我们了解美国研究生院招生审核的流程和要素，比较重要的参考素材是 Council of Graduate Schools 美国研究生院委员会，对于全美国主要大学研究生院招 生审核进行分析和统计的报告性文献 Holistic Review in Graduate Admissions。 

美国研究生院委员会的工作人员，通过对美国 560 所大学研究生院进行调查， 得出美国大学研究生院在初审、录取、奖学金三个环节，对于申请人自身素质的侧 重。调查范围包括研究生院的工作人员，院系教员和工作人员。 

在报告里提到，对于硕士研究生的审核，更多的审核权限在院系里，博士研究生 尤其是这样。这个权重可以这么来看，对于硕士，系里占比 75%，研究生院占 15%，招生委员会占 5%；对于博士 78%的权限在院系，10%在研究院，6%在招生 委员会，6%在别的其余部门。For master’s admissions, 75% of graduate school staff said this was primarily the responsibility of academic units, 15% the graduate school, and 5% an admissions committee located outside the graduate school as the primary authority (“other”). The trend was even more pronounced at the doctoral level: graduate school staff reported that responsibility was located 78% of the time with departments, 10% with the graduate school, 6% with an admissions committee not located in the graduate school, and 6% some other unit. These numbers seem to indicate a decentralized admissions structure at most institutions, with primary admissions authority housed with the academic program.

大多数的研究生专业，在前期审核的过程中，会侧重于可量化的指标，比如 GPA、 TOEFL、GRE 等，然后在后续阶段会更多侧重于推荐信、研究陈述、个人陈述等材 料 。 Most graduate programs value quantifiable metrics(such as GPA and standardized test scores) in early stages of the admissions process, and then shift to considering more qualitative materials (such as letters of recommendation and personal or research statements) in later stages. 

审核会经历 Initial Screening 初审筛选、Final Admissions Decision 最终录取、 Funding Decision 奖学金录取三个阶段。 

Initial Screening 初审筛选， These survey results conform with earlier studies that found most institutions heavily rely on quantifiable indicators when performing an initial evaluation of candidates. At the initial screening stage, academic transcripts (77% master’s, 71% doctoral), GRE and other standardized tests (56% master’s, 62% doctoral), letters of recommendation (53% master’s, 58% doctoral), and standardized language tests (52% master’s, 47% doctoral) were identified as the top four most important materials. The fact that three out of the four top-choice materials can be demonstrated in a single number is significant, and may reflect the well-documented trend of requiring applicants to meet a certain initial “cutoff.” Master’s admissions placed greater emphasis on academic transcripts and the language test and doctoral admissions on the GRE and letters of recommendation, but these quantitative indicators remained important for both levels of admissions. This corroborates with Posselt’s (2013b) research, which also found quantitative measures weighed heavily in the initial screenings for highly competitive Ph.D. programs. 初审筛选会主要集中在可量化指标，在美国研究生院中，77%的硕士项 目和 71%的博士项目，会首先看重 Academic Transcript(课程背景及 GPA)。56%的 硕士项目和 62%的博士项目，会接着看重 GRE/GMAT/LSAT 等标准化成绩。55%的 硕士项目和 58%的博士项目，会接着看重 Letter of Recommendation(推荐信)。然后， 52%的硕士项目和 47%的博士项目，会接着参考 TOEFL/IELTS 等语言考试成绩。

 所以，在初审阶段，审核主要参考的因素依次是：Academic Transcript(课程背 景及GPA)、GRE/GMAT/LSAT、Letter of Recommondation(推荐信)、TOEFL/IELTS。 其中，博士会比硕士更加看重 GRE/GMAT 的分数。在 TOEFL/IELTS 等语言考试成 绩方面，硕士侧重的会比博士要多。

FinalAdmissions Decision 最终录取， The final admissions decision, the top four most important materials shift to favor more qualitative sources of information: academic transcripts still top the list for master’s admissions (70%), but is complemented by letters of recommendation (68%), personal/research statement (63%), and interviews (52%). Doctoral admissions favored letters of recommendation (67%) and personal/ research statements (64%) above academic transcripts (55%) and interviews (48%). The inclusion of richer materials at this stage may reflect an admissions committee’s ability to spend more time reviewing applications once the entire pool has been reduced. 在最终做录取 决定的阶段，有 4 个因素比可量化指标更重要，就是 Academic Transcript(课程背景 及 GPA)、Letter of Recommondation(推荐信)、Personal/Research Statement(申请文书)、 Interviews 面试。 

其中，针对硕士申请，70%的硕士项目会首先看 Academic Transcript(课程背景 及 GPA)，68%的硕士项目会看重 Letter of Recommondation(推荐信)，63%的硕士项目会看重 Personal/Research Statement(申请文书)，52%的硕士项目会看重 Interviews 面试。 

针对博士申请，67%的博士项目会先看重 Letter of Recommondation(推荐信)， 64%的博士项目会看重 Personal/Research Statement(申请文书)，55%的博士项目会 看重 Academic Transcript(课程背景及 GPA)，然后会看 Interviews 面试的结果，有 48%的博士项目会侧重。 Funding Decision 

奖学金录取， The most important materials considered during the funding decision phase of the admissions process were some of the same materials deemed important at earlier stages. Once again, academic transcripts held the top spot for master’s admissions (37%), followed by letters of recommendation (32%), personal/research statement (29%), and standardized tests such as the GRE (25%). Doctoral admissions continued to place more value on letters of recommendation (40%), followed by academic transcripts (39%), personal/research statements (39%), and GRE/GMAT/LSAT scores (30%). 针对硕士申请，在奖学金发放的审核阶段，主要参考的因素依次是：Academic Transcript(课程背景及GPA)、Letter of Recommondation(推荐信)、Personal/Research Statement(申请文书)、GRE/GMAT/LSAT。 针对博士的申请，在奖学金发放的审核阶段，主要参考的因素依次是：Letter of Recommondation( 推 荐 信 ) 、 Academic Transcript( 课 程 背 景 及 GPA) 、 Personal/Research Statement(申请文书)、GRE/GMAT/LSAT。 

如图 

 我们为什么要分析研究生的招生要素，通过以上数据，我们可以看到在各个环 节中，Letter of Recommondation(推荐信)和 Personal/Research Statement(申请文 书)始终穿插在三个环节里面，是非常重要的。Letter of Recommondation(推荐信)和 Personal/Research Statement(申请文书)也是我们申请美国大学常说的广义的申请文 书。Interviews 面试也是在申请环节里面需要去准备的文书，只不过是需要口头说 出来而已。 

其余可量化指标，Academic Transcript(课程背景及 GPA)是平时大学学习的积 累，GRE/GMAT/LSAT 和 TOEFL/IELTS 等标准化考试成绩是需要长时间复习，不 停的考试以获得高分。 

从申请的角度来讲， Letter of Recommondation( 推荐信)，Personal/Research Statement(申请文书)、Interviews 面试这些广义上的文书，是我们仅有的可以获得外 部支持的，也是可以通过不停的思考、修改来进行提升的部分。