Trans-Continental

Consider this a favor for a certain somebody...

1. Stanford

2. MIT, UC Berkeley

4. CalTech, Harvard

6. John Hopkins

7. Rockefeller University (NY), Scripps Research Institute, UC San Francisco, WUSTL, Yale

12. Cornell, Duke, Princeton

15. Columbia, UMich-Ann Arbor, UWisc-Madison

18. UC San Diego, U of Chicago, U of Washington 

The above list, subjective and biased to the perspectives of some, runs down to rankings in the 3-digits and can also be broken down for specialties including BioChem/BioPhy/Structural Bio, Cell Bio, Ecology/Evolutionary Bio, Genetics/Genomics/Bioinformatics, Immunology/Infectious Disease, Microbiology, Molecular Bio and Neuroscience/Neurobiology.

There's no free lunch. Enjoy this one-time privilege while it lasts...

Supplements

After more than 6 months of assistance in applying to some of the best institutions in the world, here I offer an account of a portion of new, first-hand information I have gathered - the trouble - and the opportunity - of supplemental essays.

What I am referring to here are additional to the Core Documents mentioned in previous entries. Of course, not every single university requires or even offers these supplemental questions, but the trend is that the better the school, the more questions and the more twisted the questions become. Some of these are optional, but others are mandatory and highly unique to the individual university. While inspirations can be drawn from the personal statement you have invested so much into, and under certain circumstances supplements do serve to strengthen, reinforce and expand specific highlights in the Core Document, but remember universities provide these as a way to get to know you better as a potential member of THEIR family. While Harvard provides a common option of an open-ended supplement that could be based on the focus of your chioce or any of these suggested possible topics

1)unusual circumstances in your life

2)travel or living experience in other countryes 

3)books that have affected you the most 

4)an academic experience that was meant the most to you

5)a list of the books you have read during the past twelve months

along with other popular ones such as "why did you choose our university" (George Washington, Boston University, Cornell College, Wellesley College etc.) or "what are the interests or passion you will bring to our campus" (UIUC, UC Berkeley, U of Wisconsin - Madison etc.) but more often, your answer, ranging from a couple hundred characters to a couple thousand words, should show the individuality taylored for individual university, as demanded by the dogged character of some of these questions. Here is a sample of some of the few more intellectually engaging ones I have encountered recently:

Virtually all of Stanford’s undergraduates live on campus. Write a note to your future roommate that reveals something about you or that will help your roommate and us –know you better. (Stanford)

Using one of the quotations below as a jumping off point, tell us about an event or experience that helped you define one of your value (Princeton)

1) "Princeton in the Nation's Service" was the title of a speech given by Woodrow Wilson on the 150th anniversary of the university. It became the unofficial Princeton motto and was expanded for the university's 250th anniversary to "Princeton in the nation's service and in the service of all nations." - Woodrow Wilson, Princeton Class of 1879, served on the faculty and was Princeton's president from 1902 to 1910.

2) "Some questions cannot be answered. They become familiar weights in the hand, round stones pulled from the pocket, unyielding and cool." - "Woman in Red Coat" from "of Gravity and Angels"

Tell us about an experience which, at the time, really fell like "the end of the world" - but had it not happened, you would not be who you are today, Describe the process through which you discovered value in the negative (MIT)

You have just completed your 300-page autobiography. Please submit 217 (UPenn)

Sample Answers from my class' PPT is now available for a limited time. Same old place.

Résumé - Recap

No, it's not resume. A.k.a. CV - curriculum vitae, as in vital courses, experiences. These are what should be in your résumé. As a vital part of your application package, the purpose of a résumé is to all the important information pertaining to these categories:

1. Academic performance - courses related to your future major, honors, AP

2. Employment experience - details of projects/daily tasks, accomplishments, basic information about the employer if necessary

3. Major awards/certificates - not those that everybody has, especially CET4/6/8, they don't mean anything overseas

4. Referees - contact and identity information for the author of your recommendation letters: organization, department, position, email, phone no. (usually office) and address (usually office). Of course, these information should be present in the individual letters.

5. Separate category - for extensive period or accomplishments at any particular office. For instance, if you have been in the Student Council's Cultural & Arts Department for four years, and have worked your way up from general staff to director, an individual list is mandated. Otherwise all the descriptions of your achievements, details about projects, number of staffs under your jurisdiction etc. will be overwhelmingly congested.

When writing the résumé, keep in mind that less is more. Not less information, less wording. Don't be cheap with the details, descriptions and details, that's what the CV is for, objective information important but not essential enough to occupy the limited space on your personal statement. Every line needs to be as concise as possible, so forget throw the grammar rules out the window.

Wordings should also be consistent, like when you are describing your duties at a particular position, if you use verbs, than all the descriptions should be in the S-V pattern. Otherwise, if you use gerunds, stick with it.

Don't use your résumé as an experiment for the most contrasting combination of fonts, colors and sizes. KISS - keep it simple and stupid. Even if you are using only one or two fonts, make sure you stay within the boundary, be safe with choices like Times New Roman or Arial (personally a fan of Arial Narrow). Bold it if it's a heading, big headings call for Underline, use Italics for names (not people or company). Alternatively, you can also try different sizes or ALL CAPS as options, but balance it out and minimize on the other variations. Definitely keep it black and white, period, and graphics like company logos or your own headshots are out of the question, don't even think about it.

Standardize everything. I mentioned wording before. I like using bullets because they give a simple graphic categorization, but make sure the big bullets occupy the same amount of pixels, and each additional level of smaller bullets coincide with each other. As before, minimize on the flashiness, try to keep off the stars or the Nike swooshes. Dots, cubes, numbers, letters are adequate. Sometime you can also try using charts, but be certain the space of each space are the same width, and the vertical lines align on the grid.

This is probably the least customized piece of document in your entire package, and it doesn't require too much creativity, just tedious work. So be meticulous.

Catalogs, Brochures & Literatures

A timely warning for those who dare to dream big: this is about the right period of the year to start considering exactly where to attend. There are several things you should take into serious consideration when selecting universities, as mentioned in Part 3.3 of the Series. Subsequently, for some of you a list of 20 or more selections might have been generated. Of course, as the old cliche goes, don't put all your eggs in one basket, and certainly applying to more schools will mathematically augment your chance of getting an offer. On top of that, you'd feel like a kid going to a candy store when you receive stacks of offer letters. However, before you get your offer, you have to apply (usually online) and send a lot of packages overseas, and at the end of the day, that's gonna take a lot of time, money and effort. As a result, you should further narrow your big shopping list down to a few essentials, I usually recommend 10-12 choices, all of which you will not regret going to. If my objective advices are too boiled down for your liking, consider the individual university's cataogs, brochures and other informational or promotional literatures.

Readings or visiting websites will definitely not substitute for a tour or an overnight visit to the campus, an opportunity readily available for foreign locals but undoubtedly and unfortunately unrealistic for Chinese students.  Since these are designed and published from the individual institution's perspective, you wouldn't get a more genuine feel of the campus, the courses, the faculty or the students short of flying over there in person.

The catalog, so called the bulletin or the brochure, contains all the itsy-bitsy details, including complete and updated list of courses, descriptions of majors and minors, rules and regulations, directory of faculty, staff and administration, various requirements and general info. Since these might add up to something the size of a Yellow Pages, many universities won't send these overseas, but are often available to download or view online.

View book, as the name inplies, embraces a more graphic approach.  View books hold less information and details, but a lot of pictures which gives you another way to feel it. Like they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. These are less of a pain to read and looks just as good on top of your heap of magazines on the coffee table.

We are living in the information age, and what better technology to serve this purpose than the Almighty World Wide Web? These days, even small universities have flashy, fancy websites that might hold a lot more information than even the catalog, from home pages of individual academic departments to individual faculty members, from the newest student organizations to latest updates in the student BBS. In addition, there are three major sources of information which really represents the core of the university: the student newspaper, the alumni magazine and the literary or scholarly publications. These are rarely automatically mailed to even local prospectives, let alone sending them all the way over here, which might get censored or recycled before reaching your mailbox anyway.

The student newspaper is perhaps the most useful tool through which to discover what real campus life is like. Read with an eye toward what is going on at the college and the community around, but read the editorials with a grain of salt. U of Chicago's Life of The Mind and U of Manchester's UniLife are representative samples.

While the student newspaper reflects current student life, the alumni magazine is an interesting way to find out what graduates' are doing, and what you will run into as a future graduate yourself, something like Columbia University's Business School's Hermes.

Many, but by far not every, departments publish their own scholastic journals, or individual faculty might have their researches or thesis accessible on their own homepage. Not only useful for learning about the department of the professor, also interesting for preparing for your future area of academic pursuit. Some I have recently ran into are E@M from University of Maryland's School of Engineering, University of California San Francisco's annual School of Dentistry Magazine, Catalyst from American University's School of Arts & Sciences, or Imperial College's Connect.

Don't just skim, watch out for these highlights:

1. Admission Requirements - courses, tests and tests scores (iBT and new SAT usually not yet calculated) required for admissions; deadlines for application packages to be post-marked; make good notes on the differences between universities, or even between different departments within the same school

2. Degree Requirements - Once you get in, what does it take to graduate and get out. Take for instance, the Business Leadership Program, only opened to the elites of the business school at my university, mandates a number of internship experiences and various validations.

3. Academic Programs - courses offered by the department and diversity of courses in your intended major. Some required courses are fixed, some are flexible to choose from, and then there are those outside your subject area.

4. The Faculty - A good teacher is not guaranteed by an advanced degree, but a degree from an advanced insitution is usually adequate to solidify his/her credibility. Diversity in the background of the faculty within your intended major area or department means a more comprehensive and well-rounded education for you.

5. The Calendar - University calendars and schedules vary widely. Time is priceless and timing is often an integral part of a program, both on a macro and micro scale. You might lose a fun winter break traveling with your friend at another school on the other side of the country, a fulfilling summer internship, or an interesting Thanksgiving celebrating with your new buddy's family and relatives if it conflicts with the course arrangement.

6. Living Facilities - See if you can find the %tage of students who live off-campus, which indicates the quality of on-campus life. Various forms of accomodations are available, from singles to doubles to triples to suites, co-ed or single-sex dorms and on-campus houses. Some buildings might be aged and grined from the outside but recently rennovated, and others could conveniently contain your own shower stall. For instance, George Washington University in DC does not allow wireless internet in the dormitories due to the proximity to sensitive governmental agencies and related security reasons, but it has its own police department and a cop will stroll by any given inch of campus every 10 minutes.

7. Student Activities & Atheletics - All sorts of student governments, committees and clubs exist on every campus, but are there ones that fits your bill? Or are there opportunities for you to conceive, organize and lead your own? Also, what kind of sports have what kind of intercollegiate or intramural sports? Whether big or small, sports comprises a huge part of university life in the west. NCAA, America's governing body for intercollegiate atheletic competitions, is unrighteously a semi-for-profit entity, but it does do a good job in promoting the atmosphere where one could enjoy heart-pumping contests and the environment that inspires talents to develop their gift and professionalism.

8. Special Programs - Explore the existence and opportunity for studying abroad (ironic?), independent study or flexibility in thesis arrangement, or cross-enrollment at an affiliated institution. Take for illustration, each of the four members of The Claremont Colleges, a league located in the sunbathed southern California, where you get the excellent student-teacher ratio of a small liberal arts college and at the sametime the resources of a large institution four times their own respective size, allows for students to conduct extensive studies or utilitze certain facilities at any of the other three.

Don't forget to take notes and be organized with them when you check out a university's publication or website.

Personal Statement - Quick Tips

1. First Impression. Consider something very concise and to the point. Make it short in this case, show off your efficiency in word choice and sentence patterns. Remember, less is more, complicated strucuters does not necessarily means you can write. Conversely, simple linguistics with sparse information means that more sentences are required, and therefore, still inefficient. Or, utilize a story of some sort to illustrate your point. Make sure you are not too copious because space is limited.

2. The One. Why did you choose this university? How is this establishment different from the others? Don't be general: "your prodigious university is famous around the world for the ____ program," or "my relatives in the US/UK holds your prestigious institution in the highest esteem." Like I said, admission officers are always impressed with specific details pertaining to their university, especially coming from the pens of overseas students who have never been abroad. In contrast, why should the university choose you. Why are you the one they are looking for? Furthermore, put yourself in their shoes and contemplate your true value, what you can bring to the institution that others can't.

3. In Details. Examples and descriptions, which exemplify the above. Carefully consider what you call "special skills," because those might not be so special afterall. Whatever experiences, academic or employment, shouldn't just be for the sake of proving your have the background, but strive to think outside the box and look at them from a different light so that they become pertinent to your application.

4. In Conclusion. Be careful of the word count and don't be too windy. Comment about what you have learned from the past, address what you are doing at present, and reveal your academic and perhaps career plans in the future. Vary your lexicons and linguistics to demonstrate your English proficiency. Obviously, absolutely zero grammatical and lexical mistake.

I was on a business trip back to my homeland of Hong Kong the past few days, which resulted in quite a period of silence. Anyway, my business was to have fun, and I did my biz well! If anybody is gonna head to HK any time soon, you gotta read on. This is by no means a comprehensive nor complete (not even close!) guide to "Asia's International City" (as publicized everywhere in the city), since I myself have not lived there for the past decade and a half. And I don't even plan on writing about everything I know, or everything a visitor should know, because that will just take too much time. However, this are just some of my thoughts and through this composition you will find a few hidden treasures I guarantee will not be in your ordinary guidebook, things that I have discovered or come across when I return once in a while, or stuff introduced to me by the human guidebooks.

For myself, getting stuffed was the name of the game. First stop was The Hard Rock Cafe. No, it's not Cantonese cuisine nor is it native to HK, but man, I've been craving for a real American burger like mad! Note here, there is this one Hawaiian dude named Cliff who runs a restaurant/bar joint at 洋人街 in 弹子石, and he grills up a pretty authentic patty and makes a hell of a potato salad, so if you have time to go out into the boonies go check him out and practice your English. Anyway, Hard Rock is a very American restaurant, from patrons to deocrations. I haven't seen so many laowai's for a long time, both in terms of numbers and concentration. The walls are decorated based on a rock and roll themewith all sorts of autographed guitars, pictures, costumes and various memorabilia by your favortie rocker dating back to before you and I were born. Supposedly, each guitar was once used by a star, the pictures' signatures are from the hands of the individuals, and the costumes were once drenched in celebrity sweat, real trophies that hardcore fans would die to get their hands on. At the Cafe you get to enjoy your meals with all sorts of old and new (usually old) songs blasting in the background, in sync with the dozens of gargantuan plasma flatscreens playing the respective music video. Like I said, burgers' not local, but like i said after that, I've been wanting to sink my teeth into a juicy burger patty for I forgot how long. Thus, I ordered a Bacon Swiss Cheese Burger, a perfect combination of crunchy bacon sest, creamy chewy stringy swiss cheese, succulent beef grease and the puffy sesame bun's carbs to soak up the Miller Light (a cheap beer I would take care to avoid back in the States). First meal.

This next one you won't be able to get even if you have money - Grandpa's fried chicken wings. I dunno how he does it, but it's been the same quality since before I left Hong Kong. Crispy, aromatic curry-flavored skin on the outside and juicy tender white meat on the inside. He also cooked up a dish of steamed garlic ribs and stir-fried broccoli to satisfy my everyday fiber needs. Since you all won't get to try it, I will make the long story short on this one. Second day...I kinda forgot exactly when I had what, but let me just briefly go over the worthy ones. Jimmy's Kitchen is located on Ashley Road in Tsim Sha Tsui 尖沙咀. A historical English gentleman's eatery complete with imperial decor style woodgrain and pearl white linen, and gloved connoisseurs in tuxedos with a slight pseudo royal accent, as I would imagine it a bona fide replica of The Free Mason's dining hall as described by MingKe. Across the street from Jimmy's is a kebab shop which is opened until four in the morning for those in the nearby dive bars with a drunken munchies. Forgot the name of this place, and disappointing was the kebab, which is a Middle-Eastern pancake roll with meat (usually lamb), shredded and diced veggies like lettuce and tomato, and whatever their secret sauce is. Although the lunch wasn't special, it adequately accomplished its mission in filling up stomach space, and reminded me of the happy times and kebab I used to get from a place called MSM back in the university days. Around every other corner in the city, especially in the Tsim Sha Tsui, Mong Kok 旺角 area, you will find the HK-style tea houses and semi-大排挡. These are the local's local favorites, and the favorites include things like 奶酱多, which is thick-cut bread lightly toasted on both sides and topped with condensed milk and peanut butter; as well as the spherical relatives of 散尿牛丸 popularized by Stephen Chow, which I have never actually heard of, plus things like beef tendon 牛筋 and wonton 云吞 (no no no, not 馄饨 or 抄手). Beware though, some tea houses are better than others, and I happen to run into a crappy one which left me very unsatisfied for the early afternoon. My survival instinct told me to stopped by a 小贩 stand for a skewer of other balls, and I did not regret it. Lobster balls, cuttle-fish balls, beef balls, beef-tendon balls, pork balls, potato balls...beginning to sound like Bubba the shrimp guy from Forrest Gump. Anyway, balls plus 猪大肠, which is actually 肥肠 (fantestine or fantastine, as I call it, as in fantastic intestine), sausage links, bratwursts, and sliced cucumbers and eggplants skewers are thrown into a pot of unsanitary oil, fried, and topped with a variety of sauces like black-pepper and curry. Diarrhea-inducing, but delicious. I would like to specifically mention a particular tea house called 永乐园. Sounds like a mortuary, true to some extent 'cause their famous hot-dog king's creation will send you to 7th heaven. Their magic actually isn't that mystifying, just a perfectly toasted dog bun puffy throughout, a cheap meaty sausage, and silky tartar sauce, all presented in a practical, efficient fashion fit for the lunch time or rush-hours of Central 中环, the financial district of Hong Kong. My dad grubbed on this three decades prior when he was still wet behind the ears, and he took me there "long long ago" when both our schedules coincided and we could enjoy vacations together. I called him long-distance to figure out how to get there, but it's situated in one of the many alleys between two of the many skyscrapers and his explanation was pinpoint from an ex-pat local's perspective but the landmarks he described has either been removed or rennovated and renamed. I usually don't believe in destiny, but this time I suppose it was my destiny to once again pay tribute to the hot-dog king, a balding, scrawny and runty, unassuming man in thick black-rimmed glasses, exactly the image painted in my memory. What was once a lowly fishing village, 鲤鱼门, famous for its fresh seafood, has grown into a must for entertaining foreign clients. This place is a little steep for me, and far as well, seeing that I don't have my own yacht, so I had to fulfilled my hunger for seafood (sorry, Chongqing only got "river-food," and as good as it is, not the same ballpark, not even the same ball game) elsewhere. These seafood restaurants are all over town, marked by the wall of huge, cascading tanks coasting with all kinds of sea creatures. My personal favorites are 散尿虾, boiled and sliced abalone and other shellfish such as 象拔蚌, shark's fin soup (if it's cellophane noodle, it will break easily, but real shark's fin will stretch a little bit like a rubberband), prawns (the size of your forearm) and lobsters (the size of your thigh) done in whatever style, in particularly steamed and served with minced garlic sauce. Still didn't gain a pound.

For others, shopping is the call of duty. Most visitors will prefer to make their first stop at giant shopping malls lined with everything from LV, Gucci, Y-3 and Evisu boutiques to specialty stores and imported brands, along with all sorts of restaurants I did not have time or stomach space to try. Some of the popular ones include Pacific Place in Admiralty 金钟, IFC in Central, Time Square in Causeway Bay 铜锣湾 or Harbour Plaza/Ocean Centre/Ocean Terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui. They are around every corner and literally every MTR (subway) and most KCR (train) stations has one of these just above ground, but a few others I have been to, a little further away but for sure worth the trip are Telford Plaza in 九龙湾 and New City Centre in 沙田 near the first home in my memory, and APM in 观塘, and here I recommend finding the express elevators and get yourself up to the 26th floor to the arcade, where there are some of the newest and hottest video games out in the streets, as well as 贴纸像 a.k.a. 大头贴, but Japanes style. These are called puricula in Japan, and its a little different. Gone is the endless and tedious choice of silly backgrounds, comes the exicitng and creative digital painting after a brief 2-3 minutes of picture taking (do it right, cuz there are no re-takes). You get to leave memorable messages in all sorts of fonts and colors, choose from a variety of picture frames, put a cartoon ice-cream or an animated octopus in your friend's mouth...(do it quick, cuz there's a ticking clock) all before they are printed out. These makes the most personal memorabilia for yourself. A new found favorite of mine is Langham Place, a neatly designed, 13-storied behemoth of fun, just off of one of the MTR exits. Going on the opposite direction of that exit is the famous 球鞋街, a 8 to 12 blocks-squared area of shoes, socks and laces. Just windows after display cases of Nikes, Adidas', NBs, Pumas, Reeboks, Le Coq Sportifs, Converses...even Dr. Martins, Caterpillars...You won't see so many shoes all in one place outside a sweatshop. Many of these kicks are available in the athletic equipment stores like Marathon and Champs Sports or the invididual brand's stores found throughout the sort of malls mentioned above, but for a smaller price tag and occasionally negotiable. And yep, they are still the real McCoy. Furthermore, if lady luck is smiling upon you, check out the few specially imported specialties stores. These are situated toward one of the sides of the 球鞋街 neigborhood. Find the store called LA 洛杉矶, and the others are adjacent to it. FYI, a few blocks away, near a different Mong Kok MTR exit is the 女人街, quite similar to the operations of the same names in CQ, offering fake goods popular with mostly foreigners. Tracking back to Tsim Sha Tsui, here are a few things to look out for. Lots of shops on Granville 加连威老道, Cameron 金马伦道, and Kimberley 金百利道. On one end of these streets is Nathan Road 弭敦道, with all the electronic toys for foreigners, and at the opposite terminus is Catham Road 漆咸道. Starting from the junction of Catham and Granville, walking with your back toward the ocean on Catham, eventually on your left, near a Toyota (or is it Honda?) dealership sits another import stores with lots of sick kicks and gears. There is a 利时广场 off of a little side path on Granville. It's not easy to find, but it's worth getting your guts together and asking a cop or shopkeeper about it. Lots of quality, one of a kind cheap finds fabricated by local designers, mostly for girls. Many of the shops previously administered at 利时广场 has since then relocated to 金百利广场 in Causeway Bay. To find this building, take the subway and find Sogo 崇光, a huge Japanese department store also worthy of your time. It will be sitting across the road from its main entrance. Just around the kitty corner is 百德新街, where a few more badass stores, in particular J-01, can be found. Due to the humane import taxes of Hong Kong, overseas goods from electronics to fashion are cheaper than they are in the mainland. Didn't have enough dough on me to cop an iPhone personally, but I could get my hands on a few if anyone's interested. Allow me to round this up for you all ladies, since cosmetics are probably even more important than shoes or bags. The famous Sasa stores are everywhere, and from painful first-hand experience, you can get a case of Chanel foundation for the same price of a Revlon in Chongqing. Furthermore, literally walls are lined with colorful and sparkling bottles of perfumes and colognes, including many old time favorites as well as new offers unavailable in most mainland stores. From first-hand information, Sasa is able to sell for a lower price because the company imports straight from the producers abroad, whereas the specialty stores or counters go through a local dealership, who of course takes a cut. The disadvantages of Sasa, however, is that often they do not have the newest items or the complete product line, which might really let you down. In addition, there regionally-limited computer stocking system does not allow for the salesladies to find out which store to get what you want. Nevertheless, even the specialty counters like Dior offers the same good for less.

Of all the cities I have been to, HK is the one that truly embodies the trans-continental ideal. No boundaries based on distance, one-stop shop and everything in one, but individuals are still distinguished and respected on the basis of ones culture and heritage. Of course, within the locals themselves still exist certain subconscious racial discrimination, but at least in terms of business, it's the freest metropolis around. The city has been awashed with so many cultures it's tough to say if Hong Kong has its own original culture, andone can also interpolate that she absorbs the essences, good or bad, of others and takes on constantly morphing shapes and forms like Transformers, changing with the world at a global pace, while still displaying traces of individual groups and cultures. Personally, living is enjoying, I "live" to enjoy, I don't live to work, I just work to live. So if the place is so great, why ain't I there right now?  Not the pressure, I love the pace and the pressure and everything else (unfortunately, no real 麻辣 hotpot yet). Hong Kong is forever my home but has been my home away from home for most of my life, and probably will stay that way, so in my mind it can only exist as a place where I "live," not where I work and live. It's kinda like what the great late Tupac said: "To 'live' and die in Hong Kong cuz it's the place to be."

Application Materials - At a Glance 

1. Application Form. Often these are available online, but occasionally you might have to download the document, print it, fill it out and mail it back to the school. At first glance, there might be a lot of complicated questions. However, there's a first time for everything, it gets clockward afterward. Although all the forms are more or less cookie-cutters and nothing difficult, just tedious, pain-in-the-ass type, that does not mean you should do it in a rush. A single mis-spelling or the right answer in the wrong blank space demonstrates your carelessness and carefree attitudue.

2. Resume. Personal contact info should be well-positioned, but nothing too detail. Don't do it as per the Chinese version, which is standardized with a lot of blocks for filling in irrelevant information (from their perspective) such as ethnic group, marital status and health (what are you suppose to say anyway? a foot in the grave? recently infected with SARS, 98% survival rate? malignant cancer, going through chemotherapy, 2% survival rate?). What follows needs to be a well-organized list of (if applicable, and not necessarily in the order presented here) academic background and related courses, employment experience and major duties, achievements and awards, as well as Referees' contact details. These should be to the point and written as concisely as possible, including time, organization, address and position (once again, if applicable). Do not make this too fancy.

3. Personal Statement, a.k.a. Admission Essay. Once again, according to Ivy League and top university graduates, as well as personal experience and successful cases, this is by far the most important element of your application, far more valuable than test scores. As mentioned previously on numerous occassions in class, the better the school, the more they look for people who can truly bring value and something different to the table, the Originality. As per "How to Get in Top 5 MBA," the Stanford MBA program, (with the lowest acceptance rate and highest average GMAT score, has the most scrutinous admission policies numerically in the world) could fill up their entire class with candidates who are graduates from top undergrad Finance programs, with perfect GMAT scores and three years of working experience at famous consulting firms. But they won't. Instead, the admission comittee might decide these people are all over the world and we already have enough of them, so the empty spot could go to someone with a 3.2 GPA in English and worked for a non-governmental organization (such as UN or WHO) in Africa. Why? Cuz this guy or gal stands apart with unique perspective, the type who can really conjure the popular biz-lingo "creative solutions."

Equally essential are Leadership and Organization. The resume is like a report card, the PS tells the stories behind the scene. Fully explain and describe, including details and examples, how the background, experience and achievements noted on your resume illustrates all three. Of course you need to answer their essay question (which are more similar than not) directly, but admission officers want to see how you work in all three simultaneously, while also arguing why they should let you in with the results from your Simple Self-Assessment. It's like writing an auto-biography with a specific audience, and you might have to add a little here and there to make yourself look better. Furthermore, you might have a lot to say but space is definitely limited, so every single line must be a carefully and xpertly crafted jewel. This is a great chance to show off your penmanship, and they look for that, because you will be writing a lot of papers overseas. Well, you can improve your composition skills then, you need to get over there first. 

Additionally, individualizing each essay for each school also shows your earnesty and conviction. Take for example, by declaring specific topics of interest, preliminary research proposal or interest for a particular class taught by a particular professor exhibits both knowledge in the subject area as well as the focus of your future study there and your self-determination. Another necessary procedure is to incorporate the university and the academic school's name into the composition. Supplement the titles with explicit reasons why this particular institution is right for you. Once again, admission officers scores higher for foreign students who knows what they are doing, but don't try to cut corners and duplicate what is written in middle-man company study abroad brochures. Find an xpert or do the reseach yourself.

4. Recommendation Letters. The Recommendation Letters are used as evident from a third party for confirming what you have said and boasted about in your personal statement. For most referees, especially those who are experienced (and you should find the ones who are experienced), they know that all they have to do is to provide their organization's official letterhead and official envelope for you, and sign twice for each letter (once on the letter itself, once on the seal of the envelope). This means you should write the letter yourself, and write it well, because admission officers won't believe a referee if he/she makes a lot of grammar mistakes or includes Chinglish expressions. 

Before you compose your Letters though, you have to find suitable referees. There are tons of varieties and specifications, depending on your subject area. Generally you will need to find two or three, at least one of whom must be able to verify your academic ability, i.e. a teacher or professor. These referees should know you on a personal basis (of course, the definition of "know" varies from different perspective, and can be altered under the pen of an xpert, if you know what I am getting at). Meeting this pre-requisite, try to find people in as high positions as possible, and preferably with international experience.

Note here, some universities require a Recommendation Form. This usually won't take much time, and involves the referee scoring you like a judge to a competition, on the basis of categories such as creativity, diligence...as compared with however many peers, as well as his/her professional information like years of working experience, time since knowing you etc. This is a often a mandatory bu dreary step which perhaps you can negotiate with the referee whether or not he/she will authorize you to complete on his/her behalf.

5. Necessary Documents. Language and admission test scores such as TOEFL, IELTS, SAT, GRE or GMAT must be sent directly by the agency to your school, as required. However, if impossible most schools won't mark you down too much for sending them a photocopy of your test results. Your grade report/transcript (no earlier than high school), degree certificate or certified enrollment statement must be translated, and properly, I must insist. If you conceive a brilliant essay, but your school, where you learned to write, cannot provide official documents free of common grammar or spelling mistakes, the legitimacy of everything about your application will go down the drain. This is also an easy and tedious procedure but needs to be accomplished in a cautious and professional manner. The translated documents should be chopped with the official stamp, exactly as the Chinese originals, to show that they have been verified. You need to send both the photocopies of the Chinese genuines and the translated versions in the application materials package.

6. Portfolio. Sometimes, especially art students, are required to send over a portfolio of past creations, products and achievements. Yes, if you are planning on getting an MA in Sculpture, you might be sending a wooden chest with a 50 kg statue in it, and yes, it will cost more than just an arm and a leg. Or they might just ask for a traditional wheel of slides, which will be a chunk of change as well, considering the number of schools you might apply to. For others, this portfolio could include anything from photocopies of awards (only if these hold real weight and can serve to distinguish you from others), copies of newspapers and magazines (of which you are the reportee, or editor/manager to show your organizational skills, or columnist/reporter if Journalism-related subject area is your pursuit). These are usually supplementary which means not mandatory, but could enhance your credential immensely if chosen with care. So choose wisely, otherwise you risk looking like a fool, just like your competitors.

Simple Self-Assessment

By now all of you future applicants should have become the captain of your ship, master of your destiny. Here I offer a couple foods for thought in preparation for the long and arduous but ultimately rewarding journey ahead.

1. Strength. If you have no clue, ask the people who knows you best: parents, relatives, friends, classmates, even your professors. Believe me, 当局者迷, 旁观者清. Whatever others tell you, they must have a point, even if he or she is a little off the deep end. From your stand point these "skills" are useless for your application, and that might hold a grain of truth. However, the difference between you and your competitors lies in your uniqueness, and these abstract experiences, from the right perspective, could be crafted into diamonds in the rough that will have you outshining others. Note that sometimes a strength can also come in the form of overcoming a past weakness.

2. Experience. How does what you have done and learned apply to your future study? Especially if you are changing subjects. Your experience should, from a certain point of view and to a certain extent, demonstrate your skills, and might perhaps be reinforced by particular achievements.

3. Achievement. Make a list of what you have accomplished, start with this past month and backtrack, or anything new you have learned from classes lately, and begin keeping a diary. These NOT necessarily be distinguished with awards, prizes or official recognitions, because just as above, the minute differences will make all the difference. Take for example, no one in your circle might have obtained a Grade-10 Piano Certificate, but every round for the past few years more than half of Yale's pool of mainland Chinese post-grad applicants submitted in their resume and/or personal statement "piano" as one of their "achievements," and they are more than likely to have gotten the dreaded rejection letter.

4. History. As of now you should already know where your interest lies, but what is the cause for this effect? Stronger roots, stronger branches. If the subject you are applying for is truly what you want to do in life, you must have a lot to say about it, including history. Admission officers don't want to read that Speilberg's Transformers blockbuster persuaded you to pursue an electronics or mechanical engineering Master's degree and to research about super-conductors or hydraulics and pressure censors. However, if you add that Optimus Prime and Megatron have captured your imagination from day one and you have constructed a squeaky robot out of junkyard goodies for your little brother's sixth birthday, that looks more like an All Spark than just a spark plug. This interest should not have stemmed from parents' influence or teacher's suggestion. You need to think about how to show your originality and resoluteness when making a decision.

University - Under One Roof

Ranking

After you've decided what to do after graduation and have chosen the major that you truly feel fits your bill, pretty much the direction is set. In large, if it is the plan to come back to China, I'd advise selecting a university with higher overall ranking (or at least a famous one), since domestic employers with little or no international intelligence are prone to succumb to the weight of big name institutions.

On the other hand, for those looking to continue their life abroad, whether that be further education or starting a home overseas, it's safer to go with an institution with better major ranking in relation to your subject area. Very few universities can offer outstanding quality in all subjects, and foreign locals know that. Corporations and schools over there understand very well the necessity of technical skills and specific know-hows for recent graduates in the real world or in post-grad education, and thus, interviewers or admission officers are more inclined to offer a spot for those who know what they are doing. Unless the university is ranked high in both rankings, choose one or the other. If you try to grab both, you risk losing both. You might not be able to graduate from a world-famous university for now, or whatever you've learned might not be too helpful in your career, but everything has a price to pay. This is not macro economics, don't try to find the equilibrium between supply and demand.

Degree Title

Mind the school's official description of its major. Sub-specialties will most definitely have overlaps, but it's the minor variances and attention to minute details that makes the difference. Take business specializations for instance, International Business might be geared toward the process of initiating mergers & acquisitions and certifying franchises, or the effects of trade regulations, macro economics and regional politics on a multinational corporations and its external operation; relatively speaking, International Management's core courses might compose of inter-company communication, cross-functional project coordination and foreign human resources management that will influence a corporation's internal arrangement and its cooperation with the personnels from its foreign partners on a joint venture program. Similarly, Management in Innovation & Technology and Management of Innovation & Change diverge to some extent. The former is likely to concentrate on launching and running R & D projects or protecting your firm's intellectual property rights, whereas the latter might provide students with a general view on modern management techniques but then delve in-depth into adapting to globalization and defending territories in the domestic marketplace against potential new entrants in a high-growth industry. Likewise, Electrical Engineering might look into electromagneticism, power distribution, dynamic systems and sustainable energy, while Electronic Engineering is a discipline that revolves around things like microelectronics, semiconductors, signals and integrated circuits.

So what? On the short run, that means adjusting the general orientation of your personal statement as a whole, or the perspective through which you should present the details. On the long run, that means deciding on the right choice, beforehand, whether the International Relations major offered by the institution focuses on politics or management, and then committing to it afterward.

Location

Some will advise against being picky about the location. I disagree wholeheartedly. Whoever told you that has not even been abroad, and probably doesn't speak English as well as you do. It is true that for some, the environment is not part of the equation to success. On the other hand, for those who gets positively infected by their surrounding, whether that be the zen and tranquility of a lakeside forrest, the morning dew sparkling amidst rays of sunrise reflecting off a snow-capped peak coupled with the refreshing sub-zero gust as you open the window to welcome a brand new day, the omnipresent buzzing and humming of neon signs rudely interrupted by the squeaking hydraulics of dumptrucks in the eerie hours, or a weekend stroll in a favorite museum with your student-discount year pass, where to set up shop will make all the difference.

On another note, the right place might have the right opportunities of your fancy, both on and off campus. Though consider this simple scenario. School A is highly ranked in your specialty of International Banking and situated in a suburbia college town; meanwhile School B is an unranked university that sits near the financial district of a metropolis, where do you think the city's top business consulting firm will go first? As long as you belong to an industry-respected institution, your prospect of getting internship or employment from the ideal organization is more likely than wrongly believing in geographic proximity or traveling convenience.

Finally, inquiring about the location, campus and facilities of the universities of choice will also augment the chance of success. Through specific descriptions of the school's settings or resources, you can show that you've done your homework and that you mean business. Admission officers are always impressed by such customizations if overseas students can illustrate details, especially if the narratives are local and unique, not just an account ripped off from a 10 kuai travel guide or a study abroad agency brochure.

Subject & Major

A few simple advices to note here.

1. Planning. Important, just not too far ahead of yourself. Calculation doesn't make a hero, as they say. Not that you shouldn't pay attention to what you will study. Oh no, that's vital, just don't expect your 5-year blueprint will work out exactly as you've drawn it. As long as you are good at what you do and you can prove it (and a degree from an accredited institution helps, too), you will get a satisfying return on investment, ROI in finance/accounting terminology, so don't ask me which major will allow you to make a bundle right 5 years later.

2. Curiosity. There's something money can't buy. For instance, your interest. Most majors mandate a final thesis/dissertation project at the end of your last academic year. You have to spend days in the library for research and write 10, 20 thousand words, in English. Even with monetary motivation, sorry pal, you won't be able to stick with it if you aren't in to it. It's like paying RMB25,000 a year for anywhere from one to four years to suffer. Overemphasizing on employment even before you start school will for sure minimize your ROI. You still have to think about what you want to do in the future, what's your dream job, just not exactly how much you will make right away.

3. Flexibility. For undergrad applicants, it is comparatively easy to change your major. However, remember that switching from Finance to Economics is much easier than jumping ship to Ecology. As long as the two majors are somewhat similar in nature, it will make entire process much smoother. Therefore, when in doubt, think hard before applying about what you are really interested in, choose something that is relatively close, allow yourself to settle in at the foreign university and make the final decision on your future direction. Warning, your initial choice in major should also at least partially conincide with your strength and background, in addition to your interest, in order to maximize your chances of enrolling to the best institution possible. No strength no background? That's not possible, you just need to look from a different, trans-global perspective to discover your true self and what's right for you.

4. Master's. When considering which country to study in, you might also think about the general style of subjects and majors offered. Within undergraduate studies, there isn't much difference between the two major choices--the US and the UK. However, when it comes to pursuing your post-grad degree, these two differ significantly. Not in terms of quality, but availability. The States is more research-oriented, and most schools, from the best to the unranked, offer specialties similar in name and nature. The exception here is the MBA, a very much American course that does stress on real-world application with their famous and up-to-date case studies. The Brits, on the other hand, recently have been inclined to spin off quite a number of very specialized and very individualized programs, or I should spell "programmes." In this aspect, the UK Master's education framework is much more diversed, and the curriculum focuses more on utilization rather than theories and calculations. Even course titles suggest innovation.

Your choice to study abroad is the first link in a chain reaction which will forever alter your life.

Nation

Strongly advise against selecting a certain country because your relatives are there. Frankly speaking, you will be spending most of your time at school and with your schoolmates to study, to learn, to live and immerse into the local culture, and to establish your future network. Thus, you won't have much time to spend with your family, which are unproductive academically anyway. Additionally, if your relatives can provide you with networking or employment opportunity, they can do so without you hanging out at their house at all. That's why they are called family.

Different nations varies in strengths and weaknesses, including financial aid availabilities, employment opportunities and immigration policies.

In terms of scholarships, fellowships and grants, the ones obtainable in China draws a lot of competition. Consequently, unless your competitive advantage is distinct and you have a lot of time on your hand, this won't be an efficient way to utilize the limited time that you have. Applying for overseas scholarships as Chinese is a disadvantage. According to inside sources, a large number of previous mainland Chinese applicants apply to less popular majors (such as education in the US), and jump ship to their intended departments once they receive the money. Thus, financial aid officers often think twice before granting monetary support to overseas mainland Chinese applicants. Finally, don't worry, money is relatively much more abundant overseas. Student Aid Offices or Financial Offices are set up in the central administrative building at more or less every school. Staffs are there to help you figure out your economic matters, including financial aids. You will find that much more application opportunities are available, and opportunities available only to those with particular background similar to yours. There will be funds for those who are Chinese, for those with particular religious affiliation, and for those in your specific major/research area.

Job opportunity plays a vital role in selecting countries. I am not talking about part-time work here, there's pretty much a market for college students anywhere you go, as long as you are willing to suck it up and remembering that academics is the priority. Generally speaking, after graduation, jobs are hardest to find in the UK, since you have to convince the employer that in the entire E.U. there's no one better than you at this position. However, on your visa you do have an extra year for that, and the slick ones will scheme to apply for futher study (usually at a crappy school to increase the chances), renew the visa with the admission offer, decide to not attend the school and stay in the UK for an extra year and a half with the renewed visa. So called "immigration-friendly" nations such as the US do have much more lenient regulations when it comes to future jobs, so if your plan is to stay overseas to get some hands-on experience, the latter is more reasonable than the first. Of course, your chances at employment are directly related to your field as well, but that will be discussed in a later addition to the Series. However, I can say that if you choose the right place to study for the right thing, you need not worry about unemployment after graduation whether you are overseas or back in the motherland.

Finally, for some, the reason for going abroad is simply a way to go local and get a citizenship. In this aspect, Australia without a shred of doubt stands out. If so, you probably already have family network over there, with a job and a room waiting for you at their home. In this case, there is really no need for you to spend too much time reading the rest of the Series "From Decision To Departure." Unless you still want to get something out of the hundred grand and few years to be spent.

Then you should stay tune for the next episode: Subject & Major

 This time of the year (summer) is about ripe for complete immersion into the preparation of going abroad. The actual peak of the application process is around November for most applicants, therefore, obviously it would be wise to jump the gun just a little bit and get a head start over others.

"Why?" you may wonder.

To begin with, this is a much more complicated process than most imagined. Determining your major alone might be a task you couldn't handle yourself, let alone the exact selection of institutions you will spend time and money and effort to apply to.

Second of all,  it would be most advantageous, to not only yourself but also the admission officers, for you to avoid the most congested period, much like you don't wanna be on the road during rush hour. In terms of applying early, there are two benefits. For one thing, most of your competitors (other applicants) have yet to apply, so needless to say you face weaker and lesser (number of) competition overall. For another, the admission officers would be more than ecstatic to start their work early as well instead of sitting around, toying wiht their thumbs, kicking rocks, and waiting for the inevitable surge of applications to drop in on them all at once. So they will be most gracious for yours fashionably early arrival, and you leave with them a positive first impression that no words or awards of 4.0GPA can replace. Two birds with one stone. Word of caution, I am not talking about Early Decision or Early Application here, entirely separate issues.

Last but not least,  there are too many seaweed 海带 out there, and I sincerely hope you won't become one of them. You gotta know, the people around you will have a great influence on who you will become. Furthermore, your peers will also become your priceless network hereafter, aiding you in everything from your job to your child's job. The MAX Think Tank is a clearcut example. In addition, you gotta remember, studying abroad is an investment of time, effort and money. To get the most bang for your buck, attending a prestigious university is your best bet. "How do you define 'prestigious'?" you might wonder. Something I shall bring light to in the not too distant future. Anyway, therefore, you need to know what Ivy League or Oxbridge types are looking for. That, I shall unveil in the near future. However, I can quickly sum it up and let you know right now that you WILL need time for the pre-application preparation. With proper guidance, your competitiveness will triple and chances are you will receive an admission notification from a school that semesters ago you never even dreamed of. Like many cliches, "failing to plan is planning to fail," contains more than just a grain of truth.

Great news to those looking for help in composing what I call Core Documents. I have just recruited and received confirmation from more than half dozen associates of mine to act as North American Overseas Education Consultants for the M.A.X. Think Tank (official name TBD). They hail from Stanford (4th overall), UPenn (7th), Columbia (9th), Brown (15th), CMU (21st) and USC (27th). Even though without any actual assistance I have written Core Documents, most notably admission essays/personal statements, for those who have received offers from and gone on to further education at the best insitutions in the world such as Yale, Bristol and Edinburgh (with current projects aiming for MIT, Stanford, U of Chicago and Bristol) now my long time friends and colleagues have provided me with the secret weapon which granted them admissions, both undergrad and graduate, to these top universities. The most valuable element of these new assets is that these acquaintances are now working for organizations in various industries, and thus, their Core Documents reflect the different styles most suitable for their respective field. One of them works for an NPO (non-profit organization) focusing on promoting peace between China and the rest of the world; another one is a consultant at the world-renowned Goldman Sachs investment firm; a childhood companion of mine, also one of my earliest memories of friendship, is a reporter at CNN Hong Kong, and her classmate a script writer in Hollywood.

This Think Tank consortium embraces the other side of the Atlantic as well. Graduates and current PhD fellows from places like Oxford, Cambridge and Bristol provides further support from different perspectives in the midst of their hectic and glamourous life at McKenzie, Ernst & Young and HSBC. Away from the business sectors, one of our guys is a pharmaceutical nutrionist, and another one is in the process of his doctoral research on software programme (yes, that's British spelling) for linguistic descriptive search on graphics (or something like that).

I decide to blog up a little block in cyberspace with not just personal, but also a little something business, cuz u know, cash rules everything. Unfortunately, being somewhat of a minor local public figure, besides the minute glamour comes the occasional negative press as well, so perhaps I should do a bit of PR myself, so you get to hear my side of the story on whatever story about me. Plus, all articles published on this space will be wholely or maybe sometimes mostly composed in English, since I type much faster if I don't have to worry about PinYin. However, please feel free to respond or comment in Chinese.

This is also partially dedicated to Trans-Continentalism, a term I coined that represents the elimination of geographical boundaries and the cooperation of differences. Internationalism focuses on the big players with clout. Globalism incorporates everyone, large or small, and erradicates all borders and distinctions. Trans-Continentalism symbolizes the transfer of ideas, goods or expertise that are differentiated not based on physical locations, but specialties. If one aims to be trans-continental, it is even more essential for one to distinguish oneself, bring something irreplicable to the table, that one else can imitate. Experience, insight, creativity...more on that later...