作为国际生导师，不仅仅是要在学习和生活上对国际生进行关心和指导，另外一个很重要的责任就是要及时对他们的父母进行沟通。平时几乎每两个星期都有同学生父母通过电子邮件沟通，年终了向他们写具体的报告。下面的信就是我寄给其中一个来自中国家庭的学生总结。（名字做的适当改变．）

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Lee:

It has been a pleasure to serve Lee as her advisor. I hope this letter can help you better understand the relationship Lee and I have been developing since September.

Lee has an excellent academic record, one of the tops. I am most impressed with her prompt adjustment to excelling in a rigorous curriculum at a private school in the U.S. Among many international students, she is one of the most successful students. On the most recent test in Calculus, she earned the only perfect score in the class. Out of the five classes she is taking, physics proves to be the most challenging course, partly due to her still developing language skills and partly due to having insufficient time in class to review material. On the other hand, her physics teacher, Mr. Cirmo speaks highly of Lee's work on many occasions. 

As a junior, college applications are on the horizon. To best prepare for it, Lee will be formally introduced to the college counseling department next month as step one. Having strong and personal relationships with the department as well as with teachers and coaches will help her recommendation letters, which in some cases make a big difference for college admissions. Aside from high GPAs, Lee has already begun preparing for the SATs. She may also want to consider SAT tutoring services. Along with the SATs, the TOEFL test is equally important if not more. A strong TOEFL score will help improve the overall testing profile for Lee, particularly when the SATs are less familiar to international students. 

As we both may agree, academics are of the utmost importance. However, in order to have a full experience of boarding school life in America, I would encourage  Lee to make friends outside the circle of Chinese students. I have not witnessed much interaction between Lee and American students. One of the ways to initiate a friendship is to offer language help to American students who are studying Chinese on campus. The Academy has begun to offer Mandarin Chinese as a foreign language to American students.  Volunteering her time to tutor American students would not only help her make new friends, but also enhance her college application.  

Should you have questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me. You may also communicate with me in Chinese. I can best be reached at 800-111-3333 or emailed at JL2684@columbia.edu. 

Best Regards,

Jay Lin
RE: Lee