小　目　录
Personal Statement
Recommendation Letter

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Personal Statement

My name is x x x , a student who has just completed the high school program at the High School Attached to Tsinghua University. I am interested in entering the State University of New York at Stone Brook to undertake an undergraduate program in mathematics and the following is my Personal Statement presented in support of my application.

In Search for Top-Quality Education

By the time my parents finished their secondary education more than 30 years ago in Beijing, the capital of China, their natural course of action—pursuing a post-secondary education—was arbitrarily terminated, for the age they lived in was what is often called “the Great Cultural Revolution”, the darkest political period in the past half century in the country’s history, when they were dispatched to do farm labor in Yunnan Province, the remote border province in Southern China. When they were allowed to return to Beijing after nearly a decade, the most important time for them to pursue a rewarding college education was already past. They were simply deprived, by human factors, of their right to receive the kind of education essential to their personal and professional development.

That my parents were deprived of a proper post-secondary education has made them all the more acutely aware of the importance such an education. As a result, they have done their best to provide me with the best education available, primary and secondary, so that I can set up a necessary foundation for a top-quality college education to which they themselves were otherwise entitled to. Now, it gives me the greatest pride to see that I have not let my parents down—by excelling in my academic performance during my primary and secondary education at some of Chinese best schools, I am well-grounded and well prepared for a college education in mathematics at the State University of New York at Stone Brooks, one of the world’s most prestigious institutions.

My Past Academic Performance

ZhongGuanCun, China’s Silicon Valley where the country’s two top educational institutions Peking University and Tsinghua University are located, is where I have received my primary and secondary education. In this elite academic environment, I have long realized the need to excel. In 20xx, the final year of my elementary education, in the “Embracing-the-Spring Cup” Mathematics Competition held across the entire city of Beijing, I won the third prize by beating tens and thousands of contesting mathematics geniuses. It is this special distinction that qualified for entering the Middle School Attached to Tsinghua University.

Throughout my junior and senior middle school life, I have been studying in what is called the Experimental Class, a type of class that offers more intensive curriculum than other average classes in the same grade. There are about 600 to 700 students in each grade, divided into nearly 15 classes. What is even more special about my class is that it has been the special kind of the experimental classes called the Dragon Class, where students with special mathematics talents and computer skills concentrate. The highly competitive environment has been a constant impetus to me, inspiring me excel. My academic transcript for the three-year senior middle school shows that I have always been in the top rank in the entire grade—top 2% in the first year, top 4% in the second year, and top 1% in the final year.

My Special Excellence in Mathematics and Physics

With special scholastic aptitudes in mathematics, I served as the student representative of the course for three years during the junior middle school. I participated in two national mathematics competitions in 20xx and 20xx, achieving first and second prizes respectively. My sound foundation in mathematics in turn contributed to my performance in physics. During my senior middle school days, I have participated in two mathematics competitions and two physics competitions held for high school students in the entire city and have been second and third prize winner in all those contests. Again, my academic transcript shows that I have achieved straight A’s those two subjects and a large majority of other courses.

My Rounded Development

While excelling academically, I have never allowed myself to be a mere bookworm or competition maniac. Instead, I have sought for rounded personal development by assuming a number of extracurricular responsibilities. I was the class president in the first year of my high school, playing a leadership role in launching all the major extracurricular events on and off campus. I was the avant-garde of the school’s soccer team, participating in various inter-school competitions in our district and in Beijing. One of the most important lessons that playing soccer has taught me is how to make personal sacrifices as part of teamwork in ensuring final victory. In one of the matches, my coach told me to keep watch over the key player of the opposing team and to prevent him from launching attacks. I had to give up my role and the thrill of launching attacks as avant-garde but my continuous successes in aborting my opponent’s attack efforts ensured the final victory of our team. In addition, I have been a clarinet player of the community orchestra and have participated in voluntary community services. All those experiences have taught me the importance of being a socially responsible person and have prepared me to serve the larger society when I complete my academic programs.

My Special Interest in Mathematics
In my academic study, I am also determined to use my knowledge to serve our society and mathematics is the subject that I believe can bring out all my academic potential and can help me realize my self-actualization. I love mathematics because it is the foundational subject of all sciences, concerned about solving problems by uncovering the underlying numerical and logical relationships of different entities. In the various mathematics competitions that I have participated in, I was most delighted to see how my mathematics knowledge could be employed to solve real-world problems. It is my conviction that my strong skills in mathematics are the very foundation for my success in a mathematics program at your university.

My Readiness for an International Education Experience
Most Chinese students pursue their international education by the time they complete their undergraduate program in China. Unlike those Chinese students, I am ready for an international education from the very beginning of my college education and I have drawn up a well-planned academic career for myself for about ten years from now. I will first do an undergraduate program, which is to be followed by a postgraduate program in which I will work on Master’s and Ph.D. programs. If my international education begins with undergraduate program, then I will be much better prepared for more advanced programs in western countries. I believe that it would be better for me to acquire international educational experience as an undergraduate so that I will be more fruitful in the rest of my academic career. In addition, I will also acquire international perspectives and ways of thinking at an earlier stage than most of my Chinese peers. This is particularly important as our world is under the process of increasing globalization.

My Love for the State University of New York at Stone Brook
The State University of New York at Stone Brook has been very well-known among students of our school because it is where Prof. Chen Ning Yang, the Nobel laureate for physics and a guest professor at Tsinghua University whom all of us students adore, has been teaching. It is most reputed for teaching and research achievements in a diversity of fields, particularly in applied mathematics, sufficient to capture the imagination of a growing high school student. In applying for your university, I hope to follow the footsteps of Prof. Chen Ning Yang. I expect to experience your unparalleled teaching and research in mathematics, a subject of which I have always been enamored. Your first-rate faculty will teach me how to do rigorous coursework, how to approach a problem creatively, how to enhance problem-solving skills and how to make my independent research. I believe that I will acquire the knowledge and way of thinking characteristic of a mathematics student and build up a necessary foundation for more advanced degree programs. In a word, I am most strongly motivated and am ready to achieve continued excellence through my own utmost exertions.

Dear Admissions Officer:

As president of the Junior and Senior Middle School attached to Tsinghua University, I deem it a great pleasure to provide this letter of reference on behalf of Mr. Yu X x x who is currently applying for admission into the undergraduate program in engineering at your esteemed university. I am convinced that Mr. Yu is a most worthy candidate for your university.

Just as Tsinghua University is indisputably the most prestigious university of science and engineering in China, the Senior Middle School attached to it is the most distinguished secondary educational institution in the country. It primarily consists of the most elitist students of Beijing and the rest of the country—those students who have won prominent honors and awards in national competitions in science subjects. At the same time, it is one of the few middle schools in China which have established cooperative educational programs with Anglo-American universities and have supplied first-rate students to those universities. It is the alma mater of Prof. Chen Ning Yang, the Nobel laureate in physics. As a world-oriented institution, some of the most talented students of our school have also participated in international academic competitions and won golden prizes.

Mr. Yu x x x, whom I here recommend most enthusiastically, is precisely one of those prize-winners. I know him very well on various occasions— I have presented prizes and awards to him at ceremonies of soccer victories and academic competitions. In 20xx, he was matriculated into our school as the second-prize winner of a mathematics competition in the entire city of Beijing. Since then, he has received a most systematic six-year secondary education of the best quality in China and has developed scholastic aptitudes far beyond most of his peers. Throughout his junior and senior middle school programs, he has been consistently studying in experimental classes receiving more intensive education than average students. What’s more, the experimental classes that he has been in are of a special category—the Dragon Class. Therefore he can be rightly regarded as the elite of elites.

Mr. Yu’s academic performance can be described as outstanding. Among more than 500 students in his grade, he has been consistently ranked among the top 10. His academic transcript indicates that he achieved A-scores in a large majority of his courses. He has special aptitudes in physics and mathematics, participating in more than major 6 competitions at city level and national level, winning prizes ranging from first prize to third prize. Those prizes have added significant credit to our school as a whole. For his distinguished performance, he was awarded the WANBANRU Scholarship, which is limited to only two most outstanding students annually.

As a student of science, Mr. Yu possesses acute and rigorous analytical thinking, good at practical problem solving. He likes to ponder over the underlying principles of physical and mathematical worlds and likes to face challenges. It is precisely this indomitable spirit that has led to his continuous successes in his studies.

I would also like to comment on Mr. Yu’s extracurricular contributions to our campus community. He has been the avant-garde of the soccer team of our school and has participated in championships in Haidian School District and Beijing Municipality, winning first and second prizes. His fine sportsmanship has qualified him as the member of the class committee in charge of sports. His long dedication to soccer has considerably enhanced his stamina, which he has applied to his academic work. In addition, he has been the clarinet player of the community orchestra, taking part in voluntary performances. His voluntary community services also include environmental protection efforts like cleaning streets and planting trees.

Winning first prize in an English Reading Comprehension Competition, Mr. Yu boasts of excellent English proficiency. His oral English communication is equally skillful. Therefore, he will encounter no major difficulties in studying in an English-speaking academic environment and to excel academically.

All my foregoing descriptions should have convinced you that Mr. Yu is a student of rounded development, highly motivated and aspiring. It would do him a great deal of good if he is given the opportunity to study at a world-class institution. During this most formative period of his life, your undergraduate program will shape him into a promising young man of whom both you and we will be most proud of.

Yours sincerely

X x x

Professor
President of the Junior and Senior Middle School attached to Tsinghua University
Tele: 0086-010-xxx xxx

嘉文博译郑重声明：