如何選擇最保底的大學？

如何選擇最保底的大學？

A safety school is a college or university that a student is likely to receive an acceptance to based on their academic profile. How can high school students confidently select the right fall-back options for them? Below, two high school graduates discuss their suggestions for selecting the perfect safety schools.

保底學校是一所學生很可能會因為他們的學術背景而被錄取的學院或大學。高中生如何才能自信地為自己選擇正確的退路呢?下面，兩位高中畢業(yè)生討論了他們對選擇保底學校的建議。

Select institutions that are truly safety schools for you. Danica Todorovic, a sophomore at North Park University in Chicago, applied and was ultimately accepted to three safety schools. Her advice to current high school students is simple: Ensure that your safety schools are truly safety schools. As Todorovic stated via email, “I chose these three safety schools because I knew that I would probably get accepted into two or three of them.” However, for individuals who are just beginning the college search process, this may raise one very important question: “How do I know if a college or university is a safety school for me?”

選擇對你來說真正保底的學校。芝加哥北帕克大學(North Park University)大二學生丹妮卡·托多羅維奇(Danica Todorovic)申請了保底學校，并最終被三所保底學校錄取。她給當前高中生的建議很簡單:確保你的保底學校是真正的保底學校。正如托多羅維奇在電子郵件中所說，“我選擇了這三所保底學校，因為我知道我可能會被其中的兩到三所錄取。然而，對于那些剛剛開始尋找大學的人來說，這可能會提出一個非常重要的問題:“我如何知道一所大學是否是保底學校呢?”

The answer lies in conducting research, particularly as every high school student will have a different threshold for safety schools. Review each institution’s website or contact the admissions office to determine the school’s key statistics, as well as how they relate to your own. Two great statistics to keep in mind are the average GPA of an admitted student and the average ACT/SAT score of an admitted student. Your ACT/SAT results and GPA should be higher than the numbers provided by the college or university in question.

答案在于開展研究，尤其是保底學校對每個學生的門檻都不一樣。瀏覽每一所大學的網站，或者聯(lián)系招生辦公室，確定學校的主要統(tǒng)計數(shù)據，以及它們與你自己的數(shù)據之間的關系。要記住的兩個重要數(shù)據是:一名被錄取學生的平均GPA和一名被錄取學生的平均ACT/SAT成績。你的ACT/SAT成績和GPA應該高于所申請院校提供的數(shù)字。

Create a “minimum requirements” list. It is imperative that you choose safety schools that you would genuinely be happy to attend. There are several ways to do so, one of which is attending a campus tour, but Caitlin Grove suggests another: the “minimum requirements” list. Like Todorovic, Grove applied to and was accepted to three safety schools. Via email, Grove, who ultimately attended Southern Illinois University—Edwardsville, explained that she prioritized several criteria when selecting her safety schools. These included proximity to her home as well as “a strong communications department, with a good deal of extracurriculars that would support my career goals.”

創(chuàng)建一個“最低要求”列表。你必須選擇你真正樂意就讀的安全學校。有幾種方法可以做到這一點，其中之一就是參加校園參觀，但凱特琳•格羅夫(Caitlin Grove)提出了另一種方法:“最低要求”清單。和托多羅維奇一樣，格魯夫申請了三所安全學校，并被接受。格羅夫最終就讀于南伊利諾伊大學埃德沃茲維爾分校(Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville)，她解釋在選擇保底學校時優(yōu)先考慮三個條件。其中包括離她家很近，以及“一個強大的溝通部門，有很多課外活動可以支持我的職業(yè)目標。”

When creating your list of minimum requirements, Grove recommends identifying what you “need out of a potential school.” Both Grove and Todorovic stress the importance of extracurricular activities, but your list should also speak to items like available majors . In short, the safety schools you are considering should satisfy most of the intangibles on your “minimum requirements” list. This list should also help you identify school strengths in the areas that interest you most – a key component in applying to safety schools that you truthfully wish to attend.

格羅夫建議，在制定最低要求清單時，要確定“你對潛在學校的需求”。格羅夫和托多羅維奇都強調課外活動的重要性，但你的清單也應該包括一些項目，比如可用的專業(yè)。簡而言之，你正在考慮的保底學校應該滿足你“最低要求”清單上的大部分無形要求。這份清單還應該幫助你確定學校在你最感興趣的領域的優(yōu)勢——在申請你真正希望就讀的保底學校時，這是一個關鍵的組成部分。