在美国留学申请材料递交以后,接下来的几个月就是漫长的等待。一般在2至6月之间学校会陆续发放录取结果。在这期间,申请者最主要的工作就是跟学校保持联系,关注申请进度。一些学校在申请过程中会赋予每个学生一个ID号码,在联系学校的时候需要用次号码来表明身份。
询问材料情况
在材料寄出、估计已经到达学校以后,可以主动向学校用Email进行询问,包括是否已经收到申请材料、材料是否齐全、是否已收到GT成绩等。如果学校提出需要补交材料,应及时按学校要求将材料补齐,以避免影响学校审核进度。
例
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am a Chinese student who is applying to your university's Undergraduate Program of Business Administration. I sent my application package to the Office of Admission of your university via express mail in late December. I was wondering whether you have received the packet. And if the material I submitted complete? If anything else is required to complete my application, please let me know. Thank you very much and I will look forward to your reply.
Following you will find my basic information:
Family Name: Wu
Given Name: Xiaolan
Sex: Female
Date of Birth: 01/01/1987
Country of Citizenship: China
Best regards!
Sincerely,
Xiaolan Wu
询问申请进度
对于不同的学校有不同的方法查询自己的申请进度,最方便的是部分学校提供的在线状态查询(Status Check)。但是,同样有很多学校既不提供在线状态查询,甚至在申请结果出来之前也不会主动联系学生。因此,在材料寄出后的一定阶段可以向学校用Email询问材料审核的进度、大概出结果的时间等。
例：
Dear Sir or Madam:
Thank you for your work on processing my application. It has been four weeks since you informed me my application materials had been sent to the Admission Committee. I was wondering how it is going now. Is there any possibility to check my application status online now? And about what time I can expect the result from the committee? Please keep me updated with the latest infromation about my application. Thank you!
Bestwishes
Sincerely,
Xiaolan Wu
联系教授
传说中的"套瓷"。这一说法源自于很多年前一些研究生申请者主动向学校的教授推荐自己,并取得了不错的结果。但实际上,在最近的几年中,一般性的写给教授的Email很难得到教授的回应。在写信给教授的时候一定要注意两点：一、学校的院系网页里一般都可以查到教授的资料,在写信前要对教授的背景、研究方向、参与项目等有一个大致的了解；二、自己的专业背景、学习方向要与该教授的研究方向一致或接近。满足了这两点,在向教授表达希望能在其手下获得学习和研究的机会才有可能得到教授的回复。
对于本科申请者,由于材料审核都是由录取办公室进行而不是院系的教授,因此在一般情况下没有必要与教授进行直接的联系。但是,如果一个教授对你特别感兴趣主动联系的时候,要抓住机会尽力展现自己并向教授争取更好的机会。
例：
Dear Professor Smith,
I'm a Chinese senior undergraduate student studying in Sichuan Universiy, Chengdu, China. I'm now applying to your depatment's graduate program of Electrical Engineering. In the last year, I have been working as Research Assistant in our university's Electronic Lab, focusing on the research of EIGPR. It was quite a new research in China, so in order to gather information about it I referred to lots of foreign information. It was my luck to find your book on EIGPR which has been extreamly helpful to me during working in the lab. And also that is one of the reasons I chose your department to be my aim for graduate study. I understand that you need students to work in your project of advanced EIGRP research. I believe with my RA experience in college, I will be a qualified candidate to join your project. And I will be delighted to study under your direct instruction. I'm looking forward to your reply. Thank you very much!
Sincerely,
Xiaolan, Wu
关于Interview
现在,越来越多的学校把Phone Interview(电话面试)加进了对国际学生审核标准。对于研究生申请者,Interview一般是用来最终确定奖学金的人选,由学校各院系的教授甚至系主任主持,会涉及到的问题包括个人的专业背景（本科学习、工作经验等）、期望的学习/研究方向、将来的职业目标等等。对于Interview并不用做过多的准备,只需将自己的简历、学校的基本情况做到大致熟悉即可。在面试的时候,紧张也许是难免的,但尽量不要出现答非所问、甚至回答不上来等情况。
相对于研究生,针对本科申请者的Interview相对较少也不那么重要。一些学校在已经确定录取之后会主动打电话给申请者,但主要目的也只是向学生介绍一些学校的情况、政策、签证信息等。只有个别的顶尖学校会把Interview作为录取的一个因素。象Yale大学每年会派专人到中国来对侯选的学生进行面试,面试的内容并不象研究生一样涉及专业领域,而是选择一些各式各样的问题让面试者进行阐述。对于这样的面试,更始无从准备,只需尽力发挥既可。
询问申请结果
一般在5-6月份的时候学校应该都已经做出了录取决定。如果迟迟没有来自学校的消息,可以主动向学校询问录取结果。
Dear Sir or Madam,
Since it's already May and I haven't heard any words from your university, I'm writing to check whether a decision has been reached on my application. Please let me know as soon as the result comes out. Thank you very much!
Sincerely,
Xiaolan Wu
答复学校录取决定
在知道了学校的录取决定以后,经过多方面的衡量（经济因素、学校因素、研究方向因素等等）后最终只能确定一所学校作为就读院校并用该学校的I-20进行签证。在做出了决定后,需要对所有录取了的学校进行回复。对于决定就读的学校,需要在规定的截止日期（如果有的话）之前向学校进行答复,如果还没有收到I-20的话向学校询问是否需要补交材料、是否需要交入学定金、什么时候能够发放I-20。对于决定放弃的学校,需要礼貌地拒绝学校,如果已经收到学校的I-20应该询问是否需要将I-20退还。
例1：
Dear Sir or Madam,
It is really a great honor for me to receive the offer from your university, and I will be very glad to accept the admission and scholarship. I have sent the reply card, along with the $300 deposit check, to your university soon by express mail yesterday, you should receive it in a few days, please leave me a message via email when you do. And also please notice that, I need my I-20 to be sent by express mail. Thank you very much!
Sincerely,
Xiaolan Wu
例2：
Dear Sir or Madam,
I'm glad to be admitted into your university's undergraduate program. However, after a careful consideration, I made my decision to turn down your offer with deep regret. I hope my decision won't make you any inconvenience. So I'd like to know that in order to close my application to your university, do I need to return the I-20 to you? I'm looking forward to your reply. Thanks a lot!
Sincerely,
Xiaolan Wu，
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