VOA慢速英语：美国大学录取新生时的考虑因素

What Do Colleges Want?

美国大学录取新生时的考虑因素

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

对于很多人来说，大学录取过程看起来颇为神秘。

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.

但是大学招生官员的要求并非秘密。学校以大数据的形式展现了他们的要求，任何人都可以在网上获得这些信息。

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.

学生在寻求入读那些自己会具备很强竞争优势的大学时可以使用大数据，这增加了他们被录取和获得助学金的几率。

Here is what college applicants should look for.

以下是大学申请者应该会查找的内容。

Using data to find the best fit

使用大数据找到最适合的学校

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.

升学顾问Lynn O'Shaughnessy指出，大学提供了录取和助学金统计数据以满足教育发布者的要求，这些被称为公共数据库。可以通过搜索大学名称加公共数据库这个术语，或者在各学校网站上找到这些信息以作比较。

The statistics for each school include:

各个学校的统计数据包括：

The cost to attend

入学费用、

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

普通人在大学期间累计欠下的学生贷款债务数额、

What percentage of applicants are accepted.

申请者的录取比例、

And...

以及

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

即将入学的大一新生的平均成绩和考试分数。

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.

我们以加州斯坦福大学为例，该校2016-2017学年75%新生SAT考试的数学成绩都在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.

曾被称为“学术天赋测试”的SAT考试被广泛用于美国的大学录取，它衡量了高中生的数学、阅读和写作水平。

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.

同样是在斯坦福大学，94%新生的绩点都在3.75以上，4被认为很优秀，但是更高的绩点也是可能的。此外，95%的新生位居高中年级前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，好的成绩和分数并不保证就能进入顶级大学。斯坦福大学的录取率只有5%。但是了解已被录取的学生对申请者有帮助，他们可以停止考虑不太可能的高等教育选择，而将重点放在有可能被录取的学校上。

Target schools who want you

瞄准有意录取的学校

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.

专家表示，成绩和分数超过学校平均水平对申请人的录取几率和获得助学金几率都有帮助。

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.

另一位升学顾问Vita Cohen表示，在美国，最好的助学金协议并非总是来自那些竞争激烈的学校或大型公立学校，有时候会来自那些努力吸引优秀申请者的小学校。

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.

有关学校如何审查申请者的信息可以在公共数据库的“录取因素”一栏中找到。它展示了每所学校如何评估从年级排名到课后活动等19项入学指标。

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，很多学校看重申请者的高中课程难度和绩点。有些学校看重SAT之类的标准化考试，而其它学校则不然。

"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.

申请者的吸引度是另一个问题。大学关心申请人接受录取通知书的比例。一些学校希望看到申请者对本校有意的真凭实据，包括参观学校以及回复招生办公室的电子邮件。

Avoid schools that do not give much money

远离给不了多少资助的学校

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.

即使考虑到联邦贷款，大多数美国大学也无法完全满足学生的经济需求。预计各个家庭会自己凑出另外的钱，通常是通过父母或私人学生贷款。

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

学生的需求大小取决于各个学校有多大意愿资助他们。

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，纽约大学和南加州大学的入学费用大致相同，都是每年月7.2万美元。然而，南加州大学可充分满足80.4%接受助学金的大一新生的经济需求。纽约大学只能充分满足该校9.1%接受助学金的大一新生的经济需求。

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.

不需要学生贷款上学的家庭还可以通过奖学金降低学费。奖学金在拥有众多申请者的公立或竞争激烈的学校不太常见。例如，加州大学洛杉矶分校仅向2.6%的大一学生提供平均为4847美元的奖学金。

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.

大多数专家表示，费用很重要。他们警告说，虽然接受大学教育很重要，但是你肯定不想背负巨额债务毕业。

I'm Phil Dierking.

菲尔·德尔金报道。