在美国本科申请中，许多大学一般会在你填写报名表的时候，要求学生提交两到三篇作文，即essay。校方有了你的四年高中英语成绩，你的SAT写作成绩或者ACT写作成绩，有的学校还有你的面试结果，那么为什么还要你提供几篇开卷作文呢不难理解，他们不是想进一步了解你的写作水平，而是想通过你的文章来进一步地了解真正的你。
一、写作文的原则
这种作文对大部分中国学生来说不是件容易的事，这主要是因为中国学生的行文和内容多半严肃有余，活泼不足，易给人一种枯燥刻板、不苟言笑、没有个性的印象。大学招生官员每天要看大量的作文，千篇一律的作文太多，读来读去都乏味了，如果你的作文没有明显的亮点，那就流于平庸了。
作文题目各种各样，且无论在形式上还是内容上都较活泼、自由，同时又不失庄重。从题目上基本看不出出题者的倾向和喜好，基本没有对错之分，这就给作者留下了巨大的想像和发挥的空间。让人读了题目之后，有一种写作的冲动。关于如何写好作文。作者想把一位招生官员对考生写作文出的忠告推荐给大家，请好好读它并体会其中深刻含义。
1、作文不是写给具有丰富想像力的招生官员看的，也不是写给具有高度文学修养的老师看的。阅读作文的对象应被想像为你的朋友、室友或者你的亲属。
2、不要为了作文而作文。作文应是在讲述一个故事，讲述一个在一页纸上能完成的故事。
3、在作文里的你应该是一个真实的你，而不是一个想像中的、理想中的，甚至是一个完全虚构的你。有人说，应该表现你最美的那一面。但我认为应该表现你的两面。无论你想表现的是哪一面，都应该符合你的实际情况。
4、作文可以让别人看一看，提一提意见，但你的作文应该表现出你自己的风格、特点，表现出你自己的思想、情趣和喜好。关键是要写出一个活生生的、独一无二的你自己。
二、作文的题目和例文
下面是加州理工学院2007年考生必须提交的作文题目，同学可以看一看，想一想。
Please answer questions 1 and 2 on separate pages. Attach them to this form and include your full legal name and date of birth on each page。
Please limit each essay to 500 words. Remember, these essays are just one of many factors considered in your application. Use this form to respond to number 3.
1. Please share with the Admissions Committee how you discovered Caltech and the reasons you decided to apply. What do you believe you would contribute to Caltech both academically and personally?
2. In addition to your interest in studying math, science, and/or engineering, we are interested in knowing about you as a person。
To this end, write an essay on one of the following:
a. What event or events have shaped your life?
b. Select one activity outside of math and science in which you have been involved, and describe why it has been meaningful to you。
3. Please fill the rectangle below with something you think is interesting. (Refer to the guidelines on page 4 of the application instructions。)
作为一个例子，下面给出一个2007年被斯坦福大学录取的中国考生的报考作文。
题目：haring intellectual interests is an important aspect of university life. Describe an idea or experience that you find intellectually exciting, and explain why. (250)
作文：I enjoy thinking differently and originally. When my chemistry teacher assigned a planning lab that involves “create a buffer solution using chemical compounds of appropriate concentration and explain why H2O cannot resist changes in pH。” Instead of rushing into finding a suitable acid and salt to create the buffer as our teacher expected, I immersed myself into uating the question itself. I asked myself that if a water molecule, when dissolved in a liquid with lower pKa, donates H+ just like CH3COOH does in aqueous solution, why can’t water be used as a part of a buffer? I asked myself that if NaCH3COO can be used as the conjugate salt of in buffer solution, with the same logic why couldn’t NaOH be used as the conjugate salt for H2O? From here I was able to think further, and although I was faced with more problems as I continued, by solving them one by one through referring to the most basic definitions and principles of chemistry and the information on my AP chemistry books, I find myself closer and closer to my destiny。
A few days later, I wrote my planning lab with the research question “using H2O and NaOH of equal concentration dissolved in liquid NH3 to create a buffer solution”. After my teacher praised me for the originality and feasibility of my idea, I once again felt the thrill of achieving something I desired. (235)
(编辑：ada)
