Sawyer 是一名被Dartmouth College錄取為大一新生(freshman)的男孩，錄取前他接受過一次校友面試，由Connor(Dartmouth 61級學(xué)生)、Alexander(Dartmouth 80級學(xué)生)和Jim(Dartmouth 84級學(xué)生)三人主持。他們在面試后撰寫的報告中分析了Sawyer的各方面特點和品質(zhì)，我們摘錄了其中兩段：

1. Intellectual Engagement and CuriositySawyer scored 1410 on his SAT exams and is in the top 10% of the most academically competitive school in Greensburg. He plans to follow a career in engineering/computer-science, but on his own initiative reads Shakespeare and quality Sci-Fi. He is also a finalist for the University of North Carolina’s Morehead Scholarship- the highest award North Carolina can give a high schools student.

2. Commitment and Personal Motivation in ActivitiesSawyer swims for his high School and also finds time to work every Saturday afternoon at The Greensburg Medical Center as a volunteer. He currently teaches computer science at local King’s College to “gifted and talented” high school students in the area. As the Student Body President, Sawyer was awarded the school’s Junior Leadership Award. By far the most impressive and unusual achievement of this candidate is the operation and ownership of a financially successful computer business. He is paid to program, consult, and teach for small businesses in Greensburg!”

譯文：

1. 智力水平與求知欲Sawyer在SAT測試中得了1410分(滿分1600)，在格林斯堡具競爭力的學(xué)校中名列前10%。他打算從事工程與計算機科學(xué)的職業(yè)領(lǐng)域，雖然這只是閱讀莎士比亞和科幻小說而萌生的念頭。在北卡羅來納大學(xué)Morehead獎學(xué)金評選中，他已經(jīng)入圍了決賽，這是北卡羅來納州的高中生可以獲得的高獎項。

2. 社會活動的參與動機與奉獻Sawyer效力于校游泳隊，同時每周六下午還到格林斯堡醫(yī)療中心做義工?，F(xiàn)在他執(zhí)教于當(dāng)?shù)氐膰鯇W(xué)院，向‘天才班’的高中生講授計算機課程。作為學(xué)生會主席，Sawyer曾經(jīng)被授予‘高一學(xué)生領(lǐng)導(dǎo)獎’。到現(xiàn)在為止，這名候選人引人注目、不同尋常的成就是擁有并運營一家獲利豐厚的電腦公司。他向格林斯堡的小型企業(yè)提供有償?shù)碾娔X編程、咨詢和培訓(xùn)服務(wù)?！?/p>

相信任何一個人在看到上面的評論都會認為Sawyer是個杰出的學(xué)生！

直到今天，很多很多的高中生、大學(xué)生總會問我，以往申請到MIT、哈佛的學(xué)生是什么樣子的？他們是因為什么被錄取的？

我為這個問題抓狂。

的人突出的地方各有特點，但在大的層面上都是相似的：學(xué)習(xí)好，會玩，會領(lǐng)導(dǎo)。他們總能夠吸引眾人的目光，并且影響身邊的人和。應(yīng)了一句名言：“活著就是為了改變”。

Sawyer在國王學(xué)院的“天才班”授課和他開辦電腦技術(shù)公司對格林斯堡的很多人產(chǎn)生了影響，他創(chuàng)造了一些特別的益處帶給別人。

Hillary Kiline也是一名被Dartmouth College錄取的本科新生，她的面試官寫的報告里同樣有關(guān)于領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力的一段：

Commitment and Personal Motivation in ActivitiesHillary is a thoughtful and strongly optimistic young woman. She has been President of her class for four years and enjoys the responsibilities and opportunities afforded her as a class leader. She is captain of the soccer team for the second year in a row. Her team reached the third round of the state championship this year before being eliminated by the team that went on to win the championship. She was also a member of the all-star district team.

She recently played an integral role as part of a team applying for a Venture Capital Grant to benefit her high school. She, the principal, the Superintendent and a teacher were interviewed in the state competition. She noted that her school was the only one competing that included a student on its team. Their school also won the competition and the Grant. The money will be used to develop and support a mentoring program which she helped design.

譯文：

社會活動的參與動機與奉獻Hillary是一位有思想、很樂觀的姑娘，她已經(jīng)擔(dān)任了4年的班長，十分珍惜作為班級領(lǐng)導(dǎo)能夠承擔(dān)的義務(wù)和發(fā)展機會。從10年級開始她連續(xù)擔(dān)任足球隊長，今年率隊闖入州冠軍賽的第三輪，負于了冠軍隊。同時她也是“全明星隊”的一員。

近她在申請一筆用于建設(shè)學(xué)校的投資基金的小組中起到了至關(guān)重要的作用。Hillary、校長、教學(xué)主任還有一名教師一起參加了州里的競賽。她發(fā)現(xiàn)本校的小組是所有含學(xué)生代表的參賽組中有競爭力的一個。她所在的學(xué)校也贏得了那筆基金，這筆錢將用于支持和發(fā)展一個她參與設(shè)計的教育指導(dǎo)項目。

Hillary的影響力更是顯而易見，她像節(jié)里提到的戴文淵一樣，帶領(lǐng)一個團隊取得了矚目的成就，并且參與了“大人”的事情，和校長、老師一起為學(xué)校爭取了一筆資金，用于幫助身邊的同學(xué)。

影響力是始終伴隨強者的“影子”，能看到影響力，就能看到一個人的地方。

在化學(xué)上有個概念叫“凝結(jié)核”，是指在凝結(jié)過程中起凝結(jié)核心作用的物質(zhì)，比如貝殼形成珍珠時候的沙粒、人工降雨中的碘化銀。的人能在人群中起到“凝結(jié)核”的作用，將團體的力量發(fā)揮到大。

美國的名校在錄取候選人的時候，由于海量的申請很難做到逐一和候選者見面，但他們?nèi)匀幌Ｍ辽倏吹胶蜻x者的“影子”。比如耶魯商學(xué)院的錄取短文有一篇：

Describe a professional accomplishment that exhibits your leadership style. The accomplishment should include evidence of your leadership skills, a description of the actions you took, as well as the impact you had on your organization. (500 words maximum)譯文：

請描述職業(yè)上的一項成就以展示你的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)風(fēng)格。這項成就要能夠證明你的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)技巧、描述你采取過的行動，并說明你對所在組織造成的影響。(限500字以內(nèi))加利福尼亞州著名的文理學(xué)院—— 克萊蒙特—— 麥肯納學(xué)院(Claremont McKenna College)，在錄取短文(essay)中作這樣的要求：

Leadership is a constant theme and emphasis at CMC. In fact, one of the ways we describe CMC students is ‘Leaders in the Making’. Choose someone, fictional or nonfictional, historical or contemporary, whom you consider to be a leader. Suppose you are this person’s primary advisor. How would you advise this person and why?

譯文：

在克萊蒙特—— 麥肯納學(xué)院，領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力是一個永恒的主題和重點。事實上，我們給克萊蒙特—— 麥肯納學(xué)院學(xué)生的稱呼之一就是“成長中的領(lǐng)袖”。請選擇一個你認為稱得上領(lǐng)袖的人，虛構(gòu)的或現(xiàn)實的、歷史上的或當(dāng)代的都可以；假想你是這個人的導(dǎo)師，你將如何指導(dǎo)他？為什么？

雖然我們不至于為了迎合學(xué)校選拔標準而改變自己，但“影響的魅力”確實是者必備的品質(zhì)。

想一想，你曾為身邊的人做過什么？