IBDP毕业生故事分享

IBDP毕业生故事分享大家好，我是吴蔚，2018年毕业于学校IBDP项目，现在就读于北卡罗来纳大学教堂山分校（UNC）。

Hey y’all, it’s Danise from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). I graduated from Guangdong Country Garden School in 2018. Many of you seniors may have had committed to a college by now, and I congratulate you for that. Maybe many of you are still deciding which college to go. But no matter which stage of college application you are at, I beseech you to listen to a story that doesn’t quite have a happy ending, but it’s not a story about failures—it’s my story.In the first few weeks at UNC, I was not thrilled to be at a public university that’s ranked 30 in the U.S.. But after a few weeks, I started to clearly see why UNC was ranked the first in its Classics graduate program. Not only are the professors in my department helpful, knowledgable, and distinguishable, the department also has a lot of resources and connections with other universities. I have to admit, perhaps this is the right place for me to achieve my dream, which leads me to my advices.

Know what you want and what you like. The very thing you should never do is letting others make decisions for you. I study Classics because that is what I like, not because my parents want me to. Believe me, only you know what’s the best for yourself, so at least listen to what your heart is saying. This applies to all decisions in your life, not just in college application.

Second, know your priorities. My own priority is getting good resources so to be prepared for grad school. Thus, even though I don’t like every aspect of UNC, UNC has become a good place for me, because it has the exact things I need to achieve my dream. If there’s a ranking that you have to refer to, it should be ranking by major, not the general ranking. My lack of college research before college application led to countless rejections. Ever since then, I hold the idea that college rankings do not reflect a school’s true worth to a student. For example, if you want to be a specialized engineer, would you choose an university in high general ranking but has a bad engineering department? Of course not! You will not get a good education out of the lack of funding.

Third, start early. I got a pretty reasonable TOEFL score back in tenth grade, and I decided to get TOEFL out of the way by that summer, which is how I got a score of 108 the summer before entering IBDP. I got a pretty reasonable SAT score in May, too, and I decided to push it out of the way. That left me more time to prepare for more important things, and I was glad that I stopped messing with SAT, because looking back I saw that I wasn’t having enough time preparing for college application.

In such a large university, I must admit that, while it’s easy to make friends, it is quite hard to make good ones. Nevertheless, fate brought to me people who were unlikely to be my friends. I’m quite happy now. And if you really hate your college, you always have the option of transferring.

When you leave high school, I assume that you’re also leaving behind good friends (if you aren’t going to the same universities). It’s very sad, but acknowledge that it is a process that all people would go through at some stage of their lives. When you’re at college, not everything would turn out the way you want it to be, and college life may become a big challenge. Maybe you don’t have enough friends to start with, but that’s okay. Maybe you don’t always get an A in your classes, and that’s okay. My final words of advice is: Always expect, always prepare, always be ready, and always know what you’re getting into.

It’s college! It’s not meant to be easy! I wish that you all will not regret your choices and the best of luck in college!

为了方便更多小伙伴安心食用，小编特送上懒人翻译版(≖ᴗ≖)✧

大家好，我是吴蔚，2018年毕业于广东碧桂园学校IBDP项目，现在就读于北卡罗来纳大学教堂山分校（UNC）。

我相信大部分11、12年级的同学们现在已经确定好自己要申请或就读的大学，恭喜你们。当然，可能有些同学还在犹豫到底要申请或就读哪些学校，但不管你们处于大学申请中的哪个阶段，我希望大家听听一个故事。虽然这个故事结局并不是很完美，但这就是我的故事。刚来到UNC时，我对就读于全美排名30的这样一所公立大学并不是很兴奋，但是几个星期后，我便清晰地知道为什么UNC的Classics系可以排全美第一——我们系的教授不仅在美国学术圈声名远播，并且尽心尽力帮助学生，而且我们系资源丰富，和其他大学的Classics系也有很多联系和合作。现在我不得不承认，UNC就是我实现梦想最好的选择。那么接下来我来谈谈我对生活以及大学申请的感悟。

第一，知道自己想要什么，喜欢什么。决不能让别人替我们来做决定。

比如说，我选择Classics专业是因为我喜欢这个专业，而不是父母希望我学这个专业。相信我，只有你自己知道什么才是最适合你的，那为什么不遵从内心呢？不仅大学申请如此，人生中其他的重要决定也是如此。

第二，知道什么是首要的。

对于我来说，这便是拿到手头上最好的学术资源，让我为读博做好准备。因此，虽然我并不喜欢UNC的所有方面，但它能够最好地帮助我实现我的梦想。如果你想要参考大学排名，我建议大家参考专业排名，而不是综合排名。申请大学前我没怎么查相关资料，全是按综合排名挑选学校，这也导致了我被很多大学拒绝。自从那时，我就意识到一个大学的综合排名并不能很好地体现它对一个学生真正的价值。例如，如果你想成为一名专业的工程师，你会选择一个综合排名很靠前但是工程类专业排名很差劲的学校吗？当然不会！

第三，早做准备。

我在10年级的时候考过一次托福，分数还过得去，于是我决定在10年级暑假和托福分手。有了这一决心和努力，我在进入DP11年级之前，托福就考到了108分。我一直认为，如果标化考试成绩能早一点达到要求，我就可以有更多的时间做一些更重要的事情，比如学科学习、大学申请等。很庆幸，DP11年级的5月份我的SAT就考到了一个我自己满意的成绩。我很感激当时没有继续与SAT折腾下去，因为看似挤出了很多时间，到最后我还是觉得时间不够。

在这么大的大学里面学习，我必须承认，交朋友并不难，但是交到非常知心的志同道合的朋友却并不简单。但是，命运使我和跟我与众不同的人相聚一起，我也很高兴接受这一命运的安排，和他们成为朋友。当然，如果你在你的大学里面的学习和生活不顺利，你也是有机会转校的。

当你高中毕业、离开自己的母校时，同时你也将离开你昔日的好友（如果你们大学不是同一所学校时）。的确，离别是一件非常悲伤的事情，但是这是每个人一定会经历的一个人生阶段。大学生活中也并不是每一件事都能如你所愿，或许生活对你太有挑战，或许你交不到好的朋友，或许你的学业成绩不理想，但这些都没关系。这就是大学，而大学生活从来都不是简单的。

最后我想对大家说，一定要有明确的方向，时刻清楚自己的目标。不仅大学申请如此，人生也是如此。希望大家都不会为自己的选择而后悔，同时也祝大学学习和生活一切都顺利。