College Essay系列（四）：顶级文书2017 匹萨文
顶级文书の迭代2017
经过爆红的Costco Essay启蒙，美本人们的脑洞大开。仅仅过了一年，就出现了一篇Pizza Essay。作者Carolina Williams。但当你仔细阅读后，就不难发现，这本就是一篇缩写版的Costco Essay嘛。读过顶级文书的你和我都想抄，但我们要会抄哦！
↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ 想直接欣赏Pizza Essay的，请下拉到文尾。↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
谁是Carolina Williams
Brentwood, TN，是音乐之城、乡村乐之都Nashiville市的近郊小镇。镇公立高中BHS，在田纳西州排名前五，在全美排名前200。镇上住着一对音乐人母女，母亲Pebe，女儿Ke$ha。Ke$ha从BHS辍学后，却以1580的SAT进入哥大。但在2005年签约索尼音乐之后就从哥大退学了。Ke$ha就学、退学随意性，解释着纳什人在处理传统学业问题上的现实浪漫主义性格。
Pebe和Kesha母女两代音乐人
Carolina Williams，就是这个BHS高中的2017级毕业生，她在全年级排名前十，ACT分数34。除此之外，她还在镇图书馆和教堂做义工，参加Model UN。但你会觉得，所有这些并非大藤必录的元素吧。是的，对于Carolina来说，申藤本来就是碰碰运气。这个很有想法的姑娘，并不是一个爬藤人。
3月底，耶鲁offer到了。耶鲁AO热情的亲笔信，也到了。"你用一年时间读完100本书的故事，超热情、有趣和耐人寻味。作为一个喜欢披萨的人，我在读你的披萨文时都笑崩了，然后就去订了张披萨"。挺这AO说的，这篇披萨文果然是她给Carolina发出录取的一大动因。
但是，等等。那AO不是说，Carolina还有一篇读书破百卷的文书呢吗？那篇文书虽未爆红网络，但它是Carolina的Common App 主文书。必须拿来欣赏一下。
[附文] Common Essay: 1 Year 100 Books Essay, by Carolina Williams
If each week of the year had a personality, the last week of December would be awkward. I'm in between holidays, so there is nothing to celebrate. The idle hours compound pressure to create some sort of obligatory resolution, and I am uncomfortably forced inside my own mind to contemplate how I can become a better version of myself.
I was caught in this reflective stupor in a never-ending retail line during the last week of December 2014 when one piece of conversation somehow audibly rose above the characteristic murmur of a crowd awaiting gift return: "I think you'll like him," said one man to another, "he's very well-read." After that, their words fizzled into mumbles as my own thoughts overcame the sounds of theirs, because hearing that within my realm of introspection, those words ignited in me a desire to be well-read. The notion was utterly vain, but the thought of being called "well-read" was sweet, and the taste of his words lingered in my mind. To me, "well-read" implied a new level of intelligence and a wealth of experience that the word "smart" did not. Relenting to the shallow endeavor, I established becoming well-read as my goal for the next year.
I have always been a reader, my childhood days spent reading, anxiously awaiting my next voyage to the library or Barnes and Noble. I discovered at an early age that reading was the fastest way to acquire information, and I quickly began to appreciate the art of the stories in my books and I frequently turned to them for entertainment. Despite my background as a reader, though, I had begun to read less in high school, and I knew I needed a plan. Instinctively, I turned to the Internet in search of an unrealistic formula to become well-read. Deep into the pages of Google, I stumbled across one valuable clue - a man awed for reading tilly books in one year. Hoping for unquestionable validity, I decided to double it.
In Janua1y of 2015, I began my first book of the year, with ninety-nine more ahead of me. Starting with Bom Standing Up, a memoir by Steve Martin, I delved into various authors, genres, and eras, and I gained valuable new perspective from each one. Each book is a sculptor, molding me into a better form. Fictional characters have allowed me to better understand the thoughts and feelings of other people. Memoirs have given me both the secrets to success and the opportunity to learn from others' mistakes. And from non-fiction books, I have become more knowledgeable about a myriad of topics, including physics, Wall Street, and inevitably, the Dewey Decimal System. Through all books, though, I am able to live so many lives. From the glamorous to the mundane, I've lived the life of a daring entrepreneur, a poor girl growing up in Brooklyn, an exasperated waiter, and a shrewd detective. With books, my lives, and the lessons I learn from them, are infinite.
After twelve months passed and I turned the final pages of This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald, I knew that my relationship with books was only just beginning. I have continued my reading habits in 2016, and I will finish my hundredth book of this year in December. Yet, I have come to find that being "well-read" is not truly attainable, but rather it is an asymptote that my endless list of books to read makes impossible to touch. Therefore, I am no longer reading for a title. I read with such urgency because it both satiates and sparks my curiosity; I turn to literature to find solace, as well as inspiration. And now, that awkward last week of December has become a time to reflect on each book I've read that year, and I celebrate the words that have shaped me.
======《100 Book In One Year 》结束======
能让人读完就去买披萨的披萨文书，不会只拿到一份耶鲁录取，那还是一篇上佳的营销文案。收到offer那天，Carolina在发推的同时也艾特了Papa John's。PJ的老板乐疯了：天上掉下个大披萨饼，马上接住！于是，Carolina又收获了一年的披萨畅吃，还外带一个大一暑期去PJ公司得实习岗。注意，不是外卖员，是Marketing Analyst，每月4000美元。
来自Nashville的人，骨子里都是浪漫的，即使是不搞音乐、志向营销的Carolina也是浪漫到骨子里。在藤家三哥耶鲁如此盛情之下，聪明的Carolina却选择了当年还排在99位的Auburn University的商学院。这可不是因为99这数字太吉利！Carolina说，奥本大学离家近，奥本校园还有PJ披萨门店。更主要的是，奥本为了抢到Carolina，还阔气地发出每年72,000美元的奖学金。
爬藤小伙伴们，读到这里就懂了。在爬藤这个空间里，选金钱不叫现实主义，叫现实浪漫主义，比如著名的哈佛退学生们。现实是自己偷着乐的，浪漫是给人们去传说的。拿着奥本大学full ride的Carolina，大一开始就坚持打工赚钱：啤酒和贺卡公司的销售，日产汽车的市场分析。此外，她还把考证也考到了手软。
AO必录の文书三要素
这篇Pizza Essay非藤校必录，它既没有哈佛要的社会公平，也没有斯坦佛的智能活力。但它还是属于一类特型的顶级文书，即AO必录文书。
写文书的时候，要关注AO个人。AO们在连续一个月、每天20-30篇普通文书的疲劳状态里，是需要点欢乐刺激的。这可能是她喜欢的音乐、电影、娱乐、旅行、书籍，食物，或者任何在疲劳中还能拨动她sympathetic emotion 的东西。
但AO必录并不等于AO看见就一定会录。要看她在读你Essay当时的状态，是否那时需要这种刺激。这么写文书会很Risky。这就是为什么Carolina并未同时拿下哈、普、斯的缘由。
- Pick your jove
写文书时要关注你的读者，即AO。在连续一个月、每天20-30篇普通文书的状态中，AO需要点欢乐刺激。可能是她喜欢的音乐、电影、旅行、书籍，或食物等等。你不知道她肯定喜欢什么，但知道她大概率会喜欢什么。
- Plot your theme
再好的故事，不会说就可能没趣。会甩包袱，这很重要。第一句话就把门铃声描绘出一幅画面来，这样设包袱是非常简洁有效的。第二句话就把披萨请出来，这包袱打开的时机拿捏恰好。这时候AO大概率是没心情读长包袱的。
- Surprise your fans
结尾和开头一样重要。这篇的最后，巧妙地以independence，consolation和joy来诠释自己的点外卖经历，这仿佛3600年前的伊尹从烹小鲜悟出治大国。It's totally an art to start small and conclude big。
接下来，请欣赏这篇不足200字的Pizza 小 Supp:
[Yale Supplemental] Write on something you would like us to know about you that you have not conveyed elsewhere in your application (250 words).
The sound of my doorbell starts off high, then the pitch mellows out, and the whole effect mimics an instrumental interpretation of rain finally finding a steady pace at which to fall. I have spent several minutes analyzing its tone because I have had many opportunities to do so, as one thing I love to do is order pizza and have it delivered to my house. When the delivery person rings my doorbell, I instantly morph into one of Pavlov’s dogs, salivating to the sound that signals the arrival of the cheesy, circular glory. It smells like celebration, as I love to rejoice a happy occasion by calling Papa John’s for my favorite food. It tastes like comfort, since having pizza delivered to my quiet home is a way for me to unwind. It looks like self-sufficiency, because when I was young, ordering pizza made me feel grown-up, and it still provides that satisfaction for my child at heart. Accepting those warm cardboard boxes is second nature to me, but I will always love ordering pizza because of the way eight slices of something so ordinary are able to evoke feelings of independence, consolation, and joy.