苏州中学国际部会录取怎样的学生？从1035年到今天，苏州中学走过了近千年的历程。从1992年起，学校开始以“推进特色教育，适应国际竞争”作为教育教学改革的主旋律，以培养富有创新精神，具有参与国际竞争能力的优秀人才。
苏州中学国际部一直对学生有着极高的期待和要求。此次，针对“什么样的学生具有学校招生官喜爱的品格”，学校给出了答复。
反反复复的疫情打乱了很多同学的返校计划，也使得人们不得不思考，在这个疫情时代，年轻人应该如何与疫情抗争、共存，并把自己作为人类命运体的一部分承担职能。培养未来美好和平世界的创造者，既是IB的使命宣言，也是苏州中学国际部的不变愿景。
问：苏州中学国际部会录取怎样的学生？
答：学校在寻找这样的学生：他们不只关心分数，不只关心自己；他们不机械记忆、盲目刷题，不把考试成绩当作学习的唯一目标；他们勤于思考，善于学习，乐于探究，勇于创新；他们尊重并包容各种不同的观点和文化；他们是一群能思考、富兴趣、善社交、志远天下的年轻人。
在一月和三月的两轮入学测评中，学校遇到了许多令人耳目一新的申请者。他们用实际经历证明，他们就是学校在寻找的孩子，是IB学习者培养目标 （Learner Profile）所期待的年轻人应有的模样。那么，今天就来介绍一下，学校录了哪些学生。
他们坚持不懈
他们中有人在苏州独自求学一年，期间坚持攀登天平山，过去一年一共攀登了103次天平山，并记下了每一次的登山记录；他们有人热爱绘画，坚持创作，并想做属于中国孩子的“国漫”系列；他们有人坚持着自己的爱好，不以考级、竞赛为目标，苦中作乐。因为热爱，所以坚持；因为坚持，所以滔滔不绝，气定神闲。
他们不拘一格
他们在考卷上能够突破传统考纲所期待的答案，将不同学科的内容融会贯通。在回答“如何用家用物资在铁、铜、锌粉混合物中分离出铁粉与铜粉”时，有学生写下了盐酸、硫酸这些“家用物资”，也有学生写下“用煤气在锅中加热混合物，将液态金属反复多次通过铁丝网滤除后，用吸铁石分离出铁粉。”这个超出教科书上教条公式的答案着实让人眼前一亮，之后便是惊喜。初三的你，该不会已经知道锌元素不具备过渡金属高熔点的特征了吧！他们的不拘一格，出人意料，不正是IB所追求的“勤于思考、勇于尝试”的培养目标吗？
他们幽默严谨
他们有人想给普京和拜登拉个群，让他们直接对话，调停争端。他们有人白天善于社交，而晚上则享受个人时间。当被问及最想和谁做室友时，思考片刻，说出了屠呦呦。不仅仅因为屠奶奶是吾辈典范，女性楷模，更因为她日夜试验，很少会回寝室，能给她更多的个人空间。这些让我们会心一笑的答案，绝非哗众取宠，而是他们所展现的逻辑闭环的童真，和切实对身边事的观察。
他们胸怀天下
他们不是一心只读圣贤书的“书蠹头”，他们家事国事天下事，事事关心。心怀天下事，不是肤浅的见解，而是深入的观察。他们中有人熟知“十四五规划”，即使用英语也能流利介绍，由浅及深，国之大者；他们有人在疫情、冬奥和俄乌冲突中观察着美国医务工作者对于强制接种疫苗所引起的社会讨论，从而对比中西方法理的差别；也有人对于目前的国际局势，引用了村上春树的话，“假如这里有坚固的高墙和撞墙破碎的鸡蛋，我总是站在鸡蛋一边。”没有刻意的准备，信手拈来，都是长期的累积。
无需刻意准备，只需诚挚的心，没有绝对的录取公式，只希望展现你独特的自己，如果你在文字间感受到共鸣，那么，下一个学生也许就是你。
The ongoing pandemic has messed up daily life and set schedules, but it also pushed peolpe to find place in a post-pandemic era, and to reflect on what they can do to fight against whilst live with COVID-19. Those who succeeded in sorting out their own lives in this difficult time may also achieve the IB's expectation of students: becoming inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.
Q: What qualities do you value in your students?
A: The student body is diverse and dynamic, so the school does not favor a particular type of student, nor do the school has fixed admission standards. In line with educational philosophy, the school hopes to see students thrive to be lifelong learners with international mindedness, independent thinking skills, intellectual curiosity, community awareness, and, above all, honesty and integrity. It means that you, prospective students, are expected to recognize philosophy and demonstrate qualities that can tell that you will contribute to and make the most of the school community. To sum up, the school is not an exam factory and does not want our students to be mere fact collectors, score chasers, or detached self-centered egoists.
SO WHO HAS THE SCHOOL ADMITTED?
All the examiners have reached a common agreement that all the admitted students are impressive in one way or another. They may not have got the highest scores in tests, but they have proved themselves in the school's all-round assessment that they are exactly who the school is looking for.
So why are the admitted students impressive?
Because they...
...ARE PERSISTENT
One student mentions he climbed the Tianping Hill 103 times in the past year when he was studying in Suzhou on his own. One student has devoted herself to art and insisted on practicing, with a goal in mind that one day she will make Chinese manhua as famous as Japanese manga. A lot of them have maintained a hobby for quite a long time, with no utilitarian aim in mind. Passion and motivation reinforce each other, pushing the students to a brighter future.
memorial arch in commemorate of Fan Zhongyan
at Tianping Hill
...CAN THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX
To the examiners' surprise, in the science test a lot of them provided answers very much different from the sample answer. To answer the question "How to use household supplies to seperate iron and copper powders from the iron/copper/zinc mixture", some students provided hydrochloric acid or sulfuric acid as "household supplies" while some could write "use gas stove to heat the mixture and use steel mesh to seperate the metal zinc liquids, use magnet to remove iron powders, and leave out copper." This answer was beyond middle school chemistry knowledge and also beyond the examiners' expectation. How they think outside the box is right in line with "thinker" and "risk-taker" in the IB Learner Profile.
One student proposed to start a chat group for President Putin and President Biden in hope of calling a halt to the global turbulence. One student has a clear time distribution: day for socializing and night for oneself. When asked which celebrity she preferred as a roommate, she chose Tu Youyou the Nobel Laureate, not only for her excellency in her field of study, but also because Tu has to devote most of her time in labs, which means as her roommate she can enjoy more personal space and private time. All these answers that put a smile on the examiners' face were not intended for a laugh, but were reflecting their true contemplation on and observation of the world they live in.
They are not old-fashioned aristocrats in an tall ivory tower, but true participants of life with sharp observation of their community and the whole world. One student is exceedingly familiar with The 14th Five-Year Plan and can talk about it in fluent English. They can speak their mind about the current world-wide turmoil such as pandemic, the Winter Olympics, and the clash between Russia and Ukraine. They enthusiasticly take part in the discussion on American medical staff's reaction to the compulsory vaccination policy and can rationally compare the difference between western and eastern policy-making process and established laws. One student quoted Murakami Haruki to comment the current international situation: "If there is a hard, high wall and an egg that breaks against it, no matter how right the wall or how wrong the egg, I will stand on the side of the egg." They didn't prepare their comments and opinions purposefully for our interview, but just presented what they have accumulated from their past observation and thinking.
The school doesn't have a formula for admission. Who the school has admitted are not delicately polished mannequins, but young people vigorously living in the real world. If you find your soul resonating with the admitted students mentioned above and can see in yourselves similar traits, do not hesitate to apply! You are exactly the next student the school is looking for.