幫助你去收集使用那些你在同意申請表中沒有表達的重要信息。 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.申請大學可能會讓你覺得你是在玩一場不受控制的豪賭， 但是起碼你可以控制這場豪賭中一個重要的砝碼：怎樣訴說你自己的故事！