同学：张某柯
TOEFL: 103  SAT: 2130 ( 阅读 620)
高中：深圳外国语
录取学校：
弗吉尼亚大学、南加州大学建筑设计等

      这是一个性鲜明的孩纸。 喜欢艺术，电影，父母坚决让她学习建筑。 还记得第一次面谈时的场景， 一家三口针对选专业的问题争执的场景，给我们造成了很大的震慑，除了专业问题，这孩子目前还面临TOEFL、SAT 迟迟分数提不上去的尴尬，而父母对她要求一致很高，国内在准备清华建筑系，去美国貌似是非前10不去的。
      大家都知道， 本科建筑专业招收人数少，申请步骤繁琐，作品集要求高。孩子属于不善言谈的类型，可是在和我们的面谈中，每当提及画画或是漫画，话匣子好像一下子就打开了，眼睛里闪烁着无限的热爱。面对孩子的热情和她父母的期待，我们愿意为孩子搏一把。
      不过申请过程中也出过一段小插曲，2015年11.12月份是申请出国的孩子们准备SAT的关键时刻，不少学生将12月1日的SAT考试当成了最后一搏，小柯也不例外，因为她的父母不想让她放弃国内高考，因此准备出过类考试的时间相对比别的孩子少很多，由于要申请建筑专业，名校的建筑专业作品集和文书一样，都不可小窥。在给孩子查阅新一年的录取要求时发现，很多学校的作品集递交日期都提前了。例如Virginia, 卡梅都是12月1日，更有甚者，Cornell 把建筑专业的申请者列入到必须要参加面试的申请步骤当中去。因此给后面即将要申请建筑本科的孩子们敲响警钟，不少本科的建筑专业的录取要求一般都在具体的建筑学院里面查询，而且关于作品集的递交时间，以及具体网申的递交时间大多数是分开的，同时关于学校的面试要求。不幸的是，当我们和学校提交面试申请一直未果的时候，我们看到学校同时也接受递交额外ESSAY 代替interview 的要求，在连续几个晚上奋战，我们把面试ESSAY 及时发给学校，学校也很及时的回复了我们的邮件，让不要担忧这个会影响结果，终于松了一口气。
      从12月份的SAT成绩出来，决定学校到1月1截止的学校的申请，短短两个星期的时间，我们要完成了将近10几个学校的申请，虽然我们在定校确定前已经完成了common主essay 以及常问essay 的准备， 但名校额外essay 以及复杂的作品集准备以及递交工作，对我们来说也是个很大的工作量。 此时此刻学生一家三口和我们，像扭成了一股麻绳，大家一齐努力。徐妈甚至担当起了后勤保障工作，每天中午以及晚上来给我们公司送饭，让我们很不好意思。
      接下来的一切顺理成章，过年前后，小柯顺利收到了Virginia, 宾大以及Brown 的面试邀请，我们特意请我们的美国同事，隔空给小柯进行了详细而周密的面试指导。
      3月22日一早，和往常一样，看到查询状态的邮件 ， congratulation 的字样映入眼帘。要知道Virginia 的建筑是1817年美国历史上最早开始的，其历史悠久以及学术深厚，一直是孩子的dream school。

文书
When my grandpa passed away six years ago, it occurred to me for the first time that I too would die some day and that I would die at age 60.  Do not ask me how 60 came about, not 59 and not 61. I was convinced that it would be 60.  It is not an old age by any standard, but, to me, because it was going to be such a long journey, I was at peace with my predetermined fate. It was as if I had solved the biggest puzzle of my life.

However, my strong belief that I had 50 some years ahead of me was severely shaken by an announcement at school that a girl, two years my senior, had been diagnosed of leukemia. A fund-raiser soon followed.  Previously, I had participated in several charity events, but I chose to donate time instead of money because I lived on a tight budget, just enough for my school-required expenses. Whenever I asked for extra money for a field trip or a best friend’s birthday party, I felt guilty.  The day before the donation deadline, I just had to ask mom for 500 yuan. I broke down even before I was able to explain.  That day, I did not have to do a lot of persuasion.  I got the money, which I quickly submitted to the school authority.  I felt relieved that the money I contributed would go toward the girl’s surgery and other hospital bills. I was quite optimistic that with proper medical attention and treatment the girl could easily survive and, perhaps, even live up to 60, like me.  I never saw the girl afterwards, never even heard about her conditions for several months. Then at a routine gathering on the school playground, a teacher spoke about the generosity of the members of the school and that in spite of the successful surgery the girl only lived for about three months.

For quite a long period of time after the news, I felt depressed. I realized how silly I was to think that I was predetermined to live up to 60:  I may live up to well beyond 60s or I may die the next day. Knowing that death was the final destination and that it could happen at any time, I started to question why I had to work so hard and why I had to stay up late for an upcoming exam.  I decided to quit all my club activities. I just did not feel motivated enough to do anything.  I did not know what happened but one day, after what seemed to be a long time, I got up and decided that I had another choice. I could choose to live a positive life and be fully engaged in activities that would benefit myself and the people around me. I decided I do not want to die with regret that I have not lived a full and meaningful life.

I began to fully engage myself in activities in several after school clubs, read more books, draw more cartoons, and even managed to produce a short film. I am very sure I want to live an exciting, fulfilled and meaningful life.

College of Architecture, Art, and Planning:
How does the major you would like to study in the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning match your intellectual, academic, and career interests? Discuss any activities you have engaged in that are relevant to your chosen major.

I loved drawing. Between age 4 and now I have never stopped training. In the beginning, I did not know drawing could have a wide-ranging application. I loved it for its own sake. As my drawing improved and as I became more sophisticated in my appreciation of the things, places and peoples around me, I realize drawing is intricately tied with architecture, another subject matter I have developed an interest. 

We all seem to live in a world in which whatever is useful is considered good and what is good has to be useful. Many people, myself included sometimes, seem to have forgotten the intrinsic value of beauty, satisfaction of human needs, and the creativity behind an architectural masterpiece. We all admire high scrappers and consider these identical and lifeless structures as symbols of modernization.  

I was sad to learn that the landmark classroom building of my school, Yifu, is to be demolished. It is true Yifu is old and poorly equipped: the walls are peeling off, the faucets are rusty, and the toilets are not properly partitioned. It was built decades ago at a time when there was no audio-visual or computer equipment available. However, it is in this building that I have spent a couple of productive years and have developed an attachment to it. This four-storied red-brick building features gray roof tiles that are beautifully curved up on both ends, a distinct Chinese architectural characteristics. The long corridors and winding stairways are somewhat narrow, but they do not look congested thanks to the many wood frame windows that enable us to see trees and flowers outside. On a sunny day, sun rays flood the entire building through these windows.  My favorite place is the wrought-iron balcony that looks out into the playground. My friends and I would go to the balcony to chit-chat or just to calm our nerves before an important exam. Yifu has an ornamental relief sculpture of a clock, which, although not functional, is a beautiful object that reminds us time is precious. The courtyard in the middle with its meticulous landscape is a peaceful place to see the changing of the seasons.  The whole building gives a calming effect that none of the other buildings on campus can.  

I have seen architectural designs that either focus on the uses, functions, and modern conveniences, such as the one supposedly to replace Yifu, or on the aesthetics that seeks to appeal to the eyes more than anything else. What seems to be lacking is the focus on the people who will be living in these buildings: what do they want in a building and how do they feel living in it. In many ways, Yifu tells us that functionalism and aesthetics can work together. It also tells us that a piece of architecture should have its own character. As the buildings in our city and country are soaring ever so high into the sky, I am concerned that we are gradually losing the type of character that Yifu represents. It does not have to.