致所有正在閱讀這篇文章的中國(guó)高中生、大學(xué)生、研究生和家長(zhǎng)們：      
To all the Chinese high school, college, graduate students, and parents reading this, 
　　如果我告訴你們，我有直通哈佛、斯坦?；?a href="http://m.outsidethesystemhealing.com/yuanxiaoku/meiguo/Yale_University.html" target="_blank">耶魯這些美國(guó)頂尖名校的秘訣，你會(huì)怎么做？你會(huì)給我多少錢？會(huì)請(qǐng)我到北京最頂級(jí)的飯店大吃一頓嗎？或者是帶我到中國(guó)最有異國(guó)風(fēng)情的地方走一遭？雖然拒絕如此奢侈的禮物對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)非常困難，但我不得不承認(rèn)，世上根本沒(méi)有這樣的秘訣。不管其他教育咨詢機(jī)構(gòu)之前告訴過(guò)你什么，但是被頂尖美國(guó)大學(xué)錄取始終是一個(gè)頗有運(yùn)氣成分的人為流程。就算你的SAT成績(jī)很高或者你曾經(jīng)獲得過(guò)很多獎(jiǎng)項(xiàng)，也不能保證你就一定能被錄取。這世界上根本就沒(méi)有能確保進(jìn)入某一學(xué)校的捷徑。
　　If I told you I had the secret to guarantee admissions into a top US University like Harvard, Stanford, or Yale, what would you do? How mUCh money would you pay me? Would you treat me to the finest dinners in Beijing, or a vacation in the most exotic locales in China? As hard as it is for me to turn down sUCh lavish gifts, the truth is, there is no secret. I don’t care what other edUCation consultancy agencies may have told you in the past, but admissions to a top US Universities is a human process, and mUCh of it is by chance. It does not matter how high your SAT score is or how many prestigious awards you’ve won, there is no way to ensure acceptance into a specific school. 
　　我所能做的，是給學(xué)生和家長(zhǎng)們一些建議，告訴他們?nèi)绾纬浞掷米约旱母咧谢虼髮W(xué)生涯，以及如何合理定位自身從而最大可能地獲得錄取。在我自己經(jīng)歷過(guò)大學(xué)錄取過(guò)程之后，我總結(jié)了一些經(jīng)驗(yàn)與你們分享，來(lái)避免你們犯與我一樣的錯(cuò)誤。
　　What I can do, however, is give students and parents some general tips on what they can do to make the most of their high school/collegiate career, and position themselves well enough to have the highest chance of gaining admissions. Going through the college admissions process myself, I have experiences to share with you so you don’t make the same mistakes as I did. 
　　不過(guò)在開(kāi)始之前，我先做個(gè)自我介紹。我是美籍華人，在西安出生，2歲的時(shí)候移居到美國(guó)。我在波士頓長(zhǎng)大并且完成高中學(xué)業(yè)，之后，便去了劍橋城的哈佛大學(xué)學(xué)習(xí)心理學(xué)和醫(yī)學(xué)預(yù)科。在大學(xué)期間，我參加過(guò)許多不同的課外活動(dòng)，特別是一個(gè)幫助波士頓唐人街弱勢(shì)青少年的課外項(xiàng)目。大學(xué)畢業(yè)之后，我去了南非的約翰內(nèi)斯堡，建立了我自己的非盈利組織，并在當(dāng)?shù)氐囊粋€(gè)貧困鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)，通過(guò)體育和教育來(lái)幫助青少年。你可能會(huì)想好奇為什么我現(xiàn)在在中國(guó)為IDP寫(xiě)博文。那是因?yàn)槲艺幱贕ap Year，明年8月將回到哈佛，進(jìn)入醫(yī)學(xué)院學(xué)習(xí)。在申請(qǐng)美國(guó)院校方面我有許多經(jīng)驗(yàn)，我想我可以分享一些信息給你們。
　　But before I do that, let me first introdUCe myself. I’m Chinese American. I was born in Xi’an, and moved to the US when I was 2 years old. I grew up in Boston, where I attended high school, and subsequently went across the river to Cambridge to study at Harvard, where I studied Psychology and pre-medical studies. I was involved in many different extracurricular activities, in particular, one after school program that helped underprivileged youth in Boston’s Chinatown. After college, I went to Johannesburg, South Africa, to start my own non-profit organization that assisted the youth in an impoverished township there through using sports and edUCation. So now you might be wondering why I’m here in China blogging for IDP. I’m here on a gap year before I start medical school next August. I figure since I have so mUCh experience applying to US schools, I can help share some of that information.
　　現(xiàn)在來(lái)說(shuō)一說(shuō)我將會(huì)在博客里和大家分享的內(nèi)容。我將給你們一些關(guān)于準(zhǔn)備申請(qǐng)的建議，什么是你應(yīng)該做的以及你不應(yīng)該做的。我也會(huì)寫(xiě)一些我作為美國(guó)人，在中國(guó)生活所觀察到的現(xiàn)象和文化上的差異。與此同時(shí)，對(duì)于中國(guó)教育系統(tǒng)，生活質(zhì)量以及任何我所能想到的特定方面，我也將發(fā)表我自己的看法。如果你有任何關(guān)于內(nèi)容上的意見(jiàn)或者建議，請(qǐng)告訴我，我會(huì)盡我所能來(lái)滿足你們的要求。哈佛校友咨詢熱線：400 821 8688
　　In terms of this blog, here’s what you can expect. I’ll give you some general advice on how you can prepare for the application process-- what you should do, and what you shouldn’t do.      I’ll also write about some of my general observations as an American living in China and differences in the culture. I’ll talk about what I think about certain aspects of the edUCation system here, the quality of life, and whatever else comes to mind. Please, if you have any suggestion or comments on what you would like me to write about more, let me know, and I’ll try my best to accommodate you. 
本文作者：前哈佛面試官、哈佛知名校友Mr. Patrick LI