什么樣的學生可以進入頂尖大學？（下）

Read Part 1 點擊閱讀《什么樣的學生可以進入頂尖大學?(上)》

Even as colleges consider innovation, it’s worth asking which fixtures of the admissions process, if any, they are willing to discard. Some prevalent practices seem to stand in the way of meaningful change.

大學考慮創(chuàng)新之際，也應該思考現(xiàn)有招生過程中的哪些固定做法是他們愿意丟棄的。一些通行的做法似乎阻礙了有意義的改變。

Giving an advantage to the sons and daughters of alumni is one such practice. Some colleges admit legacies (and the children of potential donors) at a much greater rate than non-legacies. Legacies make up nearly a third of Harvard’s current freshman class, The Harvard Crimson has reported. Princeton’s class of 2021 is 13 percent legacy, according to the university’s website.

給校友子女優(yōu)先權也是這些固定做法之一。一些大學錄取傳統(tǒng)生(legacies，通常為校友子女，往往有利于吸引校友對母校捐款——譯注)，以及潛在捐贈者子女的比例遠遠高于非傳統(tǒng)生。據(jù)《哈佛深紅》(The Harvard Crimson)報道，哈佛本屆大一新生中，近三分之一的學生是傳統(tǒng)生。根據(jù)普林斯頓大學網(wǎng)站顯示，該校2021屆新生中有13%是傳統(tǒng)生。

While a handful of prominent institutions, including the University of Georgia and Texas A&M University, stopped considering legacy status more than a decade ago, most colleges seem unlikely to remove that variable from the admissions equation anytime soon. “I don’t think an applicant’s legacy status is a crazy thing to look at, especially in the financial climate some colleges are in,” said Rick Clark, director of undergraduate admission at Georgia Tech, where nearly a fifth of freshmen are legacies. “Colleges have to think about their longevity.”

盡管包括佐治亞大學(University of Georgia)和德克薩斯州農(nóng)工大學(Texas A&M University)在內(nèi)的若干著名學府早在十多年前就不再考慮申請者的家庭傳統(tǒng)，但大多數(shù)院校似乎在短時間內(nèi)都不可能把這個變量從招生方程中刪除。“我不認為考慮申請人的家庭傳統(tǒng)是一件瘋狂的事，尤其是考慮到一些學院的財務狀況。”佐治亞理工學院(Georgia Tech)本科招生辦主任里克·克拉克(Rick Clark)說。該校有將近五分之一的新生是傳統(tǒng)生。“院校應考慮自身的持久力。”

The benefits of legacies go beyond maintaining good will with alumni who might open their wallets, Mr. Clark said. In his experience, they tend to be enthusiastic students who help foster community on campus, the kind of relationships that help other students feel at home and succeed. “Multigenerational ties to a place add value, creating this passionate, magnetic source of energy,” he said.

克拉克說，傳統(tǒng)生政策的好處不僅在于能夠與有可能慷慨解囊的校友保持良好關系。根據(jù)他的經(jīng)驗，這部分學生通常都會熱心培育校內(nèi)團體，而這種團體關系能使其他同學感到自在、感到成功。“幾代人與一個地方之間的聯(lián)系能帶來增值，創(chuàng)造出富于激情與吸引力的活力之源，”他說。

The key, Mr. Clark believes, is not to lower standards, or to enroll so many legacies that other priorities, such as increasing racial and socioeconomic diversity, suffer as a result. “Those two goals aren’t mutually exclusive,” he said.

克拉克認為，關鍵在于不要降低標準，或是為了招收太多的傳統(tǒng)生而損害其他更為重要的事項，比如促進種族和社會經(jīng)濟的多樣性。“這兩個目標不是互相抵觸的，”他說。

Other measurements used by selective colleges have nothing to do with a student’s accomplishments or attributes — and everything to do with a college’s agenda.

擇優(yōu)錄取式院校的其他招生準則與學生的成績和品質(zhì)無關——一切都是以學院自身的盤算為標準。

About one in five institutions allot “considerable importance” to “demonstrated interest,” the degree to which applicants convey their desire to enroll if accepted, according to a survey by the National Association for College Admission Counseling. The strongest expression of demonstrated interest is applying for binding early decision, a policy that favors affluent students who don’t need to compare financial aid offers and one that some colleges use to fill half their seats.

根據(jù)美國大學招生咨詢會(National Association for College Admission Counseling)的一項調(diào)查，約有五分之一的院校認為，“表現(xiàn)出對學校的興趣相當重要”，也就是說，申請人要充分表達自己被錄取后有多么愿意進入該校就讀。而表達興趣最強烈的方式，莫過于申請有約束力的提前錄取。該政策偏向家境富裕的學生，他們不需對比不同學校給予的經(jīng)濟援助。部分院校的半數(shù)生源都是通過這種提前錄取招收的。

Beyond that, technology has made it easier to track the number of times an applicant engages with a college (by visiting the campus, contacting an admissions officer, responding to an email). This valuable information helps officers gauge who’s most likely to enroll, which can influence who gets admitted in the first place. A higher “yield,” the percentage of accepted students who actually enroll, is widely seen as a measure of status.

此外，科技也使院校更容易跟蹤申請人與院校互動的次數(shù)(如參觀校園、聯(lián)系招生負責人、回復郵件等)。這類有價值的信息能幫助招生人員衡量誰更有可能入學，這會影響到誰能被優(yōu)先錄取。大學錄取時的“收成”是指獲錄取學生真正入學的百分比，較高的“收成”則被普遍視為衡量大學地位的重要標準。

The problem is that savvy students who know colleges are watching them can tilt the odds in their favor, said Nancy Leopold, executive director of CollegeTracks, a Maryland nonprofit group that helps low-income and first-generation students get into college: “Demonstrated interest is biased against kids who don’t know the game exists, or who don’t have the time or money to play it.”

問題在于，那些知道院校在盯著他們的聰明學生可以讓這種情況變得對自己更有利。“院校追蹤”(CollegeTracks)是馬里蘭州一個幫助低收入及第一代移民學生進入高校的非盈利組織，其執(zhí)行主席南希·利奧波德(Nancy Leopold)說：“‘對報考學校表現(xiàn)出興趣’這一要求對于那些不知道這種游戲規(guī)則存在、或是沒有時間和金錢來玩這個游戲的學生來說，是有失公平的。”

What do colleges really cherish? The answer is influenced greatly by the entities they seek to impress. U.S. News & World Report and other college guides, not to mention bond-rating agencies, rely heavily on conventional admissions metrics like ACT/SAT scores and acceptance rates to evaluate institutions. A college president might wish to attract more creative thinkers, but accomplishing that goal won’t help his college’s ranking.

大學真正重視的是什么?那些他們想要打動的團體在很大程度上影響著答案?！睹绹侣勁c世界報告》(U.S. News & World Report)和其他院校指南在評估大學院校時嚴重依賴ACT/SAT分數(shù)等傳統(tǒng)的錄取標準以及錄取率，更不用說那些債券評級機構。大學校長或許想要吸引更多有創(chuàng)造力的思想家，但就算實現(xiàn)了這一點也無助于提升院校的排名。

Generally, colleges are risk-averse. Rocking the boat with a newfangled admissions process could hurt their reputations. “The challenge for many admissions offices is to make a change, but not so much change or innovation that you’re risking the position you’re in,” said Ms. Roper-Doten of Olin. Asking students to do more could scare off would-be applicants.

總的來說，學校是不喜歡風險的。采用新奇的招生過程可能會使學校名譽受損。“對很多招生辦公室來說，挑戰(zhàn)在于要做出改變，但又不能因為這個改變丟了自己的地位，”歐林工程學院(Olin College of Engineering)的艾米莉·羅珀-多滕(Emily Roper-Doten)說。要求學生做更多事情可能會嚇退潛在申請者。

“Colleges seek validation,” said Lloyd Thacker, executive director of the Education Conservancy, a nonprofit group that has sought to reform college admissions. “Without a real external incentive for colleges to care about broadening their understanding of what makes an applicant promising, they don’t seem likely to change the definition on their own.”

“院校都在尋求認可，”非盈利組織教育保護協(xié)會(Education Conservancy)總干事勞埃德·薩克爾(Lloyd Thacker)說。該組織旨在改革大學錄取方式。“若沒有一個實實在在的外部刺激，讓學校去拓寬思路，理解什么樣的申請者是好苗子，學校自己是不太會去改變這種定義的。”

A recent campaign called “Turning the Tide,” a project of Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, is urging admissions deans to rethink the qualities they consider in applicants. In a report signed by representatives of about 200 campuses, colleges are asked to promote ethical character and service to others through the admissions process.

最近，哈佛大學教育學院發(fā)起了一個叫“扭轉(zhuǎn)趨勢”的活動，呼吁招生辦主任重新思考他們希望在申請人身上看到的品質(zhì)。一份由200個院校代表簽署的報告表示，院校應該通過招生過程去促進學生的道德品格和服務他人的行為。

Although some deans say they have no business assessing the character of still-maturing teenagers, the push has prompted a handful of institutions to tweak their applications. The University of North Carolina now emphasizes contributions to others when asking about extracurricular activities. M.I.T. added an essay question asking students to describe how they’ve helped people.

一些招生主任表示，他們沒理由去評估尚未成熟的青少年的性格，但這個活動仍然推動了少量機構對他們的申請作出調(diào)整?，F(xiàn)在，北卡羅來納大學(University of North Carolina)在問及學生的課外活動時，會強調(diào)他們給他人的幫助;麻省理工學院增加了一個申請文問題，要求學生闡述他們是如何幫助他人的。

Richard Weissbourd, a senior lecturer at Harvard, who leads the initiative, recommends that colleges define service in ways that might resonate with disadvantaged students. “Many students don’t have opportunities to do community service,” he said. “They’re taking care of their siblings, or they’re working part-time jobs to help their families. Colleges need to say, ‘That matters to us.’ ”

哈佛大學高級講師、該活動的發(fā)起者理查德·威斯布爾德(Richard Weissbourd)建議院校界定出一些對弱勢學生來說可能有共鳴的服務。“許多學生并沒有做社區(qū)服務的機會，”他說，“他們在照顧自己的兄弟姐妹，或是兼職打工貼補家用。院校需要表態(tài)，‘我們對此也很重視。’”

• In the end, increasing racial and socioeconomic diversity in higher education is a matter of will. A college can prioritize it or not, said Shaun R. Harper, a professor at the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education who studies race and student success.

歸根結底，增進高等教育的種族和社會經(jīng)濟多樣化是個意愿問題。對此，肖恩·R·哈珀(Shaun R. Harper)教授說，院?？梢灾匾暎部梢圆恢匾?。他在南加州大學羅希爾教育學院(Rossier School of Education)研究種族和學生成功。

In September, Dr. Harper gave a keynote speech at the annual conference of the National Association for College Admission Counseling, in Boston. He urged his audience to think hard about racial inequality and “things you perhaps inadvertently and unknowingly do to support it.”

9月，哈珀在美國大學招生咨詢協(xié)會(National Association for College Admission Counseling)的波士頓年會上發(fā)表了主題演講。他呼吁聽眾深刻思考種族不平等問題，以及“你或許在無意中、不自覺地做過哪些助長不平等的事情”。

He cited as examples high school counselors who discourage promising minority students from applying to highly selective colleges; college leaders who say they “just can’t find enough” qualified black applicants even as their athletics coaches comb the nation for black students who excel at sports; admissions officers who recruit at the same high schools year after year, overlooking those full of underrepresented minorities.

他援引了下面的例子：高中咨詢師會勸說少數(shù)族裔學生中的好苗子不要申請競爭激烈的院校;大學領導會說“實在找不到足夠多”合格的黑人申請者，盡管他們的運動隊教練在全美各地遍尋黑人體育特長生;有招生官年復一年地去同一所高中招生，無視那些擁有眾多代表不足群體的學校。

As Dr. Harper spoke, many listeners applauded; a few scowled. He concluded his remarks by criticizing the lack of racial diversity among admissions deans themselves. He received a standing ovation.

哈珀在演講時有許多聽眾鼓掌，但也有一些人不以為然。他以一則批評作為發(fā)言總結：招生主任這個群體本身就缺少種族多樣性。他贏得了聽眾的起立鼓掌。

In a subsequent interview, Dr. Harper elaborated on his concerns. “When the demographics of the profession have not changed, particularly at the senior level,” he said, “I don’t know that we can expect a major change, especially in terms of diversifying the class.”

在后續(xù)的采訪中，哈珀闡述了自己的顧慮。“如果這個職位上的人員，尤其是高級人員的結構沒有變化，”他說，“我不知道我們能否指望出現(xiàn)一個大的改變，特別是在學生多樣化方面。”

Although Dr. Harper believes colleges rely too heavily on ACT/SAT scores, he says that the major barriers arise well before the application process even begins. Colleges, he said, must do more in terms of outreach to encourage underrepresented students to apply.

盡管哈珀相信，學校對ACT/SAT分數(shù)的依賴太過嚴重，但他說主要障礙在申請過程開始之前就早已出現(xiàn)。他表示，要鼓勵代表不足群體的學生申請，必須多做主動的外聯(lián)工作。

Dr. Pérez, at Trinity, has similar concerns. Although he is convinced that the selection process can be successfully revamped, he doesn’t think that will solve the No. 1 problem he sees in admissions. “The problem is money,” he said. “If I had more funding, my class would be more diverse. The conversation we’re not having in this country is: How do we fund colleges and universities?”

三一學院(Trinity College)的安吉爾·B·佩雷茲(Angel B. Pérez)有類似的擔憂。他相信篩選過程可以成功改造，但他不認為這可以解決申請中的頭號問題。“問題在于錢，”他說，“如果我能有更多資金，我的班級就更多樣化了。在我們國家，沒有人去討論：我們該如何資助學院和大學?”

However the admissions process might evolve, it surely will continue to serve the interests of colleges first and foremost. Even if someone invents a better, more equitable way to gauge applicants’ potential, a college’s many wants and needs wouldn’t change. Deans would still seek to balance their classes by enrolling a diverse mix of majors from many states and countries. Colleges would still need enough oboe players and theater-arts majors.

無論錄取過程如何演變，它必須并肯定會優(yōu)先考慮院校的利益。即使有人想出一個更好、更公平的衡量申請人潛力的方法，學院的諸多愿望和需求也不會改變。招生主任們依舊會通過招收不同州和國家的學生來平衡他們的班級。大學依然需要足夠的雙簧管樂手和戲劇藝術專業(yè)學生。

“What compels institutions to change is deep discontent,” said Marie Bigham, director of college counseling at Isidore Newman School, in New Orleans. “If they’re only making changes on the margins, it indicates that they’re mostly content with the way things are.”

“迫使學校改變的是深深的不滿，”新奧爾良伊西多爾·紐曼學校(Isidore Newman School)大學咨詢主任瑪麗·拜甘(Marie Bigham)說，“如果他們只是做一些微不足道的改變，那就表示他們對現(xiàn)狀基本上是滿意的。”

That leads to a big question in an age of widening social inequality. How unhappy are the wealthiest colleges, really, with the status quo? Some of the nation’s most selective institutions enroll more students from the top 1 percent of the income ladder than from the bottom 60 percent. Is that simply because of lack of preparation in the K-12 system? Flaws within the selection process? Or is it evidence, as Dr. Harper suggests, of a systemic lack of will to change those numbers?

在社會不平等不斷加劇的年代，這導致了一個大問題。那些富有的大學到底對現(xiàn)狀有多不滿意呢?國內(nèi)一些頂尖學校會錄取更多處于收入階梯頂部1%的學生，而非底部60%的學生。這僅僅是因為在K-12系統(tǒng)內(nèi)缺少準備?還是因為在錄取過程中的缺陷?還是如哈珀所說，揭示了面對這樣的數(shù)字，系統(tǒng)性地不愿做出改變?

Jon Boeckenstedt, associate vice president for enrollment management and marketing at DePaul University, says that it is the high-profile colleges that have the power to redefine the admissions process.

德保羅大學(DePaul University)招生管理和市場營銷副校長喬·伯肯斯特(Jon Boeckenstedt)認為，頂尖學校是能夠重新定義招生過程的。

“Unless and until something changes at the top, nothing else is going to change,” he said. “That’s because, at a lot of colleges, people will go to their graves trying to imitate the Ivy League.”

“除非上層有所改變，否則其他事情是不會有變化的。”他說，“這是因為在許多大學里，人們死都要模仿常春藤聯(lián)盟。”