VOA慢速英語：美國大學錄取新生時的考慮因素

What Do Colleges Want?

美國大學錄取新生時的考慮因素

For many people, the college admissions process can seem mysterious.

對于很多人來說，大學錄取過程看起來頗為神秘。

But what college admissions officials want is not a secret. Schools present what they want in the form of big data. That information is available to anyone online.

但是大學招生官員的要求并非秘密。學校以大數(shù)據(jù)的形式展現(xiàn)了他們的要求，任何人都可以在網(wǎng)上獲得這些信息。

Students can use big data when seeking admission to colleges or universities where they will be strong candidates. This increases their chances for admission and financial aid.

學生在尋求入讀那些自己會具備很強競爭優(yōu)勢的大學時可以使用大數(shù)據(jù)，這增加了他們被錄取和獲得助學金的幾率。

Here is what college applicants should look for.

以下是大學申請者應(yīng)該會查找的內(nèi)容。

Using data to find the best fit

使用大數(shù)據(jù)找到最適合的學校

Colleges provide admissions and financial aid statistics, called the Common Data Set, to satisfy the demands of education publishers, notes Lynn O'Shaughnessy, a college consultant. The information can be found by searching for the college's name and the term "common data set" or at websites for comparing colleges.

升學顧問Lynn O'Shaughnessy指出，大學提供了錄取和助學金統(tǒng)計數(shù)據(jù)以滿足教育發(fā)布者的要求，這些被稱為公共數(shù)據(jù)庫?？梢酝ㄟ^搜索大學名稱加公共數(shù)據(jù)庫這個術(shù)語，或者在各學校網(wǎng)站上找到這些信息以作比較。

The statistics for each school include:

各個學校的統(tǒng)計數(shù)據(jù)包括：

The cost to attend

入學費用、

How much student loan debt the average person builds up while in college.

普通人在大學期間累計欠下的學生貸款債務(wù)數(shù)額、

What percentage of applicants are accepted.

申請者的錄取比例、

And...

以及

Average class grades and test results of incoming first-year students.

即將入學的大一新生的平均成績和考試分數(shù)。

As an example, let's consider Stanford University in California. At Stanford, 75 percent of incoming students for the 2016-2017 school year had 700 or above on the mathematics part of the SAT.

我們以加州斯坦福大學為例，該校2016-2017學年75%新生SAT考試的數(shù)學成績都在700分以上。

The SAT, once called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, is widely used for college admissions in the United States. It measures the math, reading and writing levels of high school students.

曾被稱為“學術(shù)天賦測試”的SAT考試被廣泛用于美國的大學錄取，它衡量了高中生的數(shù)學、閱讀和寫作水平。

Also at Stanford, 94 percent of incoming students had grade point averages above 3.75, 4.0 is considered perfect but higher grade point averages are possible. In addition, 95 percent of the new arrivals were in the top 10 percent of their high school class.

同樣是在斯坦福大學，94%新生的績點都在3.75以上，4被認為很優(yōu)秀，但是更高的績點也是可能的。此外，95%的新生位居高中年級前10%。

Yet having fine grades and test results do not guarantee admission to a top college. Stanford accepts just five percent of people who apply. But knowing about the students who were accepted can help applicants. They can stop thinking about unlikely choices for higher education and focus instead on schools where they are more likely to gain admission.

然而，好的成績和分數(shù)并不保證就能進入頂級大學。斯坦福大學的錄取率只有5%。但是了解已被錄取的學生對申請者有幫助，他們可以停止考慮不太可能的高等教育選擇，而將重點放在有可能被錄取的學校上。

Target schools who want you

瞄準有意錄取的學校

Experts say having grades and test results that are above the school's average can help with both an applicant's chances of being accepted and getting financial aid.

專家表示，成績和分數(shù)超過學校平均水平對申請人的錄取幾率和獲得助學金幾率都有幫助。

In the United States, the best financial aid deals do not always come from highly competitive schools or large public universities. Sometimes they come from smaller colleges that are trying harder to interest good applicants, says Vita Cohen, another college consultant.

另一位升學顧問Vita Cohen表示，在美國，最好的助學金協(xié)議并非總是來自那些競爭激烈的學?；虼笮凸W校，有時候會來自那些努力吸引優(yōu)秀申請者的小學校。

Information about how a school examines applicants can be found in the data set's "admissions factors". They show how each school rates 19 measures of admission, everything from class rank to after school activities.

有關(guān)學校如何審查申請者的信息可以在公共數(shù)據(jù)庫的“錄取因素”一欄中找到。它展示了每所學校如何評估從年級排名到課后活動等19項入學指標。

Many schools, for example, think the difficulty of an applicant's high school classes and their grade point average are "very important." Some schools consider standardized tests, like the SAT, as important, while others do not.

例如，很多學校看重申請者的高中課程難度和績點。有些學校看重SAT之類的標準化考試，而其它學校則不然。

"Level of applicant's interest" is another issue. Colleges care about the percentage of applicants who accept an offer of admission. Some schools want to see true evidence of interest from applicants. This includes their visits to the school and answering emails from the admissions office.

申請者的吸引度是另一個問題。大學關(guān)心申請人接受錄取通知書的比例。一些學校希望看到申請者對本校有意的真憑實據(jù)，包括參觀學校以及回復招生辦公室的電子郵件。

Avoid schools that do not give much money

遠離給不了多少資助的學校

Most U.S. colleges do not fully meet the financial needs of their students, even when federal student loans are considered. Families are expected to find the extra money themselves, often through parental or private student loans.

即使考慮到聯(lián)邦貸款，大多數(shù)美國大學也無法完全滿足學生的經(jīng)濟需求。預計各個家庭會自己湊出另外的錢，通常是通過父母或私人學生貸款。

The size of a student's need depends on how willing each school is to give them money.

學生的需求大小取決于各個學校有多大意愿資助他們。

For example, the cost of attending New York University (NYU) and the University of Southern California (USC) is about the same: about $72,000 a year. USC, however, fully met the financial need of 80.4 percent of first-year students who received aid. NYU fully met the financial need of only 9.1 percent of its first-year aid recipients.

例如，紐約大學和南加州大學的入學費用大致相同，都是每年月7.2萬美元。然而，南加州大學可充分滿足80.4%接受助學金的大一新生的經(jīng)濟需求。紐約大學只能充分滿足該校9.1%接受助學金的大一新生的經(jīng)濟需求。

Families who do not need student loans for school can still get the cost of a school reduced though something known as "merit" aid. Merit aid is less common at public and highly competitive schools that have many applicants. UCLA, for example, offered merit aid, which averaged $4,847, to only 2.6 percent of its first-year students.

不需要學生貸款上學的家庭還可以通過獎學金降低學費。獎學金在擁有眾多申請者的公立或競爭激烈的學校不太常見。例如，加州大學洛杉磯分校僅向2.6%的大一學生提供平均為4847美元的獎學金。

Cost is important, say most experts. They warn that while it is important to have a college education, you do not want to finish school with a large debt.

大多數(shù)專家表示，費用很重要。他們警告說，雖然接受大學教育很重要，但是你肯定不想背負巨額債務(wù)畢業(yè)。

I'm Phil Dierking.

菲爾·德爾金報道。