Max Your App
How to Increase Your Chances of
Earning Admission to a U.S. Grad
Program of Your Choice
Patent pending 2014.
Sing Your Own True Song . . .
. . . In Your Own True Voice
You may have heard this before.
I cannot tell you how important this is.
Patent pending 2014.
Two primary app documents
 Statement of purpose (SP) essay
 Sometimes called Personal Statement
 For example, by Harvard
 Letters of recommendation
 These are more important than
your GPA, or your TOEFL and GRE
scores.
High GPA + TOEFL + GRE . . .
 . . . are merely your ticket into the
Admissions Office, into the game.
 They are crucial, of course.
 But: they do not differentiate you
from all other applicants who have
similar scores.
 Scores as competitive as yours!
What will differentiate you?
 Letters of recommendation
 SP
 Extracurricular activities:




Research
Internships
Student gov’t/union
Clubs, etc.
Patent pending 2014.
So! Write a Brilliant Essay
Do not be selfish: Do not write “Me,
me, me! I, I, I!”
 Do not – repeat, not – boast.
 Do not praise yourself.
 Solve problems. Add value
 To the campus community
 To your program
 Place yourself in a wide context.
Advice from Stanford:
http://studentaffairs.stanford.edu/grada
dmissions/faq-transcripts
http://www.stanford.edu/dept/uga/basi
cs/selection/evaluate.html
Or: go to saved docs
Patent pending 2014.
Stanford U
Q: What should I write in my statement of purpose?
A: The statement of purpose should describe succinctly your
reasons for applying to the proposed program at Stanford,
your preparation for this field of study, study and research
interests, future career plans, and other aspects of your
background and interests which may aid the admissions
committee in evaluating your aptitude and motivation for
graduate study.
Patent pending 2014.
Advice from Harvard:
Open Harvard Docs or Links:
http://www.gsas.harvard.edu/prospective_
students/admissions_overview.php
http://www.extension.harvard.edu/prospec
tive-students
http://www.extension.harvard.edu/sites/de
fault/files/ext_carc_per.pdf
Patent pending 2011.
Harvard Grad School of A&S
 Admissions Overview


The Graduate School invites applications from students whose
breadth of academic experience and fitness for the specific
field of study suggest the potential for scholarly achievement.
We require online submission of the application.
In general, only applicants holding the BA or equivalent, with
distinguished undergraduate records, are admitted. Faculty
recommendations and the applicant’s statement of purpose are
carefully weighed. Research papers, publications, and other
original works may also be considered by the admissions
committees during their evaluations.
Patent pending 2011.
Berkeley Advice:
 Access website or access documents
 https://career.berkeley.edu/Grad/Gra
dStatement.stm#1
Closer look (read):



Q. What makes a competitive candidate for a topnotch graduate school?
Many factors go into admission to graduate school. Grades,
especially in the proposed area of graduate study, are very
important. The GRE counts but not as much as letters of
recommendation from those who have taught you, and
better yet, from those with whom you have done research.
A PhD program usually looks for research and scholarly
potential. Talk to professors in the area you're interested in
with whom you might want to work and see what they have
to say. Admission to graduate school is based on a broader
range of factors than just grades and test scores.
The word “holistic” again comes to mind! This info is from this
link: https://career.berkeley.edu/Article/011102b.stm
Closer look (if enough time): SP







DO
Be objective, yet self-revelatory. Write directly and in a
straightforward manner that tells about your experience and what
it means to you. Do not use "academese."
Form conclusions that explain the value and meaning of your
experience, such as what you learned about yourself and your field
and your future goals. Draw your conclusions from the evidence
your life provides.
Be specific. Document your conclusions with specific instances. See
below a list of general words and phrases to avoid using without
explanation.
Get to the point early on and catch the attention of the reader.
Limit its length to two pages or less. In some instances it may be
longer, depending on the school's instructions.
https://career.berkeley.edu/Grad/GradStatement.stm#1
Closer look (if enough time): SP
DON'T
Use the "what I did with my life" approach.
Use the "I've always wanted to be a _____" approach.
Use a catalog of achievements. This is only a list of what
you have done, and tells nothing about you as a person.
 Lecture the reader. For example, you should not write a
statement such as "Communication skills are important
in this field." Any graduate admissions committee
member knows that.




https://career.berkeley.edu/Grad/GradStatement.stm#1
Red = Me, me, me! I, I, I!
Letters of recommendation
Open Berkeley web
 https://career.berkeley.edu/Article/0
20315b.stm, then
 https://career.berkeley.edu/Grad/Gra
dLetter.stm
Letters of recommendation
 https://career.berkeley.edu/Article/020315b.stm
 Stand out from the crowd! What makes
you different from every other student?
Make it known. Show your letter writers
your unique qualities and they will write
you unique letters! Remind them of any
special projects, experiences, or awards
you've previously discussed.
 (My note: Red = extracurricular activities: research,
internships, etc.)
Synergy Educational Services LLC
Clients admitted to:
Carnegie Mellon University #23
Clark University #75
Columbia University #4 (Li Lingrui; USST)
Stanford University #5
Cornell University #16 (Jin Ye; USST)
Georgia Tech #36
Harvard University #2
Northwestern University #12 (Xu Dan; USST)
University of Chicago #5
University of Michigan #28
University of Pennsylvania #7
University of Rochester #32 (He Wenlin; USST)
USC #23 (Xu Dan; USST)
Virginia Tech #69 (Haoran Niu; USST) other schools haven’t replied yet
Washington University St. Louis #14
. . . and other Top 100 schools
+ Cambridge U #2, Imperial College, King’s College #3 in England
+ McGill U, U of Toronto, UBC #1, #2, #3 in Canada
Synergy Educational Services LLC
In 2013-2014, clients admitted to:
Cornell University #16
Duke University #7
Georgia Tech #36
PENN #7 (U of Pennsylvania)
Rice University #18
Texas A&M #69
University of Chicago #5
University of Michigan #20
UC Berkeley #20
UCLA #23
USC #23
Virginia Tech #69
+ many other schools, including McGill, Toronto, UBC
Synergy Educational Services LLC
Jin Ye; USST grad June 2013
 Of course you can use my name! I
don't think that Cornell would have
given me this offer without
your advice. I will be very glad if
more students can be your clients
and go to good schools with your
help!
Patent pending 2011.
Synergy Educational Services LLC
Sing your own true song in your
own true voice.
www.synergyedu-usa.com
Patent pending 2011.
Synergy Educational Services LLC
 In other words



Don’t copy other applicants’ ideas
Don’t believe anything you read on Mandarin or
English chat-sites
 Do you know these people personally?
 If you do not, how can you trust them?
 Do you have guanxi going back years?
 Most students on chat-sites just don’t know
the reality of admissions, applications
So! Go directly to the school websites for info.
 They will tell you everything you need to know
The Basic Truth
 Truth #1: Your GPA is merely – and only
-- your ante into the poker game called
Admissions.
 Truth #2: Your best approach to grad
applications should involve
Differentiation, Customization, and
Personalization.


Copyright © 2012 by Synergy Educational Services
LLC. Patent pending.
All rights reserved. Go to synergyedu-usa.com.
Patent pending 2011.
Ante
 From Latin: “before”
 A small portion of a bet contributed
by each player before the game
even begins. Each round of bets
requires the ante into the game.


Copyright © 2012 by Synergy Educational Services LLC.
All rights reserved. Go to synergyedu-usa.com
Patent pending 2011.
Ante
 That’s all your GPA is:
 A small portion of a bet, but
crucial:
 it gets you into the game; allows
you to compete against other
applicants
Patent pending 2011.
Your GPA . . . by itself
 Means nothing
 Zip
 Zilch
 Nada


Copyright © 2013 by Synergy Educational Services LLC.
All rights reserved. Go to synergyedu-usa.com.
Patent pending 2011.
Unless . . .
 You have outstanding
 Extracurricular activities and/or research projects,
internships
 GRE score
 TOEFL scores
 Essays or Statements of Purpose
 Recommendations


Copyright © 2012 by Synergy Educational Services LLC.
All rights reserved. Go to synergyedu-usa.com.
Patent pending 2011.
Differentiation is Crucial
 GPA or GRE do not differentiate you
 All students applying to any given school will have
approximately the same scores
 What can differentiate you?
 Extracurricular activities
 Statements of Purpose
 Letters of recommendation


Copyright © 2012 by Synergy Educational Services LLC.
All rights reserved. Go to synergyedu-usa.com.
Patent pending 2011.
Shanghai American School,
September 2008
 Presentations by admissions reps from:
 Brown University
 University of Pennsylvania
 The reps said:
 “We look at the entire package.” PENN rep
 “We look at each candidate holistically.”
Brown rep


Copyright © 2012 by Synergy Educational Services LLC. Patent pending.
All rights reserved. Go to synergyedu-usa.com.
Patent pending 2011.
Holistic = entire package

Holistic:


of or relating to the medical consideration of the complete
person, physically and psychologically, in the treatment of a
disease
Pronunciation: /hō-ˈlis-tik/
Function: adj
1 : of or relating to holism
2 : relating to or concerned with wholes or with complete
systems rather than with the analysis of, treatment of, or
dissection into parts < holistic medicine attempts to treat both
the mind and the body>

Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/holistic


Copyright © 2012 by Synergy Educational Services LLC. Patent pending.
All rights reserved. Go to synergyedu-usa.com.
Patent pending 2011.
The entire, holistic package means:
 GPA plus:
 Extracurricular activities (research or
internships)
 GRE score
 TOEFL scores
 Statements of Purpose
 Recommendations


Copyright © 2012 by Synergy Educational Services LLC.
All rights reserved. Go to synergyedu-usa.com.
Patent pending 2011.
A thought experiment
 Imagine you are a senior admissions
rep at a good school.
 Two applications land on your desk.
 One is from a young lady at USST.
 So, too, is the other.


Copyright © 2012 by Synergy Educational Services LLC.
All rights reserved. Go to synergyedu-usa.com.
Patent pending 2011.
Thought experiment (cont’d)
 Student #1:
Highest GPA in her class
Outstanding GRE
TOEFL: 118
Fine SP
Letters of rec:
 1 all about GPA; 1 about excellent English
 No extracurriculars listed







Copyright © 2012 by Synergy Educational Services LLC.
All rights reserved. Go to synergyedu-usa.com.
Patent pending 2011.
Thought experiment (cont’d)
 Student #2:
 GPA in Top 3 her class
 Outstanding GRE
 TOEFL: 118
 Fine SP
 At least one outstanding letter of rec
 That letter of rec (which the author of this
document wrote) emphasized equally both
academics and a wide variety of extracurriculars



Go to synergyedu-usa.com to read rec letter
Copyright © 2012 by Synergy Educational Services LLC.
All rights reserved. Go to synergyedu-usa.com.
Patent pending 2011.
Thought experiment (cont’d)
 Which candidate would you choose?
 Remember: You are judging “the whole
package”--“holistically”.
 Which candidate represents the more
complete “package”?


Copyright © 2012 by Synergy Educational Services LLC.
All rights reserved. Go to synergyedu-usa.com.
Patent pending 2011.
Thought experiment (cont’d)
 This is based on two of the author’s
former students.
 Student #1 applied to Cornell
 Student #2 applied to PENN
 Student #1 was turned down
 Student #2 was accepted


Copyright © 2012 by Synergy Educational Services LLC.
All rights reserved. Go to synergyedu-usa.com.
Patent pending 2011.
What went wrong?
 Student #1, Apple Lin (name
changed), came into my office. She
was in tears. I asked her why she was
crying.
 “Mr. Ned, I didn’t get into Cornell.”
 I was stunned; asked her to show me
her copies of her application
documents.


Copyright © 2012 by Synergy Educational Services LLC.
All rights reserved. Go to synergyedu-usa.com.
Patent pending 2011.
What went wrong? #1
 Her letters of rec were misguided:
 One emphasized GPA, “fine student”
 The other emphasized her excellent English


Copyright © 2012 by Synergy Educational Services LLC.
All rights reserved. Go to synergyedu-usa.com.
Patent pending 2011.
What went wrong? #2
 Both letters of recommendation
were misguided:
 Approximately 90% of all applicants to U.S. schools
are native speakers of English
 Thus, English does not truly differentiate a student
 Remember: All students who apply to a specific
school or grad program will have similar
(competitive) GPA’s and GRE’s
 GPA and GRE’s will not differentiate a student
applying to a specific school from all the other
students applying to that school who have similar
qualifications.
Patent pending 2011.
What went wrong? #3
 She did not list any of her many
extracurriculars
 The emphasis solely on GPA, English was just
silly
Patent pending 2011.
What went right?
 Student #2, Orange Zhang (name
changed), admitted to PENN
 The Wharton School -- !!
 After rejections from other Ivies, Apple Lin
was admitted to her backup choice, the
University of Michigan


Copyright © 2012 by Synergy Educational Services LLC. Patent pending.
All rights reserved. Go to synergyedu-usa.com.
Patent pending 2011.
So!
 If you do not have impressive
extracurriculars, don’t even think of
applying to top U.S. schools.
 If you don’t have lots of
extracurriculars, start now


Copyright © 2012 by Synergy Educational Services LLC.
All rights reserved. Go to synergyedu-usa.com.
Patent pending 2011.
Start your own extracurriculars
 Publish papers or articles in your
major field of study
 Do internships at top firms
 Do research with top professors
 Invent a device, patent it
 Solve a problem


Copyright © 2012 by Synergy Educational Services LLC.
All rights reserved. Go to synergyedu-usa.com.
Patent pending 2011.
Special note 1 re: SP and Recs
 Your Statements of Purpose and letters of rec will
“make or break” an application
 Importance of the SP and recs cannot be
emphasized enough
 Generally, Chinese students do not do a good job
on the SP: Me, me, me! I, I, I! GPA! + imitation
 Instead, you should demonstrate how you will add
value to the campus community
 Teamwork + organizational skills + leadership
 You must differentiate yourself
 Read SP’s that worked at various schools


Copyright © 2012 by Synergy Educational Services LLC. Patent pending.
All rights reserved. Go to synergyedu-usa.com.
Patent pending 2011.
Special note 2 re: Customization

Ask your teachers to customize your letters of recommendation
as much as possible
 Include the entire school address, beginning with
Office of Admissions or Admissions Department or
Admissions Office

Get this right; different schools will use different terms


Go to the schools’ websites for complete details
Use “Dear Madame or Sir”
 Not “To Whom It May Concern” (impersonal)
 Or address the Dean or Director of Admissions by
title or name
 This shows you are doing research, are interested



Again, go to the schools’ websites to find addresses,
names and titles
Copyright © 2012 by Synergy Educational Services LLC.
All rights reserved. Go to synergyedu-usa.com.
Patent pending 2011.
Special note 2 re: Personalization
 Letters of rec:


Ask your teachers to include the word “you” at least
once
Writers of recs should tell how the applicant will add
value to the campus community
 For ex., “You may rest assured that (name) will
bring his/her fire and energy to campus.”
 or “You may rest assured that (name) will add value
to your campus through his/her commitment to
excellence and the environment.”


Copyright © 2012 by Synergy Educational Services LLC.
All rights reserved. Go to synergyedu-usa.com.
Patent pending 2011.
Recommendation letters
 In 2009, the school where the author taught
brought in an American consultant to speak
about recommendation letters.
 She had been an Admissions Rep and Director at top
U.S. schools (UConn, Yale)
 She used the author’s recommendation letters
as handouts.
 He writes the best, most powerful letters of
recommendation in the known universe.
 Go to www.synergyedu-usa.com to read samples.


Copyright © 2012 by Synergy Educational Services LLC.
All rights reserved. Go to synergyedu-usa.com.
Patent pending 2011.
Above all (this is Truth #3)
 Do not imitate or model your SP or essays
on someone else’s.
 Speak/write with your own voice in your own
words; tell your own story.
 Admissions reps will know the difference;
they’ve heard and seen all the major “models”
on the various websites and chat sites where
Chinese students swap info and tips.
 And don’t let your teachers copy a standard
or form letter of recommendation.


Copyright © 2012 by Synergy Educational Services LLC.
All rights reserved. Go to synergyedu-usa.com.
Patent pending 2011.
Case history:
 The author heard the following on a
flight back from New York:
 An American official at the embassy in
Beijing had spent a great deal of time
listening to visa requests from students
who wanted to go to college or grad
school in the U.S.


Copyright © 2012 by Synergy Educational Services LLC.
All rights reserved. Go to synergyedu-usa.com.
Patent pending 2011.
Case History (cont’d):
 He had heard all the usual nonsense
about “Contributing to international
understanding” and “cross-cultural
exchange.”
 He also knew most of the stories that
were copied from Web chat sites
where students swapped successful
visa requests.
Patent pending 2011.
Case Study (cont’d):
 He grew quite bored and weary, and
did not give visas to students who
copied their reasons from the Web.
 One Friday, a young Chinese student
came in who wanted go to MIT or
Caltech or some other top school.


Copyright © 2012 by Synergy Educational Services LLC.
All rights reserved. Go to synergyedu-usa.com.
Patent pending 2011.
Case History (cont’d):
 The visa officer asked the student why he
wanted to go to school in the U.S.
 The student’s reply went something like
this: “My mother was in a car accident
when she was very young. Since then, she
has never walked without pain. I want to
invent a device that will enable her to walk
without pain.”


Copyright © 2012 by Synergy Educational Services LLC.
All rights reserved. Go to synergyedu-usa.com.
Patent pending 2011.
Case Study (cont’d):
 The visa officer was very impressed
with the student’s reply, and stamped
the visa.
 But: The next Monday, all the
students who came to request a visa
told him the same or a similar story.


Copyright © 2012 by Synergy Educational Services LLC.
All rights reserved. Go to synergyedu-usa.com.
Patent pending 2011.
Case Study (cont’d):
 Do not do this type of thing.
 Copying or imitating someone else’s
voice will only hurt you.
 Visa officers surf many of the major
chat sites, thus they are familiar with
the major trends in students’
thoughts. And they know the reasons
for successful visa applications.


Copyright © 2012 by Synergy Educational Services LLC.
All rights reserved. Go to synergyedu-usa.com.
Patent pending 2011.
Remember:
Sing your own song in
your own voice.
协同 配合 = 1 + 1 》2
Patent pending 2011.
Best wishes & best success
 Thank you
 Questions? (changing majors?)
 协同 配合 = 1 + 1 》2

Go to synergyedu-usa.com
Patent pending 2011.