What kind of application documents are favored by overseas universities
If you want to receive an acceptance letter for studying abroad, a high-quality application essay is essential.
In the document, the applicant can attract the attention of the admissions officer and be recognized by the school by showing the educational background, project experience, future planning and other content.
How to determine the writing ideas of the application essay?
What are the skills of language expression?
What kind of documents do schools want to see?
Several Chinese students who independently wrote essays and were admitted shared their experiences.
How to determine the structure of essay writing
"After determining the application direction, I will go to the official website of the school I plan to apply for to find the course information." Tian Xiangxiang is a third-year student in the Department of Sociology at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom. Not long ago, she received an admission letter from the University of Edinburgh with the application essay she wrote. .
"According to the introduction of the course program on the school's official website, the type of students I hope to recruit, the future career direction, etc., combined with my personal planning, I have a clear writing idea and will not go astray."
"It is very important to inquire about project information in a targeted manner before writing essays" is the consensus of Chinese international students.
"Before applying, I first learned about the types of application documents that need to be submitted on the school's official website." Wang Chuyao is a first-year doctoral student majoring in literature at People's Friendship University of Russia. "One of them is to ask applicants to submit a letter of motivation. So, I I paid special attention to the specific format of the Russian letter body, and then divided the structure of the application essay into personal introduction, highlighting advantages, and planning for future studies."
Academic planning is the most important part of the application documents in Wang Chuyao's opinion.
"Express your views on the major and expectations for future research directions in the essay, and show the sincerity of the application to the supervisor, which will make it easier to be recognized. In the motivation letter, I specifically wrote the field of research intention, thesis concept, and the academic plan during the study period. "
Chen Bo'an studied finance and business analysis at Boston University. When he applied, he independently wrote the application essay.
"Different schools and majors have different requirements for application documents. Most of the career-oriented courses require applicants to explain their career plans. For example, the business program I applied for usually requires the introduction of past experience and application for this program. reasons, career ideas, etc.”
How to express clearly and accurately
A high-quality application document is inseparable from fluent language expression. Chinese students write in a foreign language. How to make the language of the document smooth and accurate?
"Writing in a foreign language, one of the problems that foreign students worry about is that the words don't convey their meaning." Wang Chuyao's writing was completed in Russian, and she shared her experience, "It is very important to use appropriate written language, and students can accumulate some common words, etc. , the whole should be concise and clear to facilitate reading.”
In addition, correct grammar is a basic requirement for high-quality application essays.
"Like Russian writing, the most important thing to pay attention to is the correct use of tenses and verb forms. After finishing, you must check the grammar again and again." Wang Chuyao said.
"Writing is a process of practice makes perfect. I think enough reading is very important. Because reading can not only improve vocabulary, but also learn good sentence patterns." Tian Xiangxiang said, "For students who are not good at English writing, you can After completing the first draft, use school resources and ask teachers to help with proofreading, so as to at least ensure correct grammar and correct inaccurate words.”
"Chinese students can use some writing websites to revise and polish their essays." Su Nan is a graduate student in international marketing at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom. During the early application, she independently completed the essay writing.
"International students will use some online revision services when writing papers, which can also be used to correct application documents. If you have classmates or seniors with strong writing skills, you can also ask them to help."
In addition, Su Nan reminded that when narrating his views on the major, he should use more academic and rigorous language as much as possible, and at the same time, combine the curriculum settings of the major on the school's official website, and write clearly the academic motivation.
Application content highlights personalization
In the application essay, applicants are required not only to outline their past academic experience, but also to state their personal plans.
Among thousands of applicants, how can you make your essay content competitive and gain admission to your intended school?
"I think when narrating personal experiences, it is very important not to be stereotyped." Su Nan has some experience with this, "We should try our best to explore our unique places, such as the documents written by some study abroad agents, the narrative mode is to think about it since childhood. What do you do and are interested in a certain field, but do not explain what the source of this interest is, which will make the application less convincing. In addition, the specific curriculum settings of each school are different, and the content of the essay needs to reflect Your unique understanding of the profession."
Tian Xiangxiang has the same opinion, "As far as I know, there are some students around who have received rejection letters from schools, and the content of the application documents is obviously homogeneous. The admissions officer will think that this program is not your first choice, or that your experience and the program match. The degree is not high, so it will not be admitted.”
"The project I applied for had such a requirement on the document, and I wrote the job I wanted to do the most. If it can't be achieved, what is the second choice?" Chen Bo'an recalled, "I wrote about starting a business, and I really wanted to do this thing. . When writing the second choice, I am very frank to say that there is no second choice, because I believe that the entrepreneurial goal will be achieved, if not achieved, I will continue to try until it is done, because this is what I most want to do one thing."
To Chen Bo'an's relief, the truthful expression of his ideas has been recognized by the school he applied for and received an acceptance letter.
In his view, writing an application essay is a process of self-analysis. The foundation of a good essay is to have a clear self-awareness and thinking about personal planning, clarify what you want to do, what is suitable for you, and then write it in the essay. , rather than following the crowd.
Zhou Shuyun