美国大学陆续公布新申请季文书，继西北大学、康奈尔和密歇根安娜堡之后，埃默里大学也公布了。
作为大陆学生申请的热门校，尤其是ED2，前25可选比较有限，关注度更高。那么它的文书难度如何呢？
埃默里大学要求在提交个人陈述的基础上，额外回答两道简答题：一道关于你的学术兴趣，另一道则帮招生官更好地了解申请者。
一、学术兴趣，此题为必答题。（建议字数：200词）
What academic areas are you interested in exploring at Emory University and why?
请说明你在埃默里大学希望探索的学术领域，以及你选择这些领域的原因。
二、了解申请者，请从以下四道题目中任选其一作答。（建议字数：150词）
1、Emory University has a strong commitment to building community. Tell us about a community that you have been part of where your personal participation helped to change or shape the community for the better.
埃默里大学高度重视社区建设。请谈谈你曾参与的一个社区，以及你个人的参与是如何促使这个社区发生积极改变的。
2、Reflect on a personal experience where you intentionally expanded your cultural awareness.
回顾一次你有意识地拓展自身文化认知的经历。
3、Emory University’s unique mission calls for service to humanity. Share how you might personally contribute to this mission of service to humanity.
埃默里大学的独特使命是“服务人类”。请分享你如何在个人层面践行这一使命。
4、In a scholarly community, differing ideas often collide before they converge. How do you personally navigate disagreement in a way that promotes progress and deepens meaningful dialogue?
在学术社区中，不同观点往往会发生碰撞，然后达成共识。你是如何应对分歧，推动进步并深化有意义的对话的？
今年的1、2、3题目与去年一致，4为新题目，题目的变化趋势，也透露学校对申请者在社区关注度方面的重视。
因为埃默里大学补充文书经常变动，很难找到同题目的优秀文书，刘老师选了两篇和题目2（形式）比较接近的优秀文书分享给大家，童鞋们感受一下：
两篇优秀文书分享
题目：
Tell a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates your character or helped to shape it.
请讲述你生活中的一个故事，描述一个能够体现你性格或帮助塑造你性格的经历。
第一篇：
“How prone to doubt, how cautious are the wise!”
-Homer
“D’oh!”
-Homer Simpson
I’m not a philosopher; eloquence eludes me, the meaning of life is unquestioned, and thinking, beyond what is required to carry out a potential, is postponed to a more leisurely time. I’ve experienced doubt, and proceeded with caution; and in my experience, I’ve learned to discard unnecessary thought and conventional wisdom in favor of progress. Philosophy amounts to nothing unless it results in action.
“You’re kidding.” Scanning my schedule, my classmate shakes her head. “Why didn’t you take Dual Credit?” During Junior year, my high school began to incentivize Dual Credit courses with a GPA multiplier. Advertised to be less demanding than an AP class, Dual Credit was extolled as the wise man’s curriculum. So, mustering all the wisdom I had, I took 6 AP classes, and frankly, I enjoyed their depth. When it comes to education, I’m not cautious – and I’m prone to doubt. I just act. If I want chemistry, then I get chemistry; if I’m intrigued by psychology, then I pursue psychology. There is no point in pondering the inevitable; I am determined to take educational opportunities. I’ll judge the difficulty for myself after I complete it.
The practice of prioritizing action has proved useful in my pursuits. In ninth grade, I could have doubted my capability; instead I ran for office in the school’s health club and earned a position in the eleventh grade. That year, there was a debate amongst the members over meeting schedules: if the Technology Students Association meeting coincided with ours, how would we attract new members? As the club officers weighed the costs and benefits amongst themselves, I left the meeting and signed up for the technology club, discussed an agreement, and voted for the technology club to move its meetings to the second half of lunch before scheduling the Health club meetings for the first half. Did it require thinking? No. Eloquence? Hardly. Contrary to the anticipated speeches and club-based patriotism, it only took clear action and a request to solve the conflict. Attendance increased, and as a bonus, I enjoyed a continued membership with both organizations.
Beyond the sphere of public education, doubt-free determination facilitated my impact in the community. I am seventeen; I cannot vote in the upcoming elections. However, that does not mean I will hesitate to make a mark with my city. Small actions, from teaching addition to a church member’s kindergartener to tutoring three classmates for the SAT, matter in the long run. Can a teenage end world hunger? Doubtful; but by pulling weeds from the community garden, I can further progress one step at a time.
Not all actions end successfully. However, between cautious wisdom and failure, I choose action. I don’t fancy myself as wise; I’m not prone to doubt, nor am I perpetually cautious. I simply pursue my goal. As the wiser Homer has taught America, when torn between success and potential peril, one must simply “D’oh.”
招生官点评：
在阅读这篇个人陈述时，有几个核心主题尤为突出。首先，作者对学习的态度是积极的、深思熟虑的并具有反思性。尤其是在开头部分，可以明显感受到作者对学习内容本身的热爱，而不仅仅是对课程名称的兴趣。此外，作者对于多学科领域的开放学习态度也贯穿整个叙述。对不同学科的探索正是博雅教育（liberal arts）精神的核心，而作者在这方面展现得十分出色。
另一个主题是通过知识带来改变。作者展现出一种内在的意愿，甚至可以说是一种“冲劲”，去以有意义的方式改善社区。尽管这些改变看似微小，但在推动社区发展过程中却具有重要意义。作者作为一名积极参与社区事务的成员，这种身份贯穿了整篇文章以及申请材料的其他部分。
最后，作者展现出愿意承担风险的品质，这一点贯穿全文，并让人读来十分振奋。勇敢迈入一个全新的社区，本身就意味着需要面对不小的风险，而作者显然已经做好了全力以赴的准备。最终，令人印象深刻的是，作者具备了一种“勇于向失败中前进”的自信态度（fail forward），这对于刚进入大学新阶段的学生而言，是一种极为宝贵的心态。
从整体来看，这篇文章让我们对这位学生有了深入的了解——也许最重要的是，我们看到了他们的个人品质如何与埃默里的使命与社区价值观高度契合。
第二篇：
In Fyodor Dostoevsky’s, “Crime and Punishment”, the character Sonia is metaphorically linked to Christ. After prostituting herself to feed her family, she covers her head and face in shawls, before lying on her bed face down and sobbing– through this, she is linked to the death of Jesus. Her mother, Katarina, kisses her feet while she sobs, the same way people in the churches of that time wept and kissed at the feet of idols to Christ. In this situation, Dostoevsky is implying that even something such as prostitution that might be deemed a sin can instead be that which allows one to be a Saint.
As my mother choked up while I described the above anecdote, I was filled with confusion. What could lead her to be so upset over this philosophical question? I asked if there was something she wanted to talk about and to say there was would be an understatement.
She described to me the process by which my Father, in pursuit of a sexual relationship with a young woman, had demolished our family’s house, and all of my Mom’s identifying documents, before successfully taking away both me and my brother. While my father wasn’t on my birth certificate for a Welfare bid, and my mother regained custody of me, my brother had to remain in the care of a man who put little emphasis on caring for his sons at that point in his life. My mother was left with no money, no place to live, and no friends who would lend their support. She turned to her sister for guidance and instead of love and compassion was met with cruelty, deceit, and greed.
My mother found a parallel between herself and Sonia. Both were faced with a problem the likes of which seems unsolvable and were thrust into a patriarchal system that far too often values little of women beyond the most primitive desires. Despite constant attempts to get herself onto a more admirable path, the system resisted her. She could not afford to purchase new identifying documents without missing rent, and I couldn’t handle being paraded through 105-degree weather. She was stuck. My dad came back and offered to continue their relationship after more than a year of abject poverty and lack of bodily autonomy. And she accepted the invitation into the man who had ruined her life for me.
After going through a phase of alcoholism and an instance of domestic violence against my Father, I viewed my mother as immoral, or misguided at the least. I was wrong. Despite experiencing some of the worst things a human can experience, and being able to tell nobody about it, she remained in a household with a man who intentionally hurt her beyond belief, for my well being. If there is a God above us, he views Sonia and my Mother not as sinners, but as Saints, and in that conviction, I could not be more absolute.
招生官点评：
文学使人们能够在文字中看到自己。这篇文章不仅亲密地讲述了作者的个人故事，同时也融入了教育性的元素。我们作为招生官，常常被学生问到是否应该在文书中谈及自己的挑战与经历。虽然我们对文书选题没有偏好，但我们始终强调，学生应当写出真正属于自己的声音，而不是他们家庭或社区的声音。
这篇文章巧妙地将文学、家庭与自我交织在一起，形成一篇完整的作品。说实话，这类文章并不容易写好，它需要清晰的写作重点、清楚的表达和简洁的语言。这篇文书的优势在于它的开头段落，清楚地阐明了主题与写作意图。整篇文章的叙事清晰，读者很容易跟随故事的节奏。在结尾部分，类比也得到了完整而自然的收束。这篇范文展示了：无论选题是个人经历还是虚构内容，故事的流畅性与选题本身同等重要。
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