招生官看中申请人的哪些特质？

美国大学开设的管理学项目本身就不多，芝加哥大学的管理学是去年新开的、西北大学的项目连美本的申请人都觉得很难申，耶鲁大学M2M项目对标化要求高，录取难度也很大。

在一众凤毛麟角且高不可攀的管理学项目中，杜克大学显得和蔼可亲，况且杜克大学本身就对国际生很友好，因此对于想要申管理学的同学来说申请名单上肯定有杜克的名字。

目前杜克大学管理硕士项目和BA项目第一轮申请均已于10月2日截止。

申请截止时间

Master of Management Studies:

Foundations of Business Deadlines

第一轮：2024/10/2

第二轮：2025/1/14

第三轮：2025/3/5

第四轮：2025/4/14

申请截止时间

Master of Quantitative Management:

Business Analytics Deadlines

第一轮：2024/10/2

第二轮：2025/1/7

第三轮：2025/3/5

第四轮：2025/4/14

机构 之前就采访过杜克大学商学院高级招生负责人（Senior Admissions Director）Meghan Pollard女士，老师整合了以往采访的内容，带大家看看：怎样站到招生官视角，解读申请准备工作。

01、当你开始负责中国区的招生工作时，你对中国申请者印象最深的是什么？

Meghan: What’s been really impressive about Chinese applicants is that they are very, very smart individuals. They go to great institutions, great grades, great test scores...

But what I’ve really enjoyed seeing over the years is the life experiences and the personalities they have shared.

That comes from the 25 random facts. People are getting more and more comfortable sharing their 25 random things. Chinese applicants are well prepared compared with other applicant groups.

我对中国申请人特别深刻的印象在于，他们非常非常聪明：去了一流的大学院校，取得了优异的学习成绩和标化考试成绩……

但是这些年来，我真正欣赏的是他们分享的生活经历和个性。

这来自我们的一篇申请文书需要申请者分享关于他们任意的25件事。我发现中国申请者非常乐于分享他们的经历。与其他申请人群体相比，中国申请人在申请文书方面是非常精心准备的。

老师解读：杜克大学本来就不会缺少背景优秀的申请者。因此这话背后的Implication就是，三维固然重要，但是招生官会仔细考察每个人更深层次是一个什么样的人。

悄咪咪透露给大家，我们机构以前有GPA2.6的学员照样被杜克大学的管理项目录取，如何在申请材料里展现自己的实力和潜力才是最重要的。更何况这些年，中国申请者在文书准备上已经相当well prepared。

02、Fuqua著名的文书题目：25 random things背后的考量是什么？需要有多random？

We came up with this essay a while ago. The essay basically was, who are you? And people have often started talking about their work. And we don't want to hear about that. We want to know how things are developed.

In some ways, they are random. And in some ways, they are a little bit relatable. It's random because there are different aspects that happened in your life. So, they're things that people that have influenced you. For example, when you were younger, maybe some challenges defined who you are.

Therefore, I think it helps us to get to know who people are. I believe successful people are the ones that can craft their story or tell the things that have influenced them, or that have, for instance, defined them.

这个文书题目其实我们已经用了很久。它基本上是在问，你是谁？

申请人经常会立刻开始谈论他们的工作，然而，实际上我们并不是想通过这个题目来了解你的工作，而是想知道：你这个人是怎么发展而来的。

25件事看上去好像是随机的，因为它们代表着你生活的不同方面，然而在某些方面，它们又有点相关，因为那些事都是影响你塑造你的事，它可能是你小时候遇到的某个挑战。

因此，我认为这篇文书有助于我们了解申请人。我相信成功的人是可以讲好自己的故事，或描述那些影响他们人生的重要事件，那些事甚至定义了他们是怎样的人。

其实25件事这篇文书题目，一直都是杜克的标志性文书。很多人一开始都会揣测：学校用这个题目背后在测试啥？

老师来个招，大家文书写作就不要浪费时间去刻意造作了，千万不要想着在那么有限的字数里每件事都要drama！25件事虽然不能乱写，但是只要是最代表你的就可以了。

最理想的状态是你先对自己有一个深度的自我认识，然后写出来的25件事，又能让别人看清楚who you are.

当然最后要记得proof-reading,不要随意到语法错误都在上面。

03、关于Career Goal的文书题目不需要写Long-term Goal，是因为学校更在乎申请人的Short-term Goal？

Meghan: I don't feel like it because so it's more important. For us, we wanted to see that applicant has thought through it, where I don't I think we necessarily always got what people were considering for their long-term goal because some people just didn't know, and that's absolutely fine.

But you need to know your short term goal. You could get into the program and discover something that you always thought you wanted to go, say, into consulting, and now you took a class in social entrepreneurship, which sparked a light in your heart. Now you want to go and do that. There is some flexibility.

我们并不是认为短期职业目标更重要。

我们希望看到申请人已经仔细思考，但有时候我们并不是一定需要你思考长期的职业规划，因为有些人就是没有，这是可以的。

但是你至少需要知道你的短期目标，比如说，进入咨询行业一直是你想要的短期职业目标，但现在,你参加了一门社会企业家课程，它激发了你的兴趣，那你也可以去做。这事是有一定的灵活性。

04、找到一所自己的Fit的学校有多重要？学校如何来衡量一个人是否Fit？

I think that is so important tofitfor us in terms ofadmissions, making sure we admit right people for the school. Butthe most important thing is people understand that the school is a good fit for them.Otherwise the time here would be miserable for you.

We determine that by reading every single application. There is not one application where there is aGMATscore,we say,that's too low. OrGMAT score that’sso high therethatI don't need to read the rest. Andwe read each application at least twice.And it takes us an hour or moresoto read each application. And then we talk about it in several points. So that's how we kind of get into the nuances of fit. Because also, our admissions we all bringindifferent perspectives. So we tend to find kind ofgems inpeople's applicationsandtheir stories that maybe resonate with us differently.

好吧，老师知道咱们小同学对于fit这种事是不在乎的，毕竟是杜克大名校，录取我我就要去。什么叫“fit”，不存在，没关系，不要紧。

但是大家要明白，招生官会非常仔细地来读每个人的申请材料（至少每个人的材料会保证读过2遍），并不会因为你GMAT或其他成绩特别好或特别差就不读你的申请材料，主要就是会来考察你是否和学校fit。

那你可能要说，fit能当饭吃吗，都能上天了，我还管自己是坐火箭的第一排还是第二排吗，为啥那么重要？

举个例子来说，文章开头的时候我们说过，要是你真的很讨厌团队合作，那么你就算被录取了，过来读书那也会很suffer。其实每个学校都会有自己的文化，就好比：

有的学校食堂比较好吃，

有的学校更在乎老师同学间的关系，

有的学校崇尚个人英雄主义，

有的学校更在乎学生的就业等实际问题，

有的学校老师注重学术和思考。

所以这些在申请的时候，你首先要明白自己的偏好，拗造型一般招生官都能火眼精金辨认出来，毕竟还关系到未来生活的幸福度。

05、申请人为了让自己看上去和学校很fit是应该表现自己很fit还是应该展示“真实的自己”

Meghan: I think when people share their authentic stories, that demonstrates fit, right? Because it's something that we appreciate at Fuqua. And I can tell, and we can tell when someone's crafting a story that feels in a way that is trying to sell themselves.

We appreciate the resilience or the grit, their authentic self. Often, there's so much power in vulnerability, something that someone's overcome that resonates. We're like, Wow, that person really persevered. That's so inspiring to me.

It's hard, right? That was hard to sit in self-reflect and share who you are because there's that fear what if I get rejected? And that if you put your heart and soul and your authentic self? And then the school says, okay, no, we don't admit. I can understand that.

But I think I reassure them that we take a lot of time and care to get to know the individual applicant and get excited about them. When I'm reading an application, I'll laugh because they're so funny, and I can be moved to tears because they've done something incredible or inspired.

I will pick up my phone and call someone else in my office and read it to them. I might even send an email to my admission colleague and just say, (it's) like a great candidate!

老师觉得招生官实在讲得太好了，所以不想给大家翻译，鼓励大家自己仔细阅读和感受。

其实招生官也是人，也会被大家感动，并不是要写“牛牛牛”你才会打动招生官。而且如果你想编个动人的故事或者套路哪个模版，招生官都是能一秒就看清的。

在机构，我们一直鼓励申请人要be yourself，不要故意为了迎合别人或者显得unqiue而去编故事，做你自己就是最好的。

06、能具体说下Team Fuqua意味着什么吗？

It is our fundamental belief – your success is my success, and my success is your success. A collaboration of coming together, understanding that you can only go so far alone, but you can go the farthest when you do it with a team. Of course, B-school is competitive, and type-A people go to business school. The environment is not that cut through, and people genuinely care to see other people succeed.

Many times, several students are going through the same interview for internship or job. One will come out and share the interview questions with their classmates going for the same interview. So, it's a collaborative, fundamental partnership that pushes everybody to be the very best and be their best together.

Team Fuqua是我们的基本信念，也就是：你的成功就是我的成功，而我的成功就是你的成功。因为只有通过团队合作，你才有可能走到最远。商学院的竞争是非常激烈的，但是杜克商学院的同学真诚地希望看到其他同学也成功。

经常出现这样的情况：虽然大家要去应聘同一份实习或者工作，但前面同学面完，还是很乐意把被问到的问题和将要参加面试的同学分享。

因此，Team Fuqua本质上是一种合作的伙伴关系，鼓励每个人都努力做到最好，并一起努力。

好吧，杜克商学院呢，最最在乎的就是团队合作了。老师话来说，这个世界上从来就没有一个人的成功公司吧。各位真有诚意想要申请的同学，你们需要好好打开杜克的网站，认真领会团队协作在Fuqua商学院意味着什么~

喜欢什么事都单干，或者学校里做个team project经常要嫌弃组员的，不喜欢小组讨论不相信集体智慧的，那么老师劝你要三思，因为就算你想在申请材料里装作热爱团队合作都是很难的。伦家同学间就是大气和互相帮助，因为帮别人就帮自己成为更好的人。

写在最后

今年杜克富卡商学院上海的招生宣讲会将于本周六举行，机构有幸获得采访招生助理院长 Matt Clemons 的机会，后续也会出采访解读，大家可以蹲一蹲哦～