17岁的腼腆男生Luke Kenworthy, 在藤校放榜日当天，和众多申请学生一样，翘首以盼，忐忑不安。
他已经收到了MIT的拒信，芝加哥大学和卡耐基梅隆大学的候补通知，以及早申哈佛得到的defer答复(收到这一答复的学生将被放入RD申请池中，和RD申请学生一起竞争录取名额)
从这一系列的录取结果来看，他进藤校的希望微乎其微的了。然而，上天给了他一个大大的惊喜——他收到了7所常春藤大学的录取信，分别是哈佛大学、普林斯顿大学、布朗大学、康奈尔大学、哥大、宾大和达特茅斯学院。耶鲁给的也不是拒信，而是候补。
在名校难申的今天，得到一所藤校的offer就足以让人欣喜，何况是7所，而且还包括录取率低至5.2%的哈佛大学。
常春藤大学2021届新生录取率
8. 康奈尔大学 — 12.5%
7. 达特茅斯学院— 10.4%
6. 宾夕法尼亚大学 — 9.2%
5. 布朗大学 — 8.3%
4. 耶鲁大学— 6.9%
3. 普林斯顿大学 — 6.1%
2. 哥伦比亚大学 — 5.8%
1. 哈佛大学— 5.2%
这些藤校不仅希望学生学术卓越，课外活动突出，综合素质高，领导力强，还希望学生能『很好地展现自己』——文书。文书在申请顶尖名校的作用不言而喻。
这个在Early Action申请阶段被哈佛defer的男生感受到了文书的重要性。他换了文书题目，决定挖掘自己小时候的经历：「虽然写小时候的经历有点奇怪，但是对我来说很重要，因为这些过往经历在很大程度上塑造了现在的我。」
文书改了，offer就来了。下面我们一起来看看助他拿到这7所藤校offer的文书写了什么，是如何凸显自己的特质的。
"The soft thumping of my dad's heart provided a small degree of solace as I cried with my head on his chest. I was in fifth grade. He had just told me that my mom, having been attacked by her boyfriend, was in the hospital. I remember being surprised with myself, surprised that I would be sad after all she had done. This was the same person who, when I was eight, threw a drunken party at our house for teens younger than I am now. This was the same person who would disappear after spending nights at the bar, the person who went to jail for trying to strangle my dad in an inebriated stupor. She had not been a part of my life for over a year since my dad received sole custody; I thought I had closure, that I was ready to move on. Yet, hot tears still ran down my cheek as I imagined her swollen face and the bruises on her arms.
"I had always been shy as a kid and the absence of my mom exacerbated this problem as I tried to unhealthily suppress my insecurities and fill her absence with others' approval. In sixth grade, I constantly sought the attention of a group of kids who, in turn, bullied me. Consequently, when I switched schools going into seventh grade, I was shy and timid, afraid to engage with new people. I pictured myself near the bottom of a rigid social hierarchy. The next year, I started to branch out more, but inside, I remained obsessed with how others perceived me.
"Entering high school, I would spend hours at a time thinking about my insecurity and talking through memories of my mom with my dad. During this time, I would always remember how I had stared numbly into the ripples of my dad's shirt as a fifth grader. I could never forget that feeling of helplessness, but with repeated reflection, I began to understand this moment in a different way. Given her circumstances — raised by an abusive, alcoholic father and a neglectful mother; involved in several dysfunctional relationships with controlling men; drinking to numb the injustices of life, but then realizing it was too late to stop — I have no way of knowing if my life would be any different from hers.
"For the first time, I began to understand an idea that has since granted me freedom: I cannot walk in my mom's shoes, and thus, no one else can truly walk in mine. The way others perceive me is inherently inaccurate, so I do not need to concern myself with what others think. This realization provided me the freedom to become untethered from the approval of others, finally at ease with myself.
"I started to open up. Throughout high school, I began talking to others about ideas that fascinated me, like space travel and philosophy, rather than frantically searching for common ground. I quit football, realizing that I largely participated for the status it brought me, and joined cross country, because I genuinely enjoy running. I started holding the door open for my classmates almost every morning, greeting them as they arrived at school, hoping to brighten their day. I became engaged in my role on student council, which paid off when I was elected student body president. Even then, it wasn't the role itself that I found meaningful, but the way I could use it to help others. The basis of my friendships shifted from validation seeking to mutual, genuine respect.
"As I listened to my dad's heartbeat that night, my mind filled with anger and sorrow. However, in hindsight, I am thankful for the lessons I learned from my mother; the pain I felt was a necessary step in the process of becoming the person I am today, someone who is unafraid to express himself."
文书点评：作者写了自己的转变，由内向胆小、不安全感很强、渴望得到同龄人的关注到打开心扉，真诚面对自己。自己小时候的性格缺陷是由于母亲的缺席，但作者没有一味怪罪酗酒不负责、酒后又家暴的母亲，而是站在母亲的角度去想。因为母亲从小到大的生长环境不好，在这样的环境下，母亲成为这个样子也情有可原。理解了母亲，放下了执念，也就解放了自己。写得真诚感人，打动招生官不难。