Undergraduate (2013 - 2017).
b.s. in agricultural and consumer economics, concentration in consumer economics and finance
minor: food and agribusiness management
university of illinois at urbana-champaign
High School GPA: 40
TOEFL 2012: 102 out of 30 in writing.
Main application direction: business.
Other offers:
university of washington
Indiana University Bloomington and other well-known business schools.
Double Master's Program (2018 - 2019).
m.s. in global commerce – university of virginia, mcintire school of commerce
msc.in Global Strategic Management Esade Business School (Spain).
Departmental Scholarship $10000
A- or above in all subjects.
Undergraduate GPA: 391，graduated with high honors (top 7%)
Language exemption with an A+ score in Advanced Writing
gre：156+163+4.0
Main application directions: Master of Business, Human Resource Management, and Master of Agricultural Economics
The graduation ceremony held in Barcelona, Spain in June was a successful end to my six-year journey as an international student in a foreign country.
Looking back on my journey along the way, there are both unexpected joys and regrets and dissatisfactionBut fortunately, I have never regretted my decision to study abroad, and I am glad that I chose to study abroad in the first place.
First of all, let me tell us a little bit about my experience.
The decision to study abroad was made when I was in my third year of junior high school, and the course I chose for the third year of high school was the IB program, and I entered an international high school.
In August 2013, I went to UIUC and spent four years of my undergraduate career there, and when I graduated in the spring of 2017, I was the 150th graduate of UIUC, and I wore a bright orange stole to mark a good harvest in a cornfield (hahahaha).
Unlike most people, when I received my graduate offer in 2017, I chose to postpone my enrollment by a year and dedicate that gap year to my family — yes, I already had my own little family — in the fall of 2018I went back to campus again to continue my studies at UVA and ESADE Business School, one of Spain's leading business schools.
My graduate program itself is also quite unique, from the first stop in Charlottesville, Virginia, to Guangzhou, which is still warm in winter, and finally to Barcelona, Spain, living and studying in three different countries with students from many countries, and finally getting two master's degrees and a professional certificate from Sun Yat-sen University, as well as a super international and diversified year of wonderful life, which cannot be experienced anywhere else.
If you ask me why I chose to study abroad, especially in the United States, my answer is as follows:
First, I think that in addition to test scores, I have many other specialties and interests that I don't want to give up, and I don't want my life to be dominated by a pale and thin college entrance examination score.
Second, I want to see a different world and meet different peopleI hope that one day I can be the one who tells my own story, instead of listening to others tell their story all the time.
Third, the choice of foreign universities (especially American universities) is more comprehensive and humane- I don't need to decide on my major early before I have even set foot in society, but I can freely explore and make a choice in the early stages of my undergraduate studies. In addition, the academic status and environment of foreign universities are also better, and the saying "having to go abroad to gild" is no longer the purpose of studying abroad, and "going abroad for further study" can more accurately explain the purpose of studying abroad.
Now I think it's funny when I think of when I was a child, holding my parents' arms and shouting, "It's impossible to go abroad, I'll never go abroad in my life."
And the reason why I decided to study abroad was also very funny: our school's high school IB department admits students with excellent grades free of tuition, and rounding up is equivalent to nearly 300,000 tuition reductions.
At that time, I had just finished the last high school placement test, and my grades were firmly in the top 10 of my grade, and I was able to enter the best high school experimental class in the city and sprint to various key universities.
However, after three years of junior high school examination-oriented education, I am quite tired of the mode of "exams, questions, and revision", and I only feel that my personality and specialties of "uninhibited love of freedom" cannot achieve any value in ordinary high schools.
Psychologically vacillating, I completely switched and decided to study abroad after listening to a few small lectures by senior sisters and seniors who had been admitted to top universities in the United States under the arrangement of the school.
My parents expressed their support and understanding for my decision. From their point of view, it is not uncommon for college students to become more and more common, and more and more outstanding college students are choosing to study abroad during undergraduate or graduate studies, rather than letting children become late competitors in the future, it is better to cultivate children's international vision as soon as possible.
In this way, I started studying the IB course in my first year of high school, although it is not easier than those who are preparing for the college entrance examination, but I can regain my hobbies, give full play to my leadership skills, and do all kinds of activities that are more interesting than the exam, busy and happy!
Unlike the big guys, my results in exams related to studying abroad have always been Pupu,It can even be regarded as a "low score" for many studentsBut these scores did not hinder my path to higher education, on the contrary, they allowed me to make full use of my other backgrounds to highlight myself.
Many students spend a lot of time brushing up on grades – of course, high scores are a stepping stone to the top universities – but for many students like me who don't excel on standardized exams, scores may no longer be our "differentiators".
To put it simply, after the scores in the standard tests reach the admission benchmarks of universities and majors, how to use the advantages of other backgrounds to get an offer is our top priority.
This is actually why more students choose to study abroad:When you feel that the test score cannot fully express your complete personality, it is more appropriate to choose a study abroad path that pays more attention to comprehensive quality.
It may sound like I'm excuse myself for not wanting to work hard, but I did spend a lot of time and energy on extracurricular activities in high school.
For example, our school was the only one in the city that had a prominent presence in the Model United Nations conference (I'm from a small city, so I started it a little later).Our students are very interested in Model United Nations, so they have participated in many well-known activities at home and abroad on behalf of the school, and we have also participated in the organization of our school's Model United Nations.
In these MUN activities, I not only won awards in external competitions, but also served as a leader in my school's activities, which made me very topical in PS.
I have also been involved in various volunteer activities, exchange activities, and campus activities, and I have served as a leader and participated in the planning and organization.
This kind of experience is more stressful and can make students stand out than the bland "participation in activities" - this is because American universities place a lot of emphasis on "leadership".
However, there are always more people participating in activities than organizing activities, and many students may be worried because they are not a "leader", but in fact, leadership does not necessarily refer to leadership responsibilities in activities and organizations in a strict sense, but also refers to students' ability to cultivate "leadership skills" in various activities, such as: communication skills that can step out of the comfort zone, reflection, improvement ability, innovation ability, etc.
These keywords can actually be done by all those who are seriously involved.
My graduate school application was mostly DIY.
This is because my graduate application process was very personal:The program I applied for had a wide range of content, very clear goals, a small number, and the coursework was relatively easy because of the enough credits in my senior year, so DIY was not a particularly stressful thing for me.
However, after the application was submitted and before the first offer came, I was so stressed that I even needed to go for a run at the gym late at night to relieve it, and my heart went up and down every day when I received the email notification.
This is because I did not consult any experts, and communication with the school and program teachers alone could not give me all the information, and most of the admissions officers had questions and answers for students, and most of them were polite (of course, for students applying for research programs, direct communication with teachers is very important);
On the other hand, I don't know where I stand among all the applicants, and I have limited knowledge of schools, programs, and majors, so I may have missed some opportunities to "I can fight" or other better optionsChoose.
So I still recommend that you seek more professional information, the tutors on the admitwrite platform are people like me who have personally experienced the application, have a lot of first-hand experience, and the information is relatively wide.
Compared with the undergraduate application, the graduate application process is actually more concise and clear, and more emphasis is placed on professionalism.
Although my final program was a professional master's degree in business school, I also applied for some research programs and got offers.
No matter what kind of program you are applying for, it is inseparable from your love for the major you are applying for, the relevant experience you have, and your future goals.
Compared with the large package of materials delivered to the school during the undergraduate application that year, the materials for applying for graduate school are almost only CV resume, PS, application form, and small essays that are additional requirements of some schools and projects, which can be completed almost exclusively on a computer.
However, this is not to say that students are less stressed.
Take the research program as an example, because the mentor is very important for the research project, so you must first do your own research to see which tutor and which school your professional direction resonates more with, and then you have to network directly with these mentors - you can't unilaterally like the mentor, the mentor will accept you.
This step has actually taken most of the students' effort and time.
usuallyAfter establishing a good relationship with their supervisors, students who apply for research projects will submit their own applications.
Like me, you don't need to spend much time looking for a supervisor when applying for a master's program in a business school, but applying to a top business school also considers more comprehensive qualities like an undergraduate application, especially interpersonal skills and related internship experience.
No matter what kind of graduate program students apply for, they must first establish their own career plan and have a clear self-awareness.
At the same time, due to the simplification of the material, the writing of PS and small essays is even more crucial.
Based on my personal application experience, I have several suggestions for students and parents who are considering or have already started to prepare for their study abroad applications:
First of all, having sufficient and trustworthy information** is the first condition to ensure a smooth school selection and application process.
In addition to consulting admitwrite directly for professional college counseling here, you should also refer to the success stories of college counseling to learn as much as possible about some schools and the employment prospects of each major.
It would be even better if you could connect with seniors in the same field or the same school.
Secondly, extracurricular activities are not about more, but more about being fine.
It is better to be able to persist and achieve certain small achievements in the same field than to be a little shrimp with no name and no content to write about in various activities.
Of course, this isn't denying diversity, it's just that if you have a particular extracurricular activity that stands out, it's easier to catch the eye of admissions officers.
In addition, I especially hope that students and parents can understand and support each other in this process.
Students should cultivate their sense of ownership of further education, realize that this is an important part of determining their future, and actively cooperate with the guidance of further education, so that they can combine strong and strong and get a better offer. Parents should also refuse to do it all and give their children more room to grow and play.
When I applied to schools, my parents didn't interfere with my school selection process, but they would give me some advice or bring me some career updates to help me choose.
At the same time, they will also try their best to help me solve all my worries outside of studying, such as preparing visa documents, mailing materials, etc.
In this way, my decision-making is more deliberate and with my own intentions and expectations, and my parents are very happy that I can take charge of my own life.
After talking about my application process, let's talk about what I did during my study abroad!
During my undergraduate studies, I found that I was more interested in management and marketing after doing relevant internships, so I took the initiative to add a minor so that I could take some additional professional courses.
Although the minor cannot be reflected on the graduation certificate (it will still be marked on the official transcript), it is less stressful than the double majorIt is quite worth considering for students who have not had time to add a major in the middle of school but are interested in other majors.
At the same time, because my major is more research-oriented, I also actively chose some seminar courses where I can do research.
After I had almost completed the credits in the later stage, I also took some additional courses that taught "hard skills", software applications, and stats, which laid a little foundation for me to apply for research projects.
Outside of the classroom, I also have a wealth of club activities, and I have made many like-minded friends.
In my junior year, I also participated in the establishment of a new club because of an idea from a friendIt is dedicated to providing information and assistance to crooked nuts who are interested in Chinese culture and want to work in China.
While fund raising, publicizing, and preparing various presentations for the club, I also discovered my interest in cross-cultural communicationAnd I was shocked that I enjoyed making presentations.
Originally, although I didn't resist various occasions that required public speaking, such as presentations, I avoided them as much as I could, and I would tremble nervously on stage.
However, after one event after another, when I saw the audience of all colors expressing great interest and recognition of my content, I was like a full battery and a power bank on the stage, full of confidence, not only able to tell all the prepared content in an orderly manner, but also to tell jokes on the spot according to everyone's reactions.
This sense of ease and accomplishment was eventually brought into my formal classroom presentations and interviews, so that I can now face similar situations calmly.
Campus clubs not only have various "interest groups" organized by students, but also many professional clubs and competition clubs that are worth exploring!
The academic advisor assigned by the school will also regularly push some professional activities that are worth participating in to make your resume more content.
After receiving a push email in my senior year, I took the "last train" to join the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) chapter at UIUC and participated in the 2017 NAMA competition in Dallas.
Because the content of the competition is very compatible with my major, the school is very supportive of our activities, and has assigned two professors to lead the competition, and also reimbursed the research funds and part of the expenses during the competition.
This kind of professional activity is not just an extra addition to my resumeI also got letters of recommendation from two professors, which helped me a lot when I applied for graduate programs.
Students in the U University are often annoyed by the large class size, and it is difficult to communicate with the professors in close contact, so that they cannot get recommendation letters.
In fact, there are many opportunities for us to communicate more with professors, and these opportunities also require everyone to take the initiative with enough confidence and enthusiasm.
Another interesting little detail was that when I arrived at the NAMA competition, I realized that I was probably the only foreign student in the room, Asian—probably because most of the people studying AgriBusiness in the United States were American students.
Therefore, many students at the scene were very curious about me, and I also experienced the feeling of being watched as a giant panda for the first time.
Finally, I would like to tell you that studying abroad is not only about "learning", but also about "living" in a foreign country independently.
Before studying abroad, you are also faced with a variety of options ......Are you more comfortable with the fast-paced bustling city life in the crowds, or do you enjoy the peace and quiet of a rural town?
The quiet towns of UIUC and UVA are 15 minutes' drive away, and the small town can be described as "small and full of organs"; Philadelphia is a different story.
On the one hand, I was amazed at the all-encompassing nature of city life, with the compact Chinatown satisfying my Chinese appetite and the variety of opportunities lining up in front of my eyes;
On the other hand, I had to struggle with the traffic jams and noisy crowds in Philadelphia every day, from the smallest things, such as finding a supermarket close to home with everything to do my daily shopping, to how to avoid the potholes on the road caused by the heavy snow in winter.
How to enjoy the vacation is also an important part of the study abroad career: the history of the east coast, the sandy beaches and waters of the west coast, and the various national parks that seem to be the bestEven the Caribbean islands have brought me different and wonderful memories.
Putting aside the distance and poetry, and returning to the word "life", I also took advantage of this opportunity to live alone away from home, learned to satisfy my taste buds in a fancy way, and became a little chef who must be responsible for the food at the gathering of friends.
We often say that the group of international students is either very good at cooking or washing dishes, and everyone performs their own small party is fun.
Alice and I, who made a special trip to the University of Wisconsin-Madison for the Halloween parade with friends in her freshman year. 
Group photo at the NAMA competition. The professor's mobile phone is not very high, and the group photo we took is only of this quality. 
The sports culture of American universities is very unique! Rugby is even more popular in the United States, and there are often extremely exciting "grievance games" in the games between big U, even students who don't like sports should experience it more. 
Picking pumpkins, apples, and corn mazes on the farm is a very popular way to spend Thanksgiving. 
When the school organized a visit to the Amazon fulfillment center in Barcelona, we took a group photo with Amazon's newly installed smart system, and I firmly occupied the C position. 
At the graduate graduation ceremony, I held my dear duck duck bag. This duck duck bun is very popular with my crooked nut classmates, and many people have taken photos with it haha.