很多人都说美本的录取是玄学，每年到了录取放榜季的时候，有学生愤愤不平，为什么标化、成绩不如自己的学生可以录取，怎么就不录自己嘛？招生官到底什么品味呢？

也有学生喜极而泣，觉得招生官真的是慧眼识珠，能够拨开自己身上的两千层灰，看到自己优秀的底色。

1. Changing your mind about something because something happened. This experience caused you to now think and see things differently.

因为发生了一些事情而改变你对某件事的看法，这一经历使你现在对事情有了不同的思考和看法。

2. Reflecting on a relationship (note that the essay should still say more about you than another person in your life).

反思一段关系（注意，这篇文章还是应该多说说你，而不是你生活中的另一个人）。

3. A passion that gets you animated and excited; Passion with a capital P. 

让你活跃和兴奋的激情。

4. Conveying a sense of place. Where you came from and how it affected your worldview.

传达出一种地方感。你从哪里来，以及它如何影响你的世界观。

5. An experience that humbles you and makes you feel vulnerable (i.e. being wrong about something, hurting someone’s feelings, having regret, when things didn’t go as expected, etc.)

让你感到谦卑和脆弱的经历（例如，在某些事情上做错了，伤害了别人的感情，有遗憾，当事情没有按照预期进行时，等等）。

1. Writing in the third person, and then switching point of view with a twist. “That little girl was me.” The big surprise doesn’t work because the AO already knows it’s you.

用第三人称写作，然后转折性地切换视角。"那个小女孩是我" ，这里完全没有惊喜，因为AO已经知道是你。

2. Drama for the sake of drama. You do not need to over dramatize your story or have a tragic story to stand out, and this leaves less time for reflection.

为戏剧而戏剧。你不需要把你的故事过度戏剧化，或者用一个悲剧性的故事来突出，这样留给思考和反思的空间就少了。

3. Spending too much time stuck in the past.

花了太多时间停留在过去。不要老是讲5岁或者7年级的事情，你可以作为故事的开头引出来，但更重要的是现在呢。

4. Retelling the activities list misses the opportunity to tell something new and does not use the space wisely. You already have space to tell activities. However, you can choose one activity to reflect on.

复述活动清单，错过了讲述新内容的机会，也没有明智地利用空间。你已经有空间来讲述活动。不管怎样，你可以选择一个活动来反思。

5. Writing about the death of a grandparent. This story is very predictable, but it can work if you feature the death early to leave space for reflection and interesting insight connected to it.

写一个祖父母的死亡。这个故事很容易预测，但如果你把死亡的特点提前，为与之相关的思考和有趣的见解留出空间，它也能发挥作用。

6. When the essay says more about someone else. If you write about your relationship with another person, make sure it reflects back to you.

当文章说的更多是别人的事。如果你写的是你与另一个人的关系，确保它能反映到你身上。

7. Bathroom humor. 

浴室里的幽默。不要带有味道的文章。

8. Going for the shock factor. This will not get the attention of an AO. 

追求震撼的因素。这不会引起AO的注意。

9. The line “Unlike most people . . .” rubs the wrong way. It can make you come across as ungenerous as a peer.

"与大多数人不同...... "这句话会让人产生误解，它可以使你表现出作为一个同行的不慷慨。

10. Writing a letter to someone: to a future roommate, to yourself, etc. This topic is too gimmicky and too much content is devoted to propping up the letter. 

写一封信给某人：给未来的室友，给自己等。这个题目太有噱头了，而且有太多的内容是用来支撑这封信的。

11. Telling a story of failure without redemption. So what? AOs want to know where you are now as a result of that. 

讲述一个没有救赎的失败故事。那又怎样？AO想知道你现在的结果是什么。 

12. Being too wordy. It becomes pretty clear when a student writes the essay with a thesaurus next to them. Students should use their natural language and go for the conversational tone.

措辞太多。很清晰，这个学生在写文章的时候，旁边放着一本辞典。学生应该使用他们的自然语言，去追求对话的语气。