A cautionary tale about educational consultants:

这是一个有关教育顾问的警世故事。

Gerald and Lily Chow, who lived in Hong Kong, were so eager to get their two sons into an Ivy League school that they invested heavily in a plan from Mark Zimny, an educational consultant, who aimed to get the boys into Harvard, The Boston Globe reported:

生活在香港的杰拉尔·周(Gerald Chow)和莉莉·周(Lily Chow)都急切希望自己的两个儿子能进入常春藤盟校(Ivy League)，所以他们把大量资金投入了教育顾问马克·奇姆尼(Mark Zimny)的入学计划，后者的目标是让他们的儿子进入哈佛大学(Harvard)。《波士顿环球报》(The Boston Globe)写道：

"First, Zimny's company would provide tutoring and supervision while the boys attended American prep schools. Then, according to a complaint and other documents the Chows filed as part of a lawsuit in US District Court in Boston, Zimny said he would grease the admissions wheels, funneling donations to elite colleges while also investing on the Chows' behalf.

"首先，奇姆尼的公司会在孩子就读美国预科学校期间为其提供辅导和监督。根据周家向波士顿地区法院提交的申诉信息和其他文件，奇姆尼表示，他会向名牌大学捐款，疏通关系，从而保证录取的顺利进行，并同时为周家进行投资。"

"According to the suit, Zimny warned the Chows against giving to schools directly. "Embedded racism" made development offices wary of Asian donors, he allegedly advised them; better to use his company as a middleman."

"根据诉讼案，奇姆尼曾告诫周家不要直接向大学捐款。据称，他告诉周家，“根深蒂固的种族歧视”让大学的开发部门对亚洲捐款人抱有戒心。据称，他向二人建议，最好以他的公司为中间人进行操作。"

Two years and $2.2 million later, the Chows' investment in Mr. Zimny's consultancy, IvyAdmit, failed. (The sons did wind up at top universities, The Globe's Mary Carmichael writes, but neither of them went to Harvard.)

周家在两年中共向奇姆尼的“常春藤录取计划”投入了220万美元，但这一计划以失败告终。（《波士顿环球报》记者玛丽·卡迈克尔[Mary Carmichael]写道，他们的两个儿子最终的确进入了顶尖大学，但都不是哈佛大学。）

Now the Chows are suing to get their money back, claiming that Mr. Zimny lied to them and committed fraud and breach of contract.

如今，周家希望通过诉讼拿回自己的钱，他们称奇姆尼撒谎欺诈、违反合同。

The Globe has PDFs of the legal complaint from the Chow family and Mr. Zimny's motion to dismiss, the invoices to the family, and interestingly enough, the consultancy's detailed plan to get the boys into Harvard.

《波士顿环球报》获得了PDF格式的周家诉状和奇姆尼的撤诉动议，还有开给周家的发票信息，以及奇姆尼策划的让周家儿子进入哈佛大学的详细计划，相当有趣。

There is no doubt that navigating the American college admissions process can be a daunting task with an unpredictable outcome, especially for prospective international students, so thousands of college consultants have stepped in to help.

毫无疑问，完成美国大学的申请过程可能是一项艰巨任务，其结果也难以预计，对那些潜在的国际学生来说尤其如此，所以才有成千上万的大学顾问前来提供帮助。

However, as the New York Times senior editor Jacques Steinberg wrote in 2009, independent college counselors are jumping into a field that requires "no test or licensing to offer such services, and there is no way to evaluate the counselors' often extravagant claims of success or experience."

然而，正如《纽约时报》资深编辑雅克·斯坦伯格(Jacques Steinberg)在2009年写道，独立大学顾问争相进入的领域不要求“考核和执照就可以提供服务，也没有办法对顾问们经常自诩的成功和经验进行评估”。