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.

施行考试非强制性政策的高校是否录取方式更温和呢？不，它们也是在追求排名。想想吧，如果学校采取SAT成绩非强制性政策，那什么样的学生才会在申请时提交考试成绩呢？只有分数高的学生才会这么干。这就拉高了学校的SAT成绩平均分，学校的排名也就因此更上一层楼。

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——在非常抢手的高校，现实往往非常可怕：如果没有700/700分，那就免谈——除非你满足学校的“特殊利益”需求。成绩680/690的孩子比比皆是。（译注：这里700分是指单项成绩，xxx/xxx分别为阅读和数学成绩。）

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.

双向作弊—— “作弊丑闻！”是去年的新闻头条，这种行径不仅发生在纳苏县（Nassau）和纽约的史岱文森高中（Stuyvesant High School），高校也一样。克莱蒙特-麦肯纳学院（Claremont-McKenna College）和埃默里大学（Emory University）均承认，他们为了让自己的排名更好看，会在分数上作弊。

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

从金钱的角度来说，标准化考试的成绩同样重要。

“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.”

新泽西州斯普林菲尔德（Springfield）高校规划完整解决方案（Complete College Planning Solutions）的高校资助专家伊恩·维尔汉姆（Ian Welham）表示：“这道理很简单，如果想要更多钱，那就提高你的考试分数。无论高校向导或炫目的宣传册怎么说，数学800分的孩子比全A的孩子更容易拿到奖学金。”

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

谎言二：要求经济资助不会影响录取决定

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，过去的好时光，也就是雷曼兄弟倒闭引发股市崩盘之前，确实如此。彼时，高校说自己录取时不考虑申请者的资金需求，那可能就是真的不考虑。也就是说，招生工作人员在不知道申请人是否申请了经济资助的情况下做出录取决定。

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，越来越多的高校招生工作人员想要知道，也需要知道申请者能否付得起全额学费。如果要从两个条件几乎差不多的申请者中做出选择，其中一个需要经济资助，一个不需要，那么录取通知书就会发给能够支付全额学费的孩子。

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.”

一些非常好的学校，如卫斯理大学（Wesleyan University），主动承认自己无法完全不考虑申请者的资金需求。“但很多学校都不诚实，”马斯卡说道，“因此我们得向这些敢于承认的学校致敬。申请人的家庭需要高校的这种透明度。”

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.

同样，一些最抢手的高校正悄悄地远离“无贷款”经济资助政策。2007年以前，美国最有钱和最抢手的高校表示，将从学生经济资助的方案中剔除助学贷款选项。而现在，申请者的家庭收入必须满足一定的条件，才可能获得无贷款经济资助。

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.

康奈尔大学最近宣布，无贷款经济资助只适用于年收入在60,000美元以下的家庭。同样，达特茅斯学院和威廉姆斯学院宣布，其无贷款政策仅限于收入最低的学生。

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.

不过，对于有能力支付全额学费的家庭，尤其是能全额支付外州学生学费的家庭来说，这是件好事。去年，全美顶尖州立大学的外州申请者达到了空前的规模。过去四年里，许多高校录取的外国留学生数量增加了一两倍。因为这些外国学生也能支付高额学费。

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长都愿意拿出这么一大笔钱。高校资助顾问维尔汉姆在自己的客户中发现了一种趋势。“以前，有相当比例的父母会跟我们说，‘我要孩子进最有名气的学校，我不在乎花多少钱。’现在，拿有三四个孩子的家庭来说，就连高收入家庭也会犹豫要不要为大学教育花费75万美元到100万美元。相反，他们对我们说，‘给我们看看不用支付全额费用的方案。’”