被哈佛大学当作成功案例（炫耀才华并最终被哈佛录取的案例⓵）

Racquel Bracken

备注：案例来自于哈佛大学招生办公室

家乡：欧文，德克萨斯州（郊区）

Hometown: Irving, TX (suburban)

高中：私立学校，毕业班100名学生

High School: Private school, 100 students in graduating class

GPA: 3.8

SAT: 760 Math, 740 Verbal

课外活动：

辩论队队长，国家荣誉协会主席，大学游泳记录保持者，儿童医院社区服务志愿者，学生办报纸的特约撰稿人，志愿者西班牙语翻译。

Extracurriculars: Captain of the debate team, president of the National Honor Society, varsity swimming record holder, community service volunteer at a children’s hospital, staff writer of student-run newspaper, volunteer Spanish-language translator.

暑期活动：

暑期辩论学院三年，包括一年肯塔基大学辩论赛肯塔基研究员（教授30名高中生，参加展览模拟辩论，教授和领导研究团队）。大一前夏天，达拉斯野马国家级游泳队成员。在儿童重症监护病房的儿童医院做志愿者。

Summer Activities: Three years of summer debate institute, including one year as Kentucky Fellow at the University of Kentucky debate tournament (taught a group of thirty high school students, participated in mock-debates for exhibition, taught and led research teams). Summer before freshman year, member of Dallas Mustangs national-level swim team. Volunteered at a children’s hospital in the children’s intensive care unit.

奖项：

全国辩论冠军和各种演讲奖（2000年赢得格伦布鲁克斯全国锦标赛，2001年在埃默里大学获得巴克利形式全国辩论锦标赛，2001年在NFL全国锦标赛中获得第二名）。学校游泳百蝶纪录保持者。

Awards: National Debate Champion and various speech awards (won the Glenbrooks National Tournament in 2000, won the Barkley Form National Debate Tournament at Emory University in 2001, second at the NFL National Tournament in 2001). School swimming record holder in the 100 butterfly.

家庭背景和教育：

她的父亲毕业于俄克拉荷马大学诺曼分校，是一名飞行员、小企业主和农民。她的母亲毕业于韩国首尔延世大学，在那里她获得了医学博士学位。

Family Background and Education: Her father graduated from the University of Oklahoma-Norman, and was a pilot, small-business owner, and farmer. Her mother graduated from Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea, where she received her M.D.

国籍/种族：亚裔美国人

Nationality/Ethnicity: Asian-American

大学录取：哈佛（提前录取）

College Acceptances: Harvard (early admission)

大学拒绝：无

College Rejections: None

当 Racquel Bracken 在 2000 年赢得她的第一个全国辩论冠军时，她不禁想到这个冠军将是她大学申请的一个很好的补充。但当时来自德克萨斯州欧文的少年知道，进入哈佛需要的不仅仅是名声。意识到其他潜在申请人会在各种追求中脱颖而出，拉克尔担心她不得不为辩论放弃太多。她认为，她面临的挑战是让招生办公室相信她在辩论中的卓越表现，无论多么有限，都证明了她有能力全心全意地致力于单一的追求。

When Racquel Bracken won her first national debate championship in 2000, she could not help but think that the title would be a nice addition to her college application. But the then-teenager from Irving, Texas, knew that getting into Harvard required more than fame. Recognizing that other prospective applicants would have distinguished themselves in variety of pursuits, Racquel was worried that she had had to give up too much for debate. Her challenge, she thought, was to convince the admission office that her excellence in debate, however limited, was evidence of her ability to commit wholeheartedly to a single pursuit.

中学High School

从九年级开始，拉克尔就读于达拉斯的格林希尔学校，这是一所私立学校，高年级有 105 名学生。作为一名认真的学者，Racquel 以 3.8 的平均成绩在同学中排名第五。作为国家社会的主席，她是大学游泳运动员和跑步者，并为她的校报撰稿。然而，这些活动仅次于为她赢得头条新闻的一项课外活动：辩论。

From first grade onward, Racquel attended the Greenhill School in Dallas, a private school with 105 students in the senior class. A serious scholar, Racquel finished high school fifth among her classmates with a 3.8 grade-point average. The president of national society, she was a varsity swimmer and runner, and wrote for her school newspaper. These activities, however, were secondary to the one extracurricular that earned her headlines of her own: debate.

拉克尔和她的搭档是盘问组的两届全国冠军。作为该队四年成员，拉克尔还担任了队长。她辩论的主题包括美国对俄罗斯的外交政策，特别是在非北约国家边界使用战术不明的武器。在她高四的时候，她支持防止互联网上的盗窃的方法。每周超过 24 小时的辩论要求 Racquel 对各种主题进行广泛的研究，并与她的合作伙伴一起练习快速发言和辩论技巧。她说激烈竞争的经验和广泛旅行的机会是无价的。“在我的主要活动，辩论中，”她回忆道，“在度过一段美好时光的同时，我学到了领导力、沟通和团队合作。”

Racquel and her partner were two-time national champions in the cross-examination division. A four-year member of the team, Racquel also served as its captain. Among the topics she debated were U.S. foreign policy to Russia, particularly the use of tactical unclear weapons on the borders of non-NATO states. In her senior year she argued in favor of ways to prevent theft on the Internet. A more than twenty-four hour-a-week commitment, debate required Racquel to do extensive research on a variety of topics and to work with her partners to practice speedspeaking and argumentation skills. She says the experience of intensive competition and the opportunity to travel widely were invaluable. “within my main activity, debate,”she recalls, “I learned about leadership, communication, and teamwork while having an amazing time.”

申请和论文The Application and Essay

虽然辩论为她撰写论文提供了丰富的经验，但拉克尔还试图向招生办公室传达她对家人的承诺。她写了一篇关于她通过辩论实现的目标的补充文章；然而，她选择写她关于她父亲的主要文章。她第一次在高四的修辞课上写了这篇文章，并在她的英语老师和辩论教练的帮助下进行了编辑。在短短的几页中，她描述了她曾经被她父亲尴尬过，很快就开始模仿和效仿他。贯穿整篇文章的一个反复出现的主题是她父亲告诉当地免下车餐厅员工的愚蠢笑话。“在作品的最后，”拉克尔回忆道，“我是坐在驾驶座上模仿他的那个人。”

While debate provided her with a wealth of experience to draw upon in writing her essay, Racquel also sought to convey the admission office her commitment to her family. She wrote her supplementary essay about the goals she had achieved through debate; However she chose to write her primary essay about her father. She first wrote the piece in rhetoric class her senior year and edited it with the help of her English teacher and debate coach. In only a few pages, she described how, once embarrassed by her dad, she soon began to imitate and emulate him. A recurring theme throughout the essay was the silly joke her dad told the employees of local drive-through restaurant. “By the end of the piece”Racquel recalls, “I was the one sitting in the drive’s seat imitating him.”

联系人和连接Contacts and Connections

拉克尔在申请哈佛时不认识任何教职员工或管理人员，但她被一位朋友的父亲列入辩论观察名单。虽然她说她不确定这是否有任何影响，但她也向一位已经在哈佛的辩论朋友寻求帮助。“我在学校拜访了她，参加了一些课程，睡在她的宿舍里，和她谈论她喜欢去哈佛的事情，”她说。“她不仅帮助我对学校有了感觉，而且在我来到自由人年时为我开辟了新的活动渠道。”拉克尔还接受了两次采访，一次在校园里，一次在达拉斯。她说他们俩都是随和的谈话。虽然之后她没有立即给面试官写感谢信，但她说她确实保持联系并在几个月后感谢了他们。

Racquel did not know any faculty or administrators when applying to Harvard, but she was placed on a debate watch list by a friend’s father. While she says she is not sure whether that had any effect, she also turned to a friend from debate who was already at Harvard for help. “I visited her at school, attended some classes, slept in her dorm room, spoke to her about what she liked about going to Harvard,”she says. “she not only helped me get a feel for the school but also opened a new avenue of activities for me to join when I came freeman year.”Racquel also had two interviews, one on campus and one in Dallas. She says that they were both easygoing conversations. While she didn’t write her interviewers thank-you notes immediately afterward, she says she did stay in touch and thanked them months later.

在哈佛At Harvard

尽管她在高中时非常热衷于辩论，但当拉克尔到达哈佛时，她决定转移注意力。虽然她仍然帮助指导和评判辩论比赛，但她不再参加比赛，而是将时间用于各种不同的追求。Racquel 在校园内开展了一项社区服务计划，并以休闲方式游泳和打壁球。她还对实验室科学产生了新的热情，每周花几十个小时研究干细胞，她曾在辩论比赛中判断过这个话题。

Despite her intense commitment to debate in high school, when Racquel arrived at Harvard she decided to shift her focus. While she still helps coach and judge debate tournaments, she no longer competes and uses the time for a variety of different pursuits. Racquel has run a community service program on campus and swims and plays squash recreationally. She also has found a new passion in laboratory science, and spend dozens of hours a week researching stem cells, a topic she once judged on in a debate tournament.

The Bottom Line

Racquel 建议潜在的申请者不要害怕在他们的申请中专注于一个能力或优势。“我认为我申请中最重要的部分不是我在高中时参加了多少活动，而是我缩小了我喜欢的范围，我必须选择对我来说重要的活动，然后我尽我所能地表现出色。可以参加我喜欢的活动，”她说。Racuqel 认为，大学往往寻求成熟，而证明这一点的最佳方式是展示一个人为自己所爱的事物做出牺牲的能力。

Racquel advises prospective applicants not to be afraid of focusing on one talent in their applications. “I think the most important part of my application was not that I pursued many activities in high school, but rather that I narrowed down what I enjoyed, I had to make choices what activities were important to me, and then I excelled as best I could in the activities that I loved,”she says. Racuqel believes that colleges often look for maturity and that the best way to demonstrate it is to show one’s ability to make sacrifices for something they love.

—Jessica E. Vascellaro

再会.

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