外教快评 ｜ 为什么兼职才是最能给招生官留下印象的活动？
The One Surprising Thing
You Can Do to Get Noticed by Universities
Dan Jones
Every year we tell our students that the number one goal of your college applications is to make yourself stand out. This year, it’s likely that 350,000 Chinese students will apply to American undergraduate programs. Another 30,000 will apply to universities in the United Kingdom. The bad news is: you all look a lot alike! Not physically, of course, but on your applications. Think about it. The Chinese educational curriculum is nationalized so that every student in every province learns English the exact same way, studies the same subjects, and often does the same types of activities.
Chinese students even tend to excel at the same subjects like math and physics, and you’re all very hardworking academically. That means the only obvious way you can really stand out from the crowd is by getting really high scores on your SAT, TOEFL, IELTS, etc. But that’s not the only way to stand out, and I’m about to reveal to you one of the most powerful ways you can stand out on your college applications.
Get a job.
Believe it or not, the most common difference we see when comparing American students’ applications to Chinese students’ applications is job experience. Even kids from wealthy American families are often expected to get some kind of job when they turn 16. Many of them work at fast food restaurants like In-N-Out or coffee shops. Having work experience as a teenager is considered to be very valuable in American society. Volunteer activities are good, but when you’re a volunteer, you can always choose when you want to volunteer and you can easily give up if you decide you don’t like it. With a job, you have more responsibilities, you learn self-discipline, money management, how to follow directions, and people skills.
In America, we often say that people who have worked in restaurants are better at interacting with people from all ages and backgrounds. I promise you that if you apply for college and mention a part-time job on your application, including some of your responsibilities or achievements at that job, you are going to stand out from other Chinese students. College admissions officers will trust you more and be more confident in your ability to integrate into American society.
I know you’re already super busy with school, tuition, and all your extracurricular activities and maybe you think you really don’t need extra money. But if you can find the time and find a job you enjoy, it will pay off in better results for your college applications.
往期文章
背景提升（1） | 我做了半天的留学背景提升，为什么却逃不过“水”与“坑”的魔咒
背景提升（2） ｜ Homegrown Project，认可度最高的留学申请活动其实是这个
背景提升（3）| 暑期兼职：一个被中国学生严重低估的活动内容
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本期外教 Dan Jones
Course West 外教留学创始人、高级文书教练。2012年曾被美国政府遴选为富布莱特学者，赴马来西亚从事民间交流与微外交活动。热爱写作与思辨，深谙文理教育，常为多家美国媒体撰写时事政论。酷爱中国历史与饮食文化，常年往返于中美两国间，最善于从文化视角，挖掘出常被学生忽略的文书故事和角度。辅导出的文书总是华丽而不做作，风趣而不失稳重，文笔精湛却又能留住中国学生自己的味道。Dan指导的多名学生都曾获得美国、欧洲、加拿大等国家和地区的全奖或高额奖学金资助。
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