Why should we improve our study background in the United States?
When applying to American universities, it is not enough to have good grades. An in-depth understanding of overall quality is much more important than getting a good score. Maybe you are busy preparing for the American College Standard Examination at this time, but at the same time, you should also understand that exams are not everything in your life. You should slowly get out of the exam life.
What are the specific ways to achieve background improvement?
1. Internship and work experience
Is it necessary to participate in internship or work? First, consider whether you have enough time and energy, and whether the TOEFL and GRE scores have come out. If they have not come out yet, it is recommended to take the test first, because the scores are the prerequisite for determining whether you can apply and what level of school you can apply for. If you can arrange your internship and review, you are confident that you will get the results at the right time, and the company you are interning at is relatively famous, such as a Fortune 500 company, and the work content is very relevant to your application, you can also go for an internship or work first.
In addition, for some majors, the school clearly requires that it is best or must have internship experience, such as management-related majors, such as information management systems, engineering management, and public health. Regarding policies and management, if the hardware conditions and school background are the same, students with internship or work experience will have an advantage.
2. Extracurricular activities (including student unions, volunteers, etc.)
In addition to the main scientific research background in the resume, the school will also pay attention to the students' extracurricular performance to see the students' other aspects. Ability and character, such as leadership, teamwork, helpfulness, love of life, etc. Write truly about your extracurricular activities. There is no need to participate specifically, because the main influence is the scientific research background.
In addition, for specific majors, you can focus on highlighting some experiences. For example, when applying for management-related majors, you can highlight your experience as a leader.
3. Papers (including journals, conferences, etc.)
For master’s degree applicants, if you have a paper, it can be a plus to your application. If you don’t have a paper, it will not have much impact on your application. For doctoral applicants, it is best to have a thesis. If not, it is best to have a rich scientific research background. Because the main purpose of whether it is a paper or a scientific research project is to prove the applicant's scientific research ability. Having a paper doesn’t mean anything. Is the paper in Chinese or English? Which author is it? Is it the first author, or is it just a name? Is the journal the paper published in university-level, national-level, or international-level? What is the size of the impact factor?
It is recommended that if possible, the paper should be written in English as much as possible, the author should be ranked as high as possible, and the journal should be a national or international core journal. The bigger the impact factor of the paper, the better. Such papers have a relatively high gold content. If the content of the paper matches the professor's research, it will be very helpful for the application. The same is true for larger conference papers.
4. Award certificates
General certificates of awards during or before college that are particularly relevant to the major the applicant is applying for, such as scholarships, competition certificates, awards for three good students, outstanding league members, etc. Certificates can prove a student's excellence and professionalism and can be reflected in their resume. These awards are the icing on the cake. If you don’t have them, they won’t have much impact on your application. But if you have some important national awards, it will undoubtedly be of great help to your application!
5. Teaching assistant experience
Similar to the thesis mentioned above, if doctoral students have similar experiences, it will be of great help in applying for teaching assistantships and research assistantships during their doctoral studies. If you have the opportunity and time and energy permit, it is recommended to participate as much as possible.
How to plan your background improvement direction?
1. To improve your background in studying in the United States, you must be familiar with the evaluation systems of each university.
Many American universities have their own unique evaluation systems when admitting students. For example, at Harvard University, the prerequisite for recruiting students is to first understand whether the student has unique creativity; whether they have strong curiosity and motivation to explore new fields; in addition to the student's major field, whether the student cares about other fields, whether There is a wide range of interests and other issues. Therefore, while arranging study time reasonably, try to participate in as many extracurricular activities, volunteer work, etc., actively undertake some organizational work, and record some of your feelings in these tasks.
Your excellent organizational skills, participation skills, and leadership skills demonstrated in these activities and experiences will help the admissions officers understand who you are and what value you have.
2. When improving your background in studying in the United States, you must highlight individuality
If an American university admits you, what special value will it bring to the school? It will also help them know how to way to look at your academic performance objectively. Because it is difficult for a person to be the best in many aspects, just use the main time and energy to do a few "wonderful" things and highlight the abilities in a few aspects. Therefore, you must actively participate in these activities during this period, but the experience and feelings of these activities are the basis for later paperwork.