Personal Statement

　　　　　Applicant: XXX Program: Undergraduate Program in Economics

Every morning when I enter Jingshan High School, I would habitually cast my eyes onto an inscription on the monument by the school gate, which reads “Education should be oriented toward the modernization process, toward the entire world, and toward the future.” The inscription is by Deng Xiao Ping, the most celebrated Chinese statesman known to the world and the chief architect of the country’s opening and reform campaign over the past three decades. This inscription, written for our school 18 years ago, marked a totally new chapter of education across the country, reversing the former test-centered education pattern to a new one, one centered on the comprehensive development of the intellectual, academic, and personal qualities that would fully prepare students for the challenges of tomorrow.

As the most prestigious school in the country, Jingshan High School has not only attracted special care and concern from a number of top leaders of the country as the nation’s paragon of high school education but also has established collaborative relations with quite a few European and American high schools. As part of the school, I have been particularly proud of this unique heritage and I have always been spurring myself to be worthy of the school’s tradition and prestige. More than most of my peers, I have realized that a rounded development of intellectual and personal qualities is how I can best prepare for the future. As a high school student in the most formative periods of my life, I am convinced that the essential part of this rounded development is to open my mind and to open my heart, to acquire those qualities of mind and character necessary for good citizenship and wise leadership, a broad intellectual curiosity that embraces open-mindedness coupled with critical thinking.

Jingshan High School, equipped with the best faculty fully committed to excellence of teaching and scholarship, has allowed me to open my minds in an intellectually stimulating environment. I have been systematically educated through a wide spectrum of subjects, not only the conventional ones like mathematics and physics but also the most updated ones such as computer science, biology and environmental science. What’s more, our teachers all seem to have the knack of making the courses as fascinating as they are instructive. On my part, I have maintained a high level of curiosity for almost all the subjects offered and I have studied them with the insatiable interest of an aspiring student. I decided that the ability to achieve academic distinction was really a matter of initiative—that ability to pursue beyond the ordinary requirements of each course and beyond the average efforts of my classmates. By capitalizing on my sound academic foundation in the middle school and by making a little more extra efforts than my classmates each day, I have achieved an average score of over 90/100 over the past three consecutive years, ranked among the top 5 in my class.

While maintaining a high level of excellence in all the courses, I have had ample opportunity to explore and then deepen my academic interests. This is what I call "finding my passion" and this passion informs my choice about what I would like to study during my undergraduate program. My greatest passion lies in mathematics. Since my primary school, I have been a student in the special training class of Mathematical Olympiad and my exposure to the esoteric Chinese mathematics classic “Nine-Palace Diagram” further excited my love for mathematics. The essence of the classic is to find solutions to challenging problems through different approaches and perspectives. However, the progression from primary school to middle school and finally to high school has been an arduous journey of escalating difficulties—I have been plunged into increasingly smart groups of elite students and I have faced increasing challenge to be the better of the best. This practice of giving myself constant pressure finally landed me into the Mathematics Class at Jingshan High School, a class that subjects a selected number of students with special mathematics aptitudes to intensive training. Even in this most competitive environment, I have succeeded in maintaining a No. 2 position in my mathematics performance. For me, the best thing about developing my mathematics aptitudes is not so much in participating in a number of major mathematics contests and winning a spate of honors but in the development of effective teamwork. In many contests, I have worked in team projects and close collaboration among team members and with our instructors has been the key to our success and I am always been proud of my role as a contributing team player. Another important outcome of my firm mathematics foundation is that I have also been a winner in a number of important physics and chemistry contests.

　　　　　　　　个 人 陈 述
申请人： XXX
申请: 经济学专业本科，美国西北大学/南加州大学

　　每天清早，当我进入景山学校时，我会习惯性地将眼光投向校门旁矗立着的一块碑上的题词――“教学应面向现代化，面向世界，面向未来。” 该题词出自邓小平之手，中国最为世界所熟知的杰出政治家以及中国过去三十年改革开放的总设计师。这篇写于18年前的题词，标志着全中国教育的一个崭新篇章，逆转了此前以考试为中心的教育模式，变为一种最新的模式，一种基于学生知性、学术和个人品质综合发展的模式，旨在使学生作好全面的准备，面对未来的挑战。

　　作为中国最声名卓著的一所学校，景山学校不仅仅吸引了国家诸多高层领导的特别关爱，被当作高中教学的典范，而且还与众多欧美中学建立起了密切的合作关系。作为该校的一分子，我为我校独特的传统和遗产而倍感骄傲，而我也一直激励我自己要无愧于学校的声望。较之于我的大多数同龄人，我更深切地意识到学业及个人品质的全面发展如何能最好地使我为将来作好准备。作为一个置身于我一生中最关键成长期的高中生，我相信这一全面发的核心部分在于开放我的心与智，去获取头脑和性格中那些足以能使我担当起良好的公民和明智的领导者的品质，一种广泛的求知欲，既能使我心胸开阔，又不乏批判性思维。

　　景山学校，以其致力于优秀教学与学术研究的一流师资，使我得以在一个催人上进的学习氛围中开放我的心智。通过广泛的一系列课程的学习（这些课程既包括常规的数理化，亦涵盖最新的计算机科学、生物以及环境科学），我奠定了一个系统的知识基础。更可贵的是，我们的老师们似乎都掌握着各自的拿手绝招，能让他们的授课变得既富于启迪，又引人入胜。就我自身而言，我对所上的课程全都保持着很高的求知欲，学习起来充满了一个好学上进的青年学子所特有的一种旺盛的兴趣。我相信，一个学生是否学习优异，关键在于他是否积极进取，是否能够超越每门课的一般性要求，超越我同龄人所能作出的一般性努力。通过充分发挥我初中时代所积累起来的良好学业基础，并且每天坚持比我同学多作出一点努力，我在过去的三年中维持了90/100分以上的平均成绩，名列全班前五名。

　　在所有课业中维持优异成绩的同时，我还得到了充分的机会来探索并深化我的学术兴趣。这就是我所谓的“寻找我的激情所在”，而这一激情将决定我在本科期间我将选择的专业。我最大的激情无疑在于数学。自从我小学起，我一直是奥数特训班的学生，而我随后所接触到的中国的《九宫图》数学典籍，也进一步激发了我对数学的热爱。这一典籍的精髓就在于训练人们如何从不同的角度、以不同的方法来解决问题。从小学到初中，再从初中最后到高中，每一步均意味着一段更具挑战性的征程。我一次次地置身于顶尖的学生群体之中，面对着与日俱增的挑战，要竭力成为优中之优。这种不断给自己施压的做法最终使我入选景山学校的数学班，这个班让为数不多的特选学生接受深度的数学训练。即使在这个竞争极强的环境中，我仍得以维持数学课业表现全班第二的水平。对我来说，拓展自己数学秉赋的益处，不仅仅在于参加各种各样重大的数学竞赛并获取荣誉，更在于培养了一种卓有成效的团队精神。在多个竞赛过程中，我必须完成集体项目； 与老师和其他团队成员密切合作，一直是成功的关銉。而我能引以为荣的是，我始终能扮演好一个善于作出贡献的团队成员的角色。我深厚数学功底的另一个重要结果是，我也能在诸多重要的物理和化学竞赛中获奖。