Are test-optional colleges adopting a kindler-gentler approach to admissions? No, they’re chasing rankings. Think about it. When a school declares SAT scores optional, which students report their scores? Only students with high test scores. This boosts the avg. SAT scores at the college and the school moves up a rung on the rankings ladder.

施行考試非強制性政策的高校是否錄取方式更溫和呢？不，它們也是在追求排名。想想吧，如果學校采取SAT成績非強制性政策，那什么樣的學生才會在申請時提交考試成績呢？只有分數(shù)高的學生才會這么干。這就拉高了學校的SAT成績平均分，學校的排名也就因此更上一層樓。

The Magic 700 – At the very selective colleges and universities, there is a very scary reality: if you don’t have a 700/700 score, you’re just not getting on the table – unless you have a very special hook.? The 680/690 kid is a dime-a-dozen.

魔力700分——在非常搶手的高校，現(xiàn)實往往非?？膳拢喝绻麤]有700/700分，那就免談——除非你滿足學校的“特殊利益”需求。成績680/690的孩子比比皆是。（譯注：這里700分是指單項成績，xxx/xxx分別為閱讀和數(shù)學成績。）

Cheating Goes Both Ways – In the last year headlines have screamed “Cheating Scandal!” not only in Nassau county and at New York’s Stuyvesant High School, but at colleges.? Both Claremont-McKenna and Emory admitted to playing with test scores in order to make them look better in the rankings.

雙向作弊—— “作弊丑聞！”是去年的新聞頭條，這種行徑不僅發(fā)生在納蘇縣（Nassau）和紐約的史岱文森高中（Stuyvesant High School），高校也一樣?？巳R蒙特-麥肯納學院（Claremont-McKenna College）和埃默里大學（Emory University）均承認，他們?yōu)榱俗屪约旱呐琶每矗瑫诜謹?shù)上作弊。

Standardized test scores are just as important on the money side.

從金錢的角度來說，標準化考試的成績同樣重要。

“It’s pretty simple,” notes Ian Welham, a college-funding specialist with Complete College Planning Solutions in Springfield, NJ. “If you want more money, increase your test scores. Regardless of what the college tour guide or the glitzy brochure says, the kid with the 800 in math will get the money over the kid with straight A’s.”

新澤西州斯普林菲爾德（Springfield）高校規(guī)劃完整解決方案（Complete College Planning Solutions）的高校資助專家伊恩·維爾漢姆（Ian Welham）表示：“這道理很簡單，如果想要更多錢，那就提高你的考試分數(shù)。無論高校向?qū)Щ蜢拍康男麄鲀栽趺凑f，數(shù)學800分的孩子比全A的孩子更容易拿到獎學金。”

Lie #2: Asking for financial Aid Won’t Affect the Admissions Decision

謊言二：要求經(jīng)濟資助不會影響錄取決定

Ah, for the good old days – the days before the most recent Lehman-inspired stock market crash.? Back then, when a college said it was “need blind” it probably was need blind.? That meant admission decisions were made without the admissions staff knowing whether the kid was applying for financial aid.

哈，過去的好時光，也就是雷曼兄弟倒閉引發(fā)股市崩盤之前，確實如此。彼時，高校說自己錄取時不考慮申請者的資金需求，那可能就是真的不考慮。也就是說，招生工作人員在不知道申請人是否申請了經(jīng)濟資助的情況下做出錄取決定。

Today, more and more college admission officers want – and need – to know whether the kid can pay full-freight.? And if there is a choice between two virtually-identical applicants – one who needs financial aid and one who doesn’t – the fat envelope is going to go to the kid who can pay full tuition.

而如今，越來越多的高校招生工作人員想要知道，也需要知道申請者能否付得起全額學費。如果要從兩個條件幾乎差不多的申請者中做出選擇，其中一個需要經(jīng)濟資助，一個不需要，那么錄取通知書就會發(fā)給能夠支付全額學費的孩子。

Some very good schools – such as Wesleyan – are coming forward and admitting that they can’t afford to be 100% need-blind.? “More than a handful of schools are not being honest however,” states Muska.? “So kudos to them. Families need this transparency from colleges.”

一些非常好的學校，如衛(wèi)斯理大學（Wesleyan University），主動承認自己無法完全不考慮申請者的資金需求?！暗芏鄬W校都不誠實，”馬斯卡說道，“因此我們得向這些敢于承認的學校致敬。申請人的家庭需要高校的這種透明度。”

Similarly, some of the most selective colleges are quietly moving away from their “no loans” financial aid policy.? Pre-2007 many of the nation’s wealthiest and most selective colleges said that they would eliminate loans from the financial aid packages they gave students.? Today, there is a family income level that must be met before a no-loan financial aid package is offered.

同樣，一些最搶手的高校正悄悄地遠離“無貸款”經(jīng)濟資助政策。2007年以前，美國最有錢和最搶手的高校表示，將從學生經(jīng)濟資助的方案中剔除助學貸款選項。而現(xiàn)在，申請者的家庭收入必須滿足一定的條件，才可能獲得無貸款經(jīng)濟資助。

Cornell University recently announced that no-loan financial aid would only be available to families earning under $60,000 a year.? Similarly, Dartmouth and Williams announced that their no-loan policy would be limited to students at the lowest end of the income-distribution scale.

康奈爾大學最近宣布，無貸款經(jīng)濟資助只適用于年收入在60,000美元以下的家庭。同樣，達特茅斯學院和威廉姆斯學院宣布，其無貸款政策僅限于收入最低的學生。

There is good news, however, for families that can afford to pay full tuition – and especially out-of-state tuitions.? Acceptance rates at top state universities for out-of-state applicants reached an all-time high last year.?? And the number of foreign students accepted at many colleges has doubled or tripled in the last four years.? Because they too pay top-dollar.

不過，對于有能力支付全額學費的家庭，尤其是能全額支付外州學生學費的家庭來說，這是件好事。去年，全美頂尖州立大學的外州申請者達到了空前的規(guī)模。過去四年里，許多高校錄取的外國留學生數(shù)量增加了一兩倍。因為這些外國學生也能支付高額學費。

But not all well-heeled parents are willing to write the big checks. Welham, the college-funding adviser, reports a trend he’s seeing among his clients. “There used to be a certain percentage of parents who told us, ‘I want my kid to get into the best name school, I don’t care what it costs.’ Now, take a family with 3-4 kids. Even upper-income families are balking at paying $750,000 to $1 million for college. Instead, they’re telling us, ‘Show us some options where we don’t pay sticker price.’”

但并非所有富有的家長都愿意拿出這么一大筆錢。高校資助顧問維爾漢姆在自己的客戶中發(fā)現(xiàn)了一種趨勢?！耙郧埃邢喈敱壤母改笗覀冋f，‘我要孩子進最有名氣的學校，我不在乎花多少錢。’現(xiàn)在，拿有三四個孩子的家庭來說，就連高收入家庭也會猶豫要不要為大學教育花費75萬美元到100萬美元。相反，他們對我們說，‘給我們看看不用支付全額費用的方案?！?/div>