Edmon de Haro
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(xué)考慮創(chuàng )新之際，也應該思考現有招生過(guò)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(xué)錄取傳統生（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生。據《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(xué)生是傳統生。根據普林斯頓大學(xué)網(wǎng)站顯示，該校2021屆新生中有13%是傳統生。
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(xué)(University of Georgia)和德克薩斯州農工大學(xué)(Texas A&M University)在內的若干著(zhù)名學(xué)府早在十多年前就不再考慮申請者的家庭傳統，但大多數院校似乎在短時(shí)間內都不可能把這個(gè)變量從招生方程中刪除?！拔也徽J為考慮申請人的家庭傳統是一件瘋狂的事，尤其是考慮到一些學(xué)院的財務(wù)狀況?！弊糁蝸喞砉W(xué)院(Georgia Tech)本科招生辦主任里克·克拉克(Rick Clark)說(shuō)。該校有將近五分之一的新生是傳統生?！霸盒紤]自身的持久力?！?/span>
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(shuō)，傳統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(guān)系。根據他的經(jīng)驗，這部分學(xué)生通常都會(huì )熱心培育校內團體，而這種團體關(guān)系能使其他同學(xué)感到自在、感到成功?！皫状伺c一個(gè)地方之間的聯(lián)系能帶來(lái)增值，創(chuàng )造出富于激情與吸引力的活力之源，”他說(shuō)。
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(guān)鍵在于不要降低標準，或是為了招收太多的傳統生而損害其他更為重要的事項，比如促進(jìn)種族和社會(huì )經(jīng)濟的多樣性?！斑@兩個(gè)目標不是互相抵觸的，”他說(shuō)。
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(xué)生的成績(jì)和品質(zhì)無(wú)關(guān)——一切都是以學(xué)院自身的盤(pán)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.
根據美國大學(xué)招生咨詢(xún)會(huì )(National Association for College Admission Counseling)的一項調查，約有五分之一的院校認為，“表現出對學(xué)校的興趣相當重要”，也就是說(shuō)，申請人要充分表達自己被錄取后有多么愿意進(jìn)入該校就讀。而表達興趣最強烈的方式，莫過(guò)于申請有約束力的提前錄取。該政策偏向家境富裕的學(xué)生，他們不需對比不同學(xué)校給予的經(jīng)濟援助。部分院校的半數生源都是通過(guò)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?；?dòng)的次數（如參觀(guān)校園、聯(lián)系招生負責人、回復郵件等）。這類(lèi)有價(jià)值的信息能幫助招生人員衡量誰(shuí)更有可能入學(xué)，這會(huì )影響到誰(shuí)能被優(yōu)先錄取。大學(xué)錄取時(shí)的“收成”是指獲錄取學(xué)生真正入學(xué)的百分比，較高的“收成”則被普遍視為衡量大學(xué)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(wèn)題在于，那些知道院校在盯著(zhù)他們的聰明學(xué)生可以讓這種情況變得對自己更有利?！霸盒Ｗ粉櫋?CollegeTracks)是馬里蘭州一個(gè)幫助低收入及第一代移民學(xué)生進(jìn)入高校的非盈利組織，其執行主席南?！だ麏W波德(Nancy Leopold)說(shuō)：“‘對報考學(xué)校表現出興趣’這一要求對于那些不知道這種游戲規則存在、或是沒(méi)有時(shí)間和金錢(qián)來(lái)玩這個(gè)游戲的學(xué)生來(lái)說(shuō)，是有失公平的?！?/span>
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(xué)真正重視的是什么？那些他們想要打動(dòng)的團體在很大程度上影響著(zhù)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(xué)院校時(shí)嚴重依賴(lài)ACT/SAT分數等傳統的錄取標準以及錄取率，更不用說(shuō)那些債券評級機構。大學(xué)校長(cháng)或許想要吸引更多有創(chuàng )造力的思想家，但就算實(shí)現了這一點(diǎn)也無(wú)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(lái)說(shuō)，學(xué)校是不喜歡風(fēng)險的。采用新奇的招生過(guò)程可能會(huì )使學(xué)校名譽(yù)受損?！皩芏嗾猩k公室來(lái)說(shuō)，挑戰在于要做出改變，但又不能因為這個(gè)改變丟了自己的地位，”歐林工程學(xué)院(Olin College of Engineering)的艾米莉·羅珀-多滕(Emily Roper-Doten)說(shuō)。要求學(xué)生做更多事情可能會(huì )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(huì )(Education Conservancy)總干事勞埃德·薩克爾(Lloyd Thacker)說(shuō)。該組織旨在改革大學(xué)錄取方式?！叭魶](méi)有一個(gè)實(shí)實(shí)在在的外部刺激，讓學(xué)校去拓寬思路，理解什么樣的申請者是好苗子，學(xué)校自己是不太會(huì )去改變這種定義的?！?/span>
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(xué)教育學(xué)院發(fā)起了一個(gè)叫“扭轉趨勢”的活動(dòng)，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(gè)院校代表簽署的報告表示，院校應該通過(guò)招生過(guò)程去促進(jìn)學(xué)生的道德品格和服務(wù)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(méi)理由去評估尚未成熟的青少年的性格，但這個(gè)活動(dòng)仍然推動(dòng)了少量機構對他們的申請作出調整?，F在，北卡羅來(lái)納大學(xué)(University of North Carolina)在問(wèn)及學(xué)生的課外活動(dòng)時(shí)，會(huì )強調他們給他人的幫助；麻省理工學(xué)院增加了一個(gè)申請文問(wèn)題，要求學(xué)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(xué)高級講師、該活動(dòng)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(xué)生來(lái)說(shuō)可能有共鳴的服務(wù)?！霸S多學(xué)生并沒(méi)有做社區服務(wù)的機會(huì )，”他說(shuō)，“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?！?/span>
· 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(jìn)高等教育的種族和社會(huì )經(jīng)濟多樣化是個(gè)意愿問(wèn)題。對此，肖恩·R·哈珀(Shaun R. Harper)教授說(shuō)，院?？梢灾匾?，也可以不重視。他在南加州大學(xué)羅希爾教育學(xué)院(Rossier School of Education)研究種族和學(xué)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(xué)招生咨詢(xún)協(xié)會(huì )(National Association for College Admission Counseling)的波士頓年會(huì )上發(fā)表了主題演講。他呼吁聽(tīng)眾深刻思考種族不平等問(wèn)題，以及“你或許在無(wú)意中、不自覺(jué)地做過(guò)哪些助長(cháng)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(xún)師會(huì )勸說(shuō)少數族裔學(xué)生中的好苗子不要申請競爭激烈的院校；大學(xué)領(lǐng)導會(huì )說(shuō)“實(shí)在找不到足夠多”合格的黑人申請者，盡管他們的運動(dòng)隊教練在全美各地遍尋黑人體育特長(cháng)生；有招生官年復一年地去同一所高中招生，無(wú)視那些擁有眾多代表不足群體的學(xué)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(shí)有許多聽(tīng)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(gè)群體本身就缺少種族多樣性。他贏(yíng)得了聽(tīng)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.”
在后續的采訪(fǎng)中，哈珀闡述了自己的顧慮?！叭绻@個(gè)職位上的人員，尤其是高級人員的結構沒(méi)有變化，”他說(shuō)，“我不知道我們能否指望出現一個(gè)大的改變，特別是在學(xué)生多樣化方面?！?/span>
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(xué)校對ACT/SAT分數的依賴(lài)太過(guò)嚴重，但他說(shuō)主要障礙在申請過(guò)程開(kāi)始之前就早已出現。他表示，要鼓勵代表不足群體的學(xué)生申請，必須多做主動(dòng)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(xué)院(Trinity College)的安吉爾·B·佩雷茲(Angel B. Pérez)有類(lèi)似的擔憂(yōu)。他相信篩選過(guò)程可以成功改造，但他不認為這可以解決申請中的頭號問(wèn)題?！皢?wèn)題在于錢(qián)，”他說(shuō)，“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(méi)有人去討論：我們該如何資助學(xué)院和大學(xué)？”
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(wú)論錄取過(guò)程如何演變，它必須并肯定會(huì )優(yōu)先考慮院校的利益。即使有人想出一個(gè)更好、更公平的衡量申請人潛力的方法，學(xué)院的諸多愿望和需求也不會(huì )改變。招生主任們依舊會(huì )通過(guò)招收不同州和國家的學(xué)生來(lái)平衡他們的班級。大學(xué)依然需要足夠的雙簧管樂(lè )手和戲劇藝術(shù)專(zhuān)業(yè)學(xué)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(xué)校改變的是深深的不滿(mǎn)，”新奧爾良伊西多爾·紐曼學(xué)校(Isidore Newman School)大學(xué)咨詢(xún)主任瑪麗·拜甘(Marie Bigham)說(shuō)，“如果他們只是做一些微不足道的改變，那就表示他們對現狀基本上是滿(mǎn)意的?！?/span>
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(huì )不平等不斷加劇的年代，這導致了一個(gè)大問(wèn)題。那些富有的大學(xué)到底對現狀有多不滿(mǎn)意呢？國內一些頂尖學(xué)校會(huì )錄取更多處于收入階梯頂部1%的學(xué)生，而非底部60%的學(xué)生。這僅僅是因為在K-12系統內缺少準備？還是因為在錄取過(guò)程中的缺陷？還是如哈珀所說(shuō)，揭示了面對這樣的數字，系統性地不愿做出改變？
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(xué)(DePaul University)招生管理和市場(chǎng)營(yíng)銷(xiāo)副校長(cháng)喬·伯肯斯特(Jon Boeckenstedt)認為，頂尖學(xué)校是能夠重新定義招生過(guò)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(huì )有變化的?！彼f(shuō)，“這是因為在許多大學(xué)里，人們死都要模仿常春藤聯(lián)盟?！?/span>
作者：ERIC HOOVER
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