人在美國，常有國內的朋友詢問小孩出國留學的事。這幾年，很多家庭送小孩直接到美國念大學，如何申請美國大學便成了很多人關心的事。
下面的這篇作文是一篇極為優秀的范文，作者為 Lanren A Hackney，被耶魯大學，麻省理工學院和波士頓學院同時錄取。

原文：

I'M GOING RUNNING TODAY. I am not concerned about my calorie consumption for the day, nor am I anxious to get in shape for the winter season. I just want to go running.
I used to dislike running. "If you don't win this game, you're all running five miles tomorrow," the field hockey coach used to warn, during those last days of October when the average temperature seemed to be decreasing exponentially. And so, occasionally, my grief-stricken team would run numerous miserable laps around the fields. At the end of these excursions, our faces and limbs would be numb, and we would all have developed those notorious flu-like symptoms; but the running made us better in the long run, I suppose. Nevertheless, I counted down the days until the end of the field hockey season, vowing never to put on a pair of running shoes again. Then I surprised myself by signing up for outdoor track in the second half of sophomore year. I was foolish to have believed that I could ever escape this insidious and magnetic addiction.
Anyone would have thought that I'd be off the team in a few days, but the last week of January caught me splashing through puddles of melted ice, and February winds nearly blew me off the track. I looked forward to practices this time around, to the claps and the persistent cheers of my fellow trackies. I was feeling a "runner's high" spurred by the endorphins released by exercise. But to attribute my affinity for running solely to chemistry diminishes the personal importance that running has for me.
I like running—in the cool shade of the towering oak trees, and in the warm sunlight spilling over the horizon, and in the drops of rain falling gently from the clouds. Certain things become clear to me when I'm running—only while running did I realize that "hippopotami" is possibly the funniest word in the English language, and only while running did I realize that the travel section of The York Times does not necessarily provide an accurate depiction of the entire world. Running lends me precious moments to contemplate my life: while running I find time to dream about changing the world, to think about recent death of a classmate, or to wonder about the secret to college admission.
Running is the awareness of hurdles between me and the finish line; running is the desire to overcome them. Running is putting up with aches and pains, relishing the knowledge that, in the end, I will have built strength and endurance. Running is the instant clarity of vision with which I can see my future just one hundred yards in the distance; it is the understanding that these crucial steps will determine victory or defeat.
Running is not the most important thing in the world to me, but it is what fulfills me when time permits. And right now, before the sun goes down, I like to take advantage of the road that lies ahead.

翻譯：
"今天我要去跑步。我不是擔心一天的卡路里消耗，我也不是渴望在冬季保持自己的身材。我只是想去跑步。
我過去并不喜歡跑步。“如果你們沒有贏得這場比賽，明天你們所有人都得跑5英里。”曲棍球教練過去常常警告；那是十月的最后幾天，平均氣溫仿佛呈指數般驟降。是的，偶爾，我們可憐的球隊隊員會在田徑場上痛苦地跑上很多圈。在長跑結束的時候，我們的臉和四肢會變得麻木，我們都會出現類似臭名昭著的流感一樣的癥狀；我猜想，就長遠而言長跑對我們有利。盡管如此，我都會數著距離曲棍球賽季結束還剩幾天，并發誓絕不再穿上跑鞋。然后，連我自己也感到驚奇，十年級下學期的時候，我又報名參加了室外徑賽隊。我傻乎乎地以為我本可擺脫這種漸漸積累且磁性般的跑步癮。
任何人都以為我會在幾天內脫離徑賽隊，但一月的最后一個星期，我跑過冰雪消融后的水坑，水花飛濺；二月的風里，我幾乎被吹離跑道。我期待在這個時節訓煉，以回應同伴隊友的鼓勵和不斷的喝彩。我感受到因鍛煉釋放的內啡肽刺激產生的跑步者的快感。但是，僅僅把我對跑步的愛好歸結于化學反應是降低了跑步對我個人的重要性。
我喜歡跑步－在高聳橡樹陰涼的樹蔭里，在從地平線溢漫出的溫暖陽光里，在從云彩中落下的雨滴里。當我跑步時，有些事情對我會變得清晰。只有當我跑步時，我才意識到，河馬可能是英語里最搞笑的單詞；只有當我跑步時，我才意識到《紐約時報》的旅游版并不一定提供了對整個世界的準確描繪。跑步給了我思考我的人生的寶貴時刻：跑步時，我有時間去夢想改變世界，去思考最近去世的同學，或去猜想大學招生的秘密。
跑步是對我和終點之間的障礙的意識;跑步是克服這些障礙的愿望。跑步是忍受疼痛，品味這樣的認知：最終，我會建立起力量和耐力。跑步是瞬間視野的清晰，使我看到我的未來只在百碼以外；跑步是一種理解：剩余的關鍵步子將決定成敗。
跑步對我并不是世界上最重要的事，但它卻在時間容許下讓我充實滿足。現在，日落之前，我想利用前方的道路，再跑上一回。