為什么就讀MPIS，對準備申請美國大學的學生來說很重要? 

　　If a student is planning to attend an American university, it is extremely important that the student be well prepared.  This preparation goes far beyond simply having a good command of English. There are many different ways in which students in America work in school than in China.  Our goal therefore is not simply to get the students into an excellent American university, but to get them out of the university (meaning to graduate) on time – within the normal period of four years.  So the key areas that we can help students in are the following:
LANGUAGE: By studying in English at MPIS during the high - school years, the students will improve their level of English greatly. Classes will be taught in English; students will do their work in English.  All four areas of language skills will be developed – listening, speaking, reading, and writing.  And this is true in all subject areas – mathematics, the sciences, the social sciences. In many ways, all classes will also be English classes.  Students will be comfortable living and working in English when they arrive at an American university, so their transition and adaptation will be smooth and easy.  They will not fall behind in their class work because of any difficulties with English.
　　THINKING: However, the language by itself is not the main difficulty Chinese students face in an American university; it is often the different way in which students are expected to think.  Students need to be able to think for themselves.  University professors do not want students to simply repeat what has been said by the teacher or another student in class. Students must demonstrate that they have thought deeply and independently about the topics discussed in class. They must also then arrive at their own conclusions, their own ideas.  And then they have to know how to justify or support their conclusions by using examples and citing the evidence that has allowed them to form their conclusion.  In other words, professors will not be so concerned about WHAT students think; they will be much more concerned about HOW  students think and how they can JUSTIFY  their thinking.  At MPIS we teach our students how to work in this way so that their adjustment to university work will be easier.
　　METHODS:  Classroom methods are often quite different between China and the U.S.  Teachers will often instruct classes in a way that seems awkward to Chinese students. Teachers do not always directly lecture students.  Instead, teachers will lead discussions by asking open-ended questions (questions that have more than one possible answer)and students must then respond and defend their ideas.  A more advanced notion of this is if the teacher organizes a debate in class around a difficult topic.  Students will many times work in groups to complete a project.  Students must then learn how to work well in a group and how to define the goals of the project.  Students will also do independent research, and have to learn how to properly cite their use of resources while doing the research. 
　　CULTURE: A broader but still important area for students to become familiar with is general culture.  In every day experiences, Americans will make reference to many things that Americans know, but that a Chinese student may not know.  This could have to do with movies, music, sports, local events, popular topics on the news, etc.  Chinese students may be lost and not understand if they are not familiar with many of these aspects of American culture.  Our teaching staff will also be making references to such topics, and in this way the students will become familiar with such ideas during the time they attend MPIS.
　　如果一個學生計劃申請一所美國大學，充分的準備是非常重要的。這個準備包括很多內(nèi)容，遠遠超出簡單地掌握良好的英語能力。而且，美國學校的學習評分制度與中國的學習評分制度有很大不同。因此，我們的目標不僅僅是讓學生進入一所優(yōu)秀的美國大學，而是讓他們在常規(guī)的四年學習期后，順利走出大學（意味著畢業(yè)）。因此，以下為我們可以幫助學生的關(guān)鍵領(lǐng)域：
　　語言：
　　通過在MPIS的高中學習，學生將大大提高他們的英語水平。在這里，課程將以英文進行講授，學生的作業(yè)也都以英文方式完成，全英文環(huán)境將貫穿所有的學科——數(shù)學、科學（物理、化學、生物）以及社會科學等。可以說，在這里所有的課程都將是英語課。所以，學生的聽、說、讀、寫四方面語言能力都將在MPIS得到充分發(fā)展。當他們進入美國的大學時，學生們的過渡期和適應期會變得簡單順暢。他們不會因為英語困難而學業(yè)落后，相反的，他們會在美國大學生活、學習、工作得舒適、舒心。
　　思維方式：
　　事實上，語言本身并不是中國學生在就讀美國大學時面對的主要困難，不同的思維方式才常常是學生們遇到的挑戰(zhàn)。大學教授們并不希望學生只是簡單地重復教師或其他同學在課堂的發(fā)言。所以學生們需要擁有自行思考的能力，必須證明自己深入、獨立的思考了課堂上的討論主題，并得出自己的思考結(jié)論。與此同時，學生需要知道如何運用例子和證據(jù)來證明、支持自己形成的結(jié)論。換句話說，教授們并不是太關(guān)心學生們的結(jié)論，他們更多關(guān)心的是學生們?nèi)绾嗡伎家约叭绾握撟C。
　　在MPIS，我們將教會學生這樣的思維方式，那么日后他們對大學學習方式的調(diào)整和適應將會容易很多。
　　方法：
　　美式課堂與中式課堂的教學方法常常有很大區(qū)別，外教們的授課方式常常會在中國學生的眼里看起來有點奇怪。因為他們并不總是直接灌輸給學生們知識，而是通過問開放式的問題來引領(lǐng)學生討論（這些問題的答案至少有兩個可能性），學生必須回答并為自己的答案辯護。另一種更先進的方法是，教師針對一個有爭議的主題組織課堂辯論，學生需要進行團隊合作來完成課題。因此學生需要學會如何進行團隊協(xié)作，以及確定課題目標。學生也將做獨立的研究，并必須學習如何正確地引用他們的資源來支持研究。
　　文化：
　　一個寬泛但重要的領(lǐng)域需要學生們熟悉的，是美國（西方）基本文化。在每天的學習生活中，老師們會提到一些美國等西方國家的人們了解、但是中國學生并不知道的事情。這些與文化有關(guān)的內(nèi)容有可能通過音樂、電影、體育運動、當?shù)匦侣�、熱點話題等方式來進行傳播。中國學生有可能因為不了解美國文化而產(chǎn)生迷惑和不解，但是在老師的幫助下， MPIS的學生們會逐漸地對美國（西方）文化熟悉起來。