I was admitted to the top five universities in the United States. I learned these four points.

The idea of ​​starting to go to a famous American school was originally at the beginning of this year.

At that time, I had the privilege of listening to Tang Meijie, who graduated from Harvard University and is currently the CEO of the company. The lecture gave me a deep inspiration, and immediately decided to go to the United States to study. That night, I checked the computer with a computer and finally decided that the two American universities and their summer programs started a long road of application.

Just a week ago, I received a letter of acceptance from the University of Chicago, ranked fourth in the United States and ranked 10th in the world. I was ecstatic when I saw the mail, and I was shouting at the moment with an unsuspecting old Y. After so many days of hard work and waiting, I finally had a good result at this moment. I smirked at the computer all day.

Looking back on these few months of application, I have gained a lot. I will summarize four points here and share with you.

01

You must have Plan B to do things!

When I first started applying, my goal was only one - Stanford.

Some friends around me advised me to try a few more to increase the chances of admission. Although I feel that there is some truth, but because I am too lazy to re-prepare the paper, I finally decided to insist on Stanford only.

Later, my mom didn't know where to know it. I called now and insisted that I should apply for two. After several rebuttals, I had to add another Chicago University that I liked and ranked fourth in the United States. To do this research day and night, re-written more than 2,000 words of English papers, and tried to find a few teachers and leaders to help me write a letter of recommendation.

The application deadlines of the two universities differed by one month. I first applied for Stanford before I moved to the University of Chicago. The night before Stanford’s results, I happily dreamed that I had received an offer letter and opened the US study tour.

However, the ideal is full and the reality is very skinny.

Woke up the next day, I was rejected by Stanford and put on the shortlist. Since then, there has been no news.

At this time, I began to feel helpless, as if I saw that my dream was falling to the bottom and gradually disappeared. I woke up like a dream, and turned back and forth like a madman's official website. Unfortunately, all project applications have been closed.

When turning to the twelfth, the computer automatically shuts down due to lack of power.

I looked at the dark computer screen with scorn, thinking, finished, who left you no backup plan, now it is abolished.

Quite surprisingly, two weeks later, I received an acceptance letter from the University of Chicago at Plan B. After experiencing the failure, I have no hope, and I am almost excited to fall after seeing the "Congratulations!"

And I also know that if I didn't have a single job in the past, I would have to go through a lot of schooling.

Therefore, it is important to set Plan B for everything.

You can never predict what the next step will be, but you can try to expand your chances of success. The more options you give yourself, the easier it will be and the easier it will be.

02

Before you start, look at the requirements first!

I am a person who takes things for granted and does not like to do the survey in advance. Therefore, at the time of application, I only probably know that I have to submit TOEFL scores, two letters of recommendation, and school transcripts. The rest are unknown.

Stanford's application deadline is at the end of March. I took the TOEFL score on March 9 and asked the teacher to complete the recommendation letter. I have to go to the school to get the transcript. At this point, I thought that I had fulfilled all the requirements, so I was able to live a few days.

After ten days, I remembered going to the official website. At this time, I found out that Stanford asked to submit the Writing sample. Otherwise, submit five to twenty pages of novels, poems, or scripts, or upload more than five pages of sociological papers.

And I, sadly found that I have nothing.

At that time, there are only ten days left until the deadline. I have to rush out of a well-conceived English novel while I am busy at work and study. It is a limit challenge. So I could only conceive, write an outline, check the dictionary, and finally completed a eight-page novel in eight days.

The same was true when I applied to the University of Chicago. When I went to the official website six days before the deadline, I suddenly found out that the transcript needed to be delivered to the United States to complete the application. This was anxious to call the school office and DHL, and finally rushed to Deadline. Signed file.

Both of these things almost caused me to lose the opportunity to apply.

In these cases, this can be avoided by understanding the requirements in advance.

Be sure to make a clear request before you start, so that you can do everything more efficiently and securely, and not let yourself regret and regret afterwards.

03

Discover the advantages and learn to sell yourself!

There are too many people in my life who are better than me, and even catch a lot. From this point of view, the admission of American elite schools that want to be used to the top students is completely a myth.

The most important thing to learn at this time is to affirm yourself and discover your strengths and uniqueness. Ordinary people must have different places from others. Believe that you are you, unique.

Although I may not have the same dazzling glory as other applicants, rich and interesting activities, or twists and turns. But I have a strong adaptability, communication skills and a heart for my own interests.

I mentioned in my paper that I was interested in global warming after watching a documentary, so I spent a lot of time investigating the attention of young people at home and abroad on this issue, contacting American video producers, and finally making a global Warming hand-drawn animations are specially reserved for teenagers.

This experience can't be compared with winning the international competition award or obtaining the national patent, but it can also reflect the spirit of one's inquiry, the world and society, and the persistence and investment in one thing. These are the advantages that belong to me, and I can use it to promote my own place.

Sometimes it is not necessarily your savvy resume that impresses others, but the spirit and character that you have revealed.

Don't underestimate yourself. If you even deny yourself, who else can you expect to affirm?

04

If you have a goal, you must act now and you can't drag it!

I decided to apply for a summer course at a prestigious school very early this year, but both applications were submitted one day before the deadline. The main reason is because of a word - dragging.

It was too early in January. In February, I felt that I still had enough time to wait until March to close. This way of doing things in life is believed to be more than one person, and even the vast majority of people will inevitably have a certain degree of procrastination.

I used to have an indifferent attitude towards delaying this matter. It was not until this application that I realized the importance of early action.

The order of application for browsing by the University Admissions Office is based on the submission time. The so-called “first come, first served” is suitable for use here. A course can be no more than 20 people, and for those who are late, even if you are strong, you can only put in a Waiting list with almost no hope.

So the later you drag, the less likely you are to be admitted. This is obviously not a good thing.

At the same time, the sooner you start, the more time you have to understand the process, make up and improve, and achieve better results.

As mentioned before, I am applying for the night before Stanford’s deadline. At that time, I felt that I was ready to do everything. It was nothing more than filling out some information and uploading some information. So I waited until 9 pm to create a new application form.

The previous information was successfully completed, and I was completely embarrassed when I saw that the progress bar had a Written Response that was not mentioned in the official website. After carefully looking at the overview, I realized that this is Stanford's deliberate intention. In order to ensure that the content is filled out by the applicant, it will not be announced in advance on the official website.

If I have completed the application form before, then I have plenty of time to think about how to answer the 13 questions in this section. Unfortunately, I chose to start until the last day. Except for the night, I have no choice.

In my impression, I wrote that it was more than three in the morning, and I was struggling with eyelids, my fingers were sore, and my head was groggy. The hand has been typing on the keyboard, but I don't know what I am writing.

In this case, the application form was submitted, and later I thought it would be strange if I was not rejected. But if I don't delay, I will start filling out the form earlier. Is the result very different?

So here, I am serious about saying that procrastination is a disease and a cure.

Don't let the delay ruin your original good life. If you have a goal, you should act now.