张扬：根据您以往的经验，中国学生在申请过程中最容易犯哪些错误？

 

肖恩：哦，这个不好说。我想这里有一种文化差异。我们需要在众多学生中做出选择，所以要求他们尽量展现自己的个性。我们必须知道是什么让他们兴奋，这个在我们的提问中也有。某种程度上，他们需要把自己完完全全地展现给我们看，尤其是他们的梦想，他们的兴趣；但这正和他们的谦虚背道而驰。我知道中国式的谦虚是个非常好的品格，然而，假设所有中国学生的申请资料都是因为太谦虚了所以看着都大同小异而没有新意，我们将很难做出选择。因此，我建议他们对提出的问题给出更全面的回答，多花一些时间了解自己是什么样的人，知道自己的希望或梦想是什么，为了什么要来这个处于异邦的世界一流学府，总之，我想看到的是一个全面展示自己的学生。又比如什么东西能让你兴奋，是数学？很好；是个志愿？也很好；或是国家有灾难？也可以；是一些特殊的研究？也不错；还有对某种乐器的喜好等等都很好，总之你需要让我们知道是什么让你茶不思饭不想。因为只有这样我们才能认定斯坦福是否真的适合你，你是不是能够在斯坦福得到自己想要的。同样，这也说明你能给斯坦福带来什么。

 

13. Alex: You know in China we have many rumors, because we don’t have chance to talk with you like the most authority, so they believe that in order to get the diversity or the balance, Stanford has some quota or some cap for the Chinese student, do you have that?

 

Shawn: No, we don’t. We try to take the best in the world. When I say that let me go back to what I told you earlier. If it’s approximately 8% in that rate, it still means only one out of ten or eleven are going to get in. It’s incredibly hard to get in, so anybody would have imagined that it feels like there might be some sort of quota, the answer is no. We are taking the best from the world. If there are more students from china who competes at higher level, then we are going to take them. But we do care deeply about the kind of student body we have. So we have an extraordinary diversity here, this is the world, if you walk around this campus, you will realize that the student here are all from over the world, from all walks of life, from all ethnic background, and from all religious backgrounds and it’s anything it’s not homogeneous it is really a reflection of the broad world in which we live in. But we are serving all fifty of the United States and every country. Therefore, with over 30 thousands applications, it’s just hard to get in.

 

张扬：在中国，因为我们很难接触到像您这样的权威，所以有很多传言，比如有人认为为了保持学生群体的多样性和平衡，斯坦福对中国招生数量有限额，是这样的吗？

 

肖恩：不，我们不设个限制，我们的目的是录取世界上最好的学生。说到这儿让我们回到我在前面提到的问题。8%的录取率说明10或是11名申请者中只有1名能够胜出，这是难以想象的竞争。所以如果有人认为是因为存在某种限制，答案是否定的，我们就是希望得到更好的学生，如果有更多更好的学生在竞争中胜出，我们一定会选择他们。我们很重视学生群体的组成，我们的学生群体是极具多样性的，简直就是个小世界。当你走在校园里，会发现这里的学生来自世界各个角落，有着不同的生活方式，不同的肤色和宗教信仰，而不是一成不变的相似，这里简直就是我们所生存的世界的缩影。我们的校门向全美50个州的学生和世界各国的学生敞开，因此才会有每年近300000学生申请，竞争也因此变得愈加激烈。

 

14. Alex: As we all know that China is a developing country, but China is also an opening country that many Chinese student are really looking forward to come into Stanford and how many of them can get the scholarship and what’s your criteria?

 

Shawn: Most of the students here from China are on full need based aid. And we have funds for those students, so the 14 that are coming that I would imagine, oh, there are 9 that coming out of 14 that applied, I would imagine all of them are on full need based aid. So they can come here for free basically. We don’t have what we call complete need blind, need based international aid. There is some invitation to it. But probably in the top 5 countries, China is a growing entity; there is more and more funds that are in our endowment to support Chinese students. So clearly, if you are interested in coming here and you know you can’t afford it, you must ask for financial aid. Because what we see sometimes is the students all want to get in. I won’t ask for aid, I ask get in, and later on they ask for it, but we don’t let them do that. If you are admitted early, if you are admitted to the university, and you come back to us after that admission, we are very clear about it, and ask for financial aid, we say we are sorry, it’s not available to you. If you are going to apply, if you wan t to be a Stanford student and you need to apply for financial aid.

 

张扬：众所周知，中国是个发展中国家，是一个不断在开放的国家。很多学生渴望来到斯坦福学习。那么请问您有多少学生能够得到斯坦福的奖学金，你们的标准又是什么？

 

肖恩：大部分来这里的中国学生都获得了全奖。我们会为这些学生提供相应的基金，所以即将从中国来的14名学生，哦，是14个被录取者中的准备入学的9个学生都享受到了全额奖学金。可以说他们在斯坦福上学可以分文不花。我们不提供那些完全不顾需求量的奖学金.在世界前五强国家中，中国是发展中国家，因此也会有越来越多的基金提供给来自中国的学生。很明显，如果你想来斯坦福但又无力承担费用，就一定要申请奖学金。我们通常遇到的情况是，学生只想着来到斯坦福却不申请奖学金。如果学生申请的很早，并且被录取了，再回过头来询问奖学金的情况，那我们只能很遗憾的告诉他已经错过了。所以，如果你想来到这里，在斯坦福上学，就必须提早申请奖学金。

 

Alex: Actually you have cleared another rumor, because Chinese parents believe, if you say you need money, Stanford will say no, because you don’t say yes.

 

Shawn: No, no, for some of us in the country, we understand that. And to some extent, we need aware but in fact, we understand that for many of us students from the country, they will need full funding. So that drives the competition. That’s why the other things that I have said that are really important because we are trying to make those very hard decisions about which 14 students we are going to admit, and are get full funding and most do. Now interestingly I said nine are coming out of 14 we admitted, I mean some of them went to some other universities, and you know that people make mistakes and bad decision and we are sorry that didn’t choose to come to Stanford, but I am sure they will land on their feet.

 

张扬：其实您已经澄清了另外一种传言，就是中国家长认为的跟斯坦福要钱等于白问哪一说。因为斯坦福从来不说有奖学金。

 

肖恩：不，不是，对于某些国内的学生，我们可以理解。从某种程度讲，我们意识到了这一点，并且国内的很多学生也是需要全额奖学金。正是这一点使竞争更趋白热化。这也是我为什说其他东西都很重要的缘故，因为到底要录取哪14个人，和给哪些人全奖，这选择并不是那么容易就能做出来的。有趣的是，现在有14人中的9人决定来斯坦福，而其他几位做了错误的选择和决定，我们为他们感到很遗憾。但是我想他们一定会“逢凶化吉”，找到自己合适的学校。

 

15. Alex: So come to Stanford, which has the most beautiful campus and most friendly people here. So another question is that you know that the United States is seriously affected by the financial crisis. Has your job or commission committee affected by that?

 

Shawn: Well, we are all affected. The world is affected by the world wide economic challenges that we have, but we have several principles here that we are trying to sustain. One is that we will never give up our commitment to the undergraduate environment, and the academic environment, so research and teaching are critically important to us. And if we are going to cut back anywhere; it’s not going to be there. The third part is financial aid. That’s the commitment of this institution to sustain its financial aid programs, they are increasing, because more student are reflecting need. But we are going to meet that need. That’s the third part of the commitment of the institution. So where the cuts come from at Stanford, are not in financial aid, are not in the academic enterprise, and are not in our research.

 

张扬：大家听到了吧，一定要来斯坦福，这里有最美丽的校园和最友善的师生。下一个问题是，我们知道美国正在遭受严重的经济危机，那么你的工作或者说您的录取委员会是否受到其影响呢？

 

肖恩：是的，我们都受到了来自金融危机的影响，全世界都在面临着由此带来的挑战，但是有些原则我们是不会改变的。一是我们绝不放弃对大学环境，学术氛围的承诺。因此，教学和科研对我们极其重要，即便我们要削减什么，也绝不会是在这个领域。第二就是助学金政策。助学金制度是学校做出的承诺，它只会增加，危机来临正说明了更多学生需要它，我们会面对这个局面。这是学校做出的第三个承诺。总之，斯坦福的财政削减决不会发生在我们的助学金方面，不会在学术开拓方面，也不会是在科学研究领域。

 

16. Alex: So the admission is the same as before?

 

Shawn: Yes.

 

张扬：录取制度仍保持不变是吗？

 

肖恩：是的。

 

17. Alex: As we all know that some universities get more applicants because of the financial crisis. Has Stanford have any changes to this?

 

Shawn: I think it has an affect this year. We went up pretty substantially in one year. And we are considered to have one of the best financial aid programs in the United States, probably in the world. We expend a significant amount of money to support our undergraduate students and of course for our graduate students. I don’t have the responsibly for the graduate programs, but we have a huge financial aid budget, and we announce even better programs over the last three years in terms of meeting students demonstrated need. And for that reason, I think we have seen more candidates, more applicants both from the US and from around the world.

 

张扬：我们知道，有些学校会因为金融危机，申请人数会增加。斯坦福在这方面有什么变化吗？

 

肖恩：今年有一些影响。申请人数的确上升了一些。大家都承认，我们有全美，乃至全世界最好的奖学金项目。我们每年花费大量的资金支持我们本科生奖学金项目，当然研究生奖学金项目也一样支持。我只是不负责研究生项目；但我们的确有巨额资金，过去三年中，为了供应学生的需求，我们还不断增加着更好的新奖学金项目。也正是因为如此，不管是国内申请者还是国际申请者，在人数上或多或少都增加了一些。

 

18. Alex: Has the financial crisis affected the career (prospective)? I mean is it harder for Stanford graduate students especially Chinese students to find jobs?

 

Shawn: You know that’s a hard question to answer, we are sort of right in the midst of the crisis this spring. I think even if there aren’t a lot of jobs in the nation, Stanford education is highly valued. I think if employers are making decisions about who they are going to hire among hundreds of hundreds of candidates, they will look at Stanford graduates with high reference I think and probably they will have a pretty good shot at landing a job of hearing that students don’t have these many options, of there aren’t many offers, a lot of companies are skilling back, and we have to weather the storm, but I think they are finding their way to good employment. And I also understand that many students are actually after their undergraduate years, they are going back to graduate school. So to a lot of students, this economic situation is actually encouraging them rather than wait to go to graduate school to apply to graduate school to stay in school.

 

张扬：金融危机是否影响了学生就业前景？我是说斯坦福毕业生，尤其是那些中国学生毕业后找工作是否比以往难了？

 

肖恩：这个问题不好回答。可以说我们还没有从金融危机中摆脱出来。我想，即使这个国家没有很多工作岗位，斯坦福的教育仍然会被看重。我想，在成百上千个应聘者中，斯坦福的学生更会得到雇主们的青睐。在没有很多工作机遇，企业也缺少人才的情况下，斯坦福的毕业生仍然有很好的机会找到工作。我们需要克服困难，在我看来，他们最终还是会找到很好的工作。并且我也了解到，很多学生本科毕业后都打算去读研究生了。因此对于很多学生，这种经济现状反而促使他们继续在学校攻读研究生，而不会打算工作几年再回来读研究生。

 

 

19. Alex: I just think of a very interesting scenery that you pick up very seriously from the students from the applicants, so we know that Stanford is the incubate of the Silicon Valley, it appears many legends like Yahoo, Oracle etc. Has any graduated from Stanford who has big influence in China, as you know?   

 

Shawn: Google, Google is also a Stanford product; yahoo is also a Stanford product. We have Hewlett Packard which is just down the street. Many many technological companies have been born in Pennsylvania, many of those folks graduated from Stanford. We are known for that. This is a place that has extraordinary anthropological energy. And many many companies are born here, we have, for example, just recently, created a course in consent with Apple in which there have been over a million people that have been coming.

 

张扬：我突然想到一个有意思的情景，你们在选择学生方面非常严格，也正因为如此，我们也知道是斯坦福被称为硅谷的孵化器，也创造了很多传奇，如雅虎，甲骨文公司等。据您的了解，斯坦福毕业生中对中国影响较大的有哪些人？

肖恩：谷歌，谷歌是斯坦福的产物，雅虎也是。惠普就在我们这条街上。很多高科技公司都诞生在宾州，其中很多创办人都曾是斯坦福的学生，我们也因此而闻名。这是一个充满勃勃生机的地方。的确有许多企业诞生在这里。比如最近我们与苹果公司共同开设了一门课程，数以百万计的人将从中受益。

 

20. Alex: Is the father of Apple a graduate of Stanford?

 

Shawn: No. but the reality is they are in the neighborhood. And lots of lost of Stanford folks are employees of the company. And we are doing an Apple course now what we call the iPhone, it’s an application course, over a million people have taken this online. It’s offered on the Stanford Campus. It’s pretty interesting that this is a place that has very strong computer science and the engineering. It’s a liberal art institution with also strong humanities, creative writing and the arts. It’s a broad education, in which student, I think to some extent that may also be separated from other countries. That’s you have an opportunity to have an exposure to amazing numbers of academic areas and in fact what we try to do in Stanford is to integrate them, so in fact we try to find the relationships between law and engineering, education, sociology and humanity. So we have a very integrated approach where we suggest that knowledge does not have barriers. There are strong relationships with all these disciplines. And that’s the place that encourages that.

I think that translates oven to inventions. And we are a place of great inventions.

 

张扬：苹果公司的创始人也是从斯坦福毕业的吗？

 

肖恩：没有。但他们就在这附近；很多斯坦福学者也都是他们的员工。而且我们现在正在开设一门课程叫iPhone课,　这是一门应用性课程，大概有上百万个人在网上学习我们这门课，斯坦福校园里也开设了这门课。有意思的是，斯坦福有这个非常强的计算机科学和计算机工程方面的背景。其实，斯坦福本来是个文理学院，她有很强的人文，文学和艺术方面的成就。

在斯坦福你能受到一个更广的教育，我想这也是我们与其他国家大学的区别。在这里你有机会学习众多学术领域里的知识；实际上，整合各个学科的知识也是我们一直以来所追求的目标。我们试图发掘不同学科之间的关联，比如法律和工程，教育，社会学和人文学之间的关系。我们通过这样的整合知识的方法，来提倡知识没有界限，没有屏障。实际上，所有学科之间的关联非常的强，斯坦福鼓励学生去发掘这一点。这就意味着，斯坦福是发明的摇篮和基地。

 

21. Alex: Also please tell us about Chinese students, are they different from the students from the other countries?

 

Shawn: Well I think the initial experience is just… it’s bad adaptation. You know this a different experience for them. When you’ve grown up in China, it’s just I think a lots of wide eyes, bright wide eyes going, wow, there is so much to the world in which we live. And exposure to so many different cultures, and so many different kinds of thinking, I think it’s a little bit like being in a candy store. You know you go in and there are all these different candies you can choose from, and you can’t. You can choose from all kinds of possibilities here, you can engage in undergraduate research program. We have the largest undergraduate research in the world. I think my own experience have been very very positive. Not only here on the campus, but also in my visitations, and enthusiasm that I receive when I go to the PR.

 

张扬：能告诉我们关于中国学生的情况吗? 他们和其他国家的学生有什么区别吗？

 

肖恩：最初给我的感觉是他们在适应环境这方面不太擅长。你也知道，对于在中国长大的学生来说，留学可以说是个从未有过的经历。因此当他们来到这里，面对一个截然不同的环境时会睁大他们的眼睛，非常惊讶地发现原来世界上还有这么多东西需要学习。面对这样一个完全不同的文化和不同的思维方式，他们就像是进了一家糖果店，进去以后发现有那么多的糖果可以选，就会挑花眼睛，最后不知道应该选哪个了。这里的确有很多种选择和可能，比如本科生研究项目；我们有全世界最大的本科生研究项目。可以说，我对中国学生的印象一直都非常正面，非常好。我说的不仅仅是在斯坦福学习的这些中国学生，也包括我参观中国时遇到的学生。

 

 

22. Alex: How many times have you been there (in China)?

 

Shawn: I have been there for 5 times. But I have been in the mainland just once. I have often been to Hongkong and to the southern China. And I just want to spend more time on the mainland, in Beijing. So it’s been very very exciting and I really appreciate the enthusiasm these people have.

 

张扬：您去过几次中国？　

 

肖恩：我去过五次。但大陆我就去过一次；去的地方基本上都是香港等南部城市。我想以后多去中国大陆和北京等地方。总的来说，我每次去中国都非常兴奋，在这里也很感谢中国朋友们的热情。

 

 

23. Alex: So you are saying that these Chinese are different from the Chinese in your impression or you heard?

 

Shawn: I think because I had the chance to go to China over many many years, I think China is, its always more fun every time I go. It’s always more wonderful every time I go. The enthusiasm of Chinese people for the future, what they see in the world, and their hope and aspiration continues to be all inspiring and I think it’s getting better and better. And I think the relationships we established between China and the United States, between a place like Stanford and Chinese universities and the country of China are all extraordinarily positive. So I have seen change, yes, and I think it’s all in right direction, as far as I am concerned.

 

张扬：您是说您看到的中国人与你想象当中的或者是与您所听说过的中国人是不一样的？

 

肖恩: 幸运的是，这些年我有很多机会去中国，每次都有不同的经历，和更多新奇的事物。中国人对未来的热情和希望，以及他们的梦想一直以来都让我感到非常地振奋，而且我觉得这一切都变得越来越好了。同时，我也认为中美国家间的关系，以及中美大学之间的关系都变得越来越友好了。所以说我看到了许多变化，一点都没错。而且，以我看，这所有的一切都在朝着一个正确的方向发展。

 

24. Alex: Let’s make a big advertisement here. You may suggest now that your wife has just published a book in China and actually now you are talking with at least 50 million web users in China, so would you like to say something about the book?

 

Shawn: Oh, I would, thank you so much. I appreciate it. My wife is indigenous, that’s a native original American. She is Lakota, they call it Sioux. She is one of the Lakota people in a State called North Dakota. And she wrote a book that many people in China were taken by called “Bead on an Anthill: Lakota Childhood”, it’s about growing up indigenous in the modern age. Talks a lot about traditions in China, and it’s just being published, I think it’s supposed to be published in the middle of May, but it’s very close to being published. It would be accessible to (you); and of course (it’s) written in Chinese.

 

张扬: 接下来是我们的广告时间。　您的妻子刚刚在中国出版了一本书,　对我们5千万个中国网友，关于这本书您想说点什么吗？　

 

肖恩: 好啊!　谢谢，我真的非常感谢你们。我的妻子是原住民，也就是美国本土人。她属于拉克达族人，也叫苏人。就是生活在北达科他州的拉科达族人。她写了一本书叫“蚁丘珠子——拉克达童年”，书中描述了她作为一名土著居民在现代社会中成长的经历。书中也涉及到了很多中国人的习俗。这本书刚刚发行，原本计划是五月中旬就要发行的。你们都可以看看，因为是用中文写的。

 

25. Alex: Written in Chinese?

 

Shawn: Oh yes, yes.

 

张扬：是用中文写的吗？

 

肖恩: 是的，没错。

 

26. Alex: So your wife can write Chinese?

 

Shawn: Oh, no, good colleagues, the publishing company translated her work in English and in Lakota, the indigenous language, and it is done in Chinese and just being released, so I encourage all of you to buy. You first of all…

 

张扬：您的妻子会中文吗？

 

肖恩：哦，那到没有，是她的同事和出版社帮她做成英文和拉库达文的。中文版也已经出来了。所以我建议你们都去买一本，你得第一个买…

 

27. Alex: Don’t forget to buy that book.

 

Shawn: Her name is Delphine Redshirt, (Alex: How to spell it? )Last name is R-E-D-S-H-I-R-T, and first name is Delphine, D-E-L-P-H-I-N-E. It’s called Bead on an Antihill: the Lakota Childhood. It will have Chinese translation. I have seen the cover, it’s stunningly beautiful cover. I think it will be a book of great interest to the Chinese people.

 

张扬：走的时候别忘了买啊！

 

肖恩：她的名字叫 Delphine Redshirt, (张扬: 怎么拼？) 她的姓叫R-E-D-S-H-I-R-T，名字是Delphine, D-E-L-P-H-I-N-E。书名叫 Bead on an Antihill: the Lakota Childhood. 中文版很快就会出版。我看过书的封面，封面做的确非常漂亮。我想很多中国朋友会非常喜欢这本书的。

 

28. Alex: Thank you so much. Last request, would you please say something to the Chinese people and to the Chinese future applicants?

 

Shawn: We are open; we are looking forward to continued very positive relationship with the people of China and young people who are interested in going to universities and colleges in United States. Stanford wants you, and we know that it’s very competitive and you should know that as well. But you add so much to our campus environment and you bringing your perspective, therefore to the world conversation about so many things, about economics, about international relationships, about the future of global environment, we want you to be here to help us in our research as we try to solve the very significant challenges that we see in the world. So we welcome you, we welcome your applications; we appreciate your interest, and look forward those who prevail in this process and getting to know you and know you well.

 

张扬：非常感谢。 我们最后一个问题，对众多的中国朋友和未来的申请者您想说些什么？

 

肖恩：我们的政策是开放的。我们也盼望着进一步发展与中国的友好关系，特别是与那些想留学美国的年轻人的友好关系。斯坦福希望你能来，我们知道竞争很激烈，而且你们也很清楚这一点。但是，你们会给我们学校带来很多意想不到的东西，其中包括你们的独特理念。　希望你们来帮助我们研究当今世界面临的重大挑战，包括经济，国际关系，以及地球环境等诸多领域的问题。非常欢迎你们，欢迎你们申请斯坦福，我们也会非常感谢你们对斯坦福的热衷。我们也期待着早日认识你们当中的佼佼者。

 

29. Alex: We are talking with Dean Shawn and I deeply believe that Stanford actually the best university in the world. So welcome to Stanford. And Dean Shawn will be here waiting for you and don’t forget to buy the book!

 

Shawn: Thank you very much.

 

Alex: Thank you. Thank you so much.

 

张扬：我们对肖恩主任的采访到此结束了。我相信斯坦福是世界上最好的学校；欢迎大家来斯坦福学习，肖恩主任会在这里等着你们！

对了，别忘了买那本书！

 

肖恩：谢谢您

 

张扬：谢谢，再次感谢。