It was said that the GPA of Chinese universities was low. In fact, after looking at a few resumes, Lu Zhou realized that Lake Wubigang had already flooded American campuses.
The most ridiculous thing was that he flipped through ten resumes in a row. None of the resumes had a GPA lower than 3.7 (out of the 4.0 point system), and all of their course ratings were above A without exception!
If it was in China, a 3.5 GPA in a 4.0 point system university would be considered a top student.
Even if the bad students didn't want to apply to Princeton, these resumes were too good.
This was like inflation. If high grades became a common phenomenon, then high grades would no longer be a reference value …
Since paper grades could not be used as a reference, Lu Zhou could only look at other resumes.
Students with thesis experience and scientific research experience were prioritized. After that, he would look at recommendation letters and self-evaluation … Social practice and sports awards were secondary. Other professors might look at these things, but Lu Zhou had his own criteria.
Finally, after some consideration, he left behind ten resumes, all of which were people with good qualities.
What made him the most satisfied was Vera Pulyuy from Berkeley.
An IMO gold medalist was worthy of being nurtured by any university. Also, after meeting her at Berkeley, he had a good impression of this studious and inquisitive girl.
However, what surprised Lu Zhou was that she had already graduated at such a young age. Even if she graduated early, it was not easy for her to complete her undergraduate studies at this age.
Is she another genius like Tao Zhexuan?
Interestingly, one of her three recommendation letters was from Professor Tao Zhexuan, who taught at the University of California.
In short, Lu Zhou kept this resume.
Because this was the first batch of students, Lu Zhou planned on recruiting three master's students. He would consider whether to recruit one or not. Everyone's progress in the laboratory was different, which was troublesome for Lu Zhou.
One of the spots was given to Vera, who had published a thesis. The remaining two spots had to be chosen from nine resumes.
In order to prevent Xiao Tong from messing around, Lu Zhou arranged all of the interviews in the morning.
For those who had just finished the college entrance examination, there was no such thing as a morning.
Get up early?
There was no such thing.
The first round of interviews was mainly for resumes from the China region. No matter what, he would bring along a China student. In fact, if he could, he wanted to give this spot to his juniors. Unfortunately, he missed out on the opportunity to study abroad. Jin Ling University had very few people applying to the Princeton Department of Mathematics, so he had to wait until next spring.
Lu Zhou started his first interview on Skype.
The first interviewee answered the video call request on time.
On the other side of the video was a young lady with slanted bangs and round-rimmed glasses. Her appearance was delicate and pretty, and she had a very intellectual temperament … But these were not the main points.
Lu Zhou glanced at the resume and cleared his throat.
"Liang Shuyu, right?"
Liang Shuyu smiled. She was not intimidated by the Crafoord Prize or God Lu's aura. She nodded and said, "Yes!"
Lu Zhou, "What's your plan after graduation?"
Using the voice of the announcer, Liang Shuyu continued to say, "I plan to continue to study for a PhD, learn from a higher platform, realize the value of life, and dedicate my youth to the cause of scientific research …"
Lu Zhou looked at the time on the bottom right corner of the computer and was surprised to see that it was exactly three minutes.
He looked at her strangely and asked, "Then … Why did you choose number theory?"
Unsurprisingly, what he got was the same standard answer.
"I've read Hua Luogeng's' Stacked Prime Numbers' and Joseph H. Silverman's' Introduction to Number Theory '. I've been interested in number theory since my university days. When I saw on the news that you solved Goldbach's conjecture and won the Crafoord Prize for our country, I was very excited. From that moment on, I decided to explore the mystery of prime numbers with you. "
Lu Zhou was a little embarrassed. He coughed and said, "Then tell me about the Group Structure Method …"
If you admire me so much, this should be easy.
However, an awkward thing happened.
The young lady was stunned by this question.
Although she reacted very quickly and stuttered a few things, none of them were on point.
It was evident that, though she had made ample preparations to appear interested in him, she had not really understood his doctrines.
Actually, this was not a big deal. If she knew everything, Lu Zhou would not have anything to teach her.
However, Lu Zhou's most important quality in choosing a student was knowledge and honesty.
Old Master Qiu had learned his lesson, and he didn't want to follow in the old man's footsteps in this regard. He didn't want to end up with a falling out between the master and his disciple, and even be criticized by some villains.
Lu Zhou sighed in his heart and smiled gently. He then said, "It's okay if you don't know, a lot of things are indeed very profound. It might be a bit difficult for you. That's all for the interview, I'll let you know the results in a week. "
Liang Shuyu's eyes lit up, thinking that there was hope. She smiled and said, "Thank you, teacher."
The video ended.
Lu Zhou drew a cross on the top right corner of the resume and put it aside.
There was no chance.
This interviewee gave him the feeling that she was President Lin.
Although he couldn't bring himself to hate President Lin, he still had to politely decline letting such a person stay in his laboratory.
As for her motive for applying for a master's degree, Lu Zhou could guess it. She probably wanted to come to Princeton and then return to China for the Thousand People Plan. Then, with the influence of her supervisor, she would have a meteoric rise.
To be honest, Lu Zhou did not want to comment on the talent introduction program. However, he still wanted to say, "If you want to go the political route, then go the civil service route. What are you doing here? I'm not a painter."
There were very few Chinese professors in Princeton, so one spot was very precious!
After a few minutes of rest, the second interview began.
This interviewee was from Kai University. He was a guy.
Unfortunately, he did not receive a single resume from Jin Ling University. Most of the resumes were sent to the physics department.
Lu Zhou cleared his throat and asked, "Qin Yue, right?"
When Qin Yue heard the interviewer's question, he quickly nodded and said nervously, "Yes!"
When Lu Zhou saw how nervous he was, he knew why he was rejected.
Honesty was the most important factor in an interview. However, being honest was not enough. One also needed to be able to express themselves.
Otherwise, if one did not even dare to give a report on stage, it would be a waste of effort.
However, Lu Zhou planned to give him a chance. This was because Qin Yue's grades were really good on paper.
What was even rarer was that this guy actually published a thesis during his undergraduate years. Although it was a second-level thesis, for an undergraduate student to have the ability to write a thesis, it was already very good.
Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said in English, "Introduce yourself first."
Qin Yue sat up straight and said nervously, "My, my name is Qin Yue. I'm 23 years old, from Kai University …"
Although he stuttered at first, he got much better after a while. He should not have any problems with his language. Lu Zhou then asked a few more professional questions. He confirmed that Qin Yue chose number theory as well as his reason for choosing himself.
Generally speaking, Qin Yue was a talented student. He did not have any complicated thoughts, and there were no big problems with his character. The only problem was that Qin Yue lacked the ability to express himself. However, if Lu Zhou was willing to put in the effort, it was not impossible.
When it was almost time, Lu Zhou spoke.
"That's all for the interview. I'll send the interview results to your email within a week."
When Qin Yue heard that the interview was over, he sighed in relief. He nodded and thanked Lu Zhou.
However, when Lu Zhou saw his bitter smile, he felt like Qin Yue did not have much hope for his interview results.
After the video call ended, Lu Zhou's pen stopped on the upper right corner of the resume. He thought for a moment.
Should I keep him or not?
In the end, he did not put a cross on the resume. Instead, he wrote a simple comment on the resume and put it aside.
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