How to Choose the Right University for You如何選擇適合的大學

瑪麗薩·庫爾頓　陳麗/譯

There are so many post-secondary institutions to choose from in Canada and abroad. How should you weigh your options in order to figure out which school is best for you？ We spoke to students， admissions advisers and admissions consultants for tips on how to prepare for the university search and which questions to ask yourself to make that crucial choice.

在加拿大乃至全球有許多高等教育機構可供選擇。你應如何權衡才能選出最適合自己的學校？我們采訪了學生、招生顧問和報考咨詢師，了解該如何著手選擇學校，以及在做出這個重要選擇前要問自己一些什么問題。

What do I want？

我想要什么？

Start by doing some honest soul-searching， says first-year English student Gabrielle Cole. “Compile a list of the things that are really important to you when choosing a school，” she says. “If you just jump into the websites， it can be really overwhelming—theres so much information.” Shes happy with her decision to attend McGill University in Montreal， which she chose in part for its strong reputation. The school also offered her the opportunity to leave her home in Richmond Hill， Ont.， and to study in a city where she could regularly use the French she learned in elementary school immersion1. “I think I did adequate research and weighed all the options，” Cole says.

首先要做些誠實的自省，英語專業一年級學生加布里埃爾·科爾說。“選擇學校時先寫一個清單，列上對你而言真正重要的內容。”她說，“如果直奔網站的話，可能會迷失其中——信息太多了。”她對自己的選擇很滿意：她挑選了位于蒙特利爾的麥吉爾大學，部分原因是因為該校的聲譽極好。學校還給她提供了機會，既能離開她位于安大略省里士滿希爾市的家，又能在新的城市經常使用她在小學沉浸式教育中學會的法語。“我覺得我下了足夠的功夫來研究并權衡了所有的可選項。”科爾說。

How do I know if a school has what I want？

我怎么知道學校能滿足我想要的？

Western Universitys manager of undergraduate recruitment， Dayana Kibilds， suggests that students use the “PLACE” framework， where P is for passions， L for location， A for academics， C for community and E for experience. Passions： Is the school going to enable you to pursue your hobbies and extracurricular activities？ Location： Are you a big city or small town person？ Do you prefer self-contained campuses or sprawling2 city campuses？ Academics： Can you switch programs easily？ How are the professors and the degree options？ Community： Will you receive enough support from professors and peers？ And finally， Experience： Does the university have co-op or community volunteering options？

加拿大韋仕敦大學本科招生經理達亞娜·基比爾茲建議學生采取“PLACE”判斷準則，其中P代表愛好，L代表位置，A代表學業，C代表社群，E則代表經歷。愛好：學校是否能讓你繼續你的愛好和課外活動？位置：你喜歡大城市還是小城鎮？喜歡與城市區隔的獨立校園還是與城市一體的融合校園？學業：你能輕易地轉換專業嗎？有哪些教授和學位可供選擇？社群：你會從教授和同學那里獲得足夠的支持嗎？最后，經歷：學校是否提供合作項目或者社區志愿者活動？

How to ace3 your university application？

如何成功申請大學？

Before she started at Ryerson University4， Brianna Varone felt drawn toward the field of public health. When looking at available programs， she discovered many differences between them： some branch off into specializations， while others are heavily co-op based. For Varone， quality was key. And Ryerson was also ideally located in the downtown core， just a 45-minute commute from her home.

布里安娜·瓦羅內早在上瑞爾森大學之前就知道自己的興趣在于公共衛生領域。她在查看可選課程時發現其中存在許多差別：有些會細化為不同專業方向，而有些則會大量倚重合作項目。對瓦羅內而言，質量是關鍵。而且瑞爾森的位置十分理想，位于城市的核心區，離她家通勤只需45分鐘。

Joel Nicholson， founder of the education consultancy Admissions Ally， stresses the importance of doing your due diligence in exploring what universities have to offer. He suggests that students read through program curriculums and course outlines， reach out to current students， and research available extracurriculars at the universities they are interested in. Doing some extra research might lead you to discover that the program you thought you wanted to get into isnt the one that best suits your needs. “Many students yearn to get into Queen5s commerce or Westerns Ivey H.B.A. AEO6 [program] because they have the reputation as being the ‘best， ” he says. “However， many of my students have ended up choosing schools like Wilfrid Laurier or Waterloo... both have a great co-op program and some students realize thats more important to them than what the ‘top programs offer.”

喬爾·尼科爾森是教育咨詢公司“入學盟友”的創始人，他強調，學生要盡可能努力調查大學能夠提供什么，這很重要。對于那些感興趣的學校，他建議學生通讀專業課程安排和課程概論，結識一些在讀生并調查學校可選的課外活動。做些額外的調查可能會讓你發現某個你以為自己想要攻讀的專業并非最符合你的需要。“許多學生渴望進入女王大學的商科或者獲得韋仕敦大學毅偉商學院榮譽商務管理學位的優先錄取機會（項目），因為它們被認為是業內‘最棒的。”他說，“不過，我的很多學生最終選擇了勞瑞爾大學或滑鐵盧大學這樣的學校……這兩所學校都有很棒的合作項目，一些學生意識到，對自己而言，這比那些‘頂尖專業所能提供的東西更為重要。”

Who can help me decide？

誰能幫我決定？

Teo Salgado， founder of VerveSmith education consulting based in Toronto， suggests students take advantage of all the resources they have available to them， including guidance counsellors， friends and family. “Advice is most useful when provided by people who know [students] goals or who are familiar with their background and interests.” He also recommends that students speak to their parents or guardians about finances， especially when trying to determine whether living away from home will be economically feasible.

泰奧·薩爾加多是本部設在多倫多的“韋爾韋史密斯”教育咨詢公司的創始人，他建議學生利用可用的所有資源，包括輔導員、朋友和家人。“那些了解（學生的）目標或熟悉其背景和興趣的人提供的建議最有用。”他還建議學生與父母或監護人討論財務問題，當學生要考慮上學期間不在家住宿，經濟上能否負擔得起時，尤其需要這么做。

Which is better for me： a big or small school？

哪個更適合我：大學校還是小學校？

If youre someone who thrives in smaller， quieter groups， then a more intimate learning environment is worth considering. According to Kutay Ulkuer， director of admissions at Mount Allison University in New Brunswick， “Mount Allisonians” benefit from smaller class sizes and informal class discussions， with just a dozen students around a table. The university is so small， he says， that “you cant hide from the faculty，” who know each student and tend to notice when they are not in class.

如果你是那種會在更小、更安靜的群體中茁壯成長的人，那么更親密的學習環境就值得考慮。新不倫瑞克省蒙特愛立森大學招生主任庫塔依·烏爾庫爾表示，“蒙特愛立森人”受益于較小的班級規模和非正式的課堂討論，課上只有十幾名學生圍坐在一張桌子旁。他說，這所大學小到“你逃不掉老師的監督”，老師認識每個學生，往往會注意到誰沒來上課。

On the other hand， if youre a person who feeds off7 the energy of a bustling metropolis， a school in a big city might be best. Before Katie Marsh moved from Vancouver to pursue a degree in philosophy at the University of Toronto， she had heard the school was lonely and the weather in Toronto was awful. “Upon coming here， I realized that didnt hold true at all for me，” she says. “I absolutely love going on runs or walking around the financial district.”

另一方面，假如你需要汲取繁華大都市的活力才能生存下去，那么大城市的學校可能是最好的選擇。在離開溫哥華前往多倫多大學攻讀哲學學位之前，凱蒂·馬什聽說在那所大學里會感到很孤獨，多倫多的天氣也很糟糕。“來到這里之后，我意識到那些話對我而言完全不符合實際情況。”她說，“我非常喜歡在金融區跑跑步或散散步。”

What if I make the wrong choice？

如果我做了錯誤選擇怎么辦？

Salgado notes that students have more control over the admissions process than they think. “Its not so much about what the universities are looking for， [but] what am I looking for， and does that institution offer what Im looking for，” he says. “You have a lot of control. You get to choose universities that you think will want somebody like you.”

薩爾加多注意到，學生對錄取過程的控制權比他們想象得要大。“重要的不是大學想要什么，而是學生想要什么，而該學校是否能夠提供學生想要的東西。”他說，“你有很大的控制權。要選擇那些你認為需要像自己這樣的學生的大學。”

Public health student Varone says you shouldnt panic if you dont get into your top-choice program， or if you realize the program youre in isnt for you. You can often make a lateral8 move within the university from one related program to another. “You dont need to know exactly what youre going to do; youll figure it out later on，” she says.

公共衛生專業的學生瓦羅內說，假如你沒有被首選專業錄取，或者你意識到所學專業并不適合自己，不用驚慌。通常可以在校內相關專業間橫向調換。“你不需要現在就非常清楚自己要做什么；你以后會弄明白的。”她說。

Philosophy student Marsh adds that students should avoid putting too much pressure on themselves to make the perfect decision. When it comes to choosing a university， all you can do is make the best choice you can with the information you have. The decision isnt permanent. “I know that whatever I do， there are pros and cons to every situ-ation，” she says. “Every experience is a learning opportunity.”

哲學專業的學生馬什補充說，學生應避免為做出完美選擇而給自己施加太多壓力。在選擇大學時，你所能做的就是根據已有信息做出最佳選擇。該決定并非永久不變。“我知道，無論我怎么選，每種選擇都有利有弊。”她說，“每段經歷都是一個學習的機會。”

（譯者單位：北京外國語大學英語學院）

1蒙特利爾是加拿大乃至全球使用法語人口最多的城市之一。? 2 sprawling蔓延的，以雜亂無序的方式向外伸展的。? 3 ace該詞常用作名詞，指紙牌里的A。此處用作及物動詞，指順利地取得（某事的）成功。? 4該校現名多倫多都會大學（Toronto Metropolitan University），是加拿大安大略省公立研究型大學之一。瑞爾森大學為其曾用名。

5 = Queens University（女王大學），該校坐落于加拿大安大略省金斯頓，是一所世界一流公立研究型大學。? 6毅偉商學院是加拿大最古老、最有影響力的商學院之一。大學生在入校兩年后可以申請入毅偉攻讀榮譽工商管理學士學位（HBA， Honors Business Administration）。毅偉是加拿大唯一一所可以授予HBA的商學院，其他商學院只能授予普通的工商管理學士學位（BBA， Bachelor of Business Administration）。優先錄取機會項目（AEO， Advanced Entry Opportunity）是一種讓學生有條件預錄取進入毅偉HBA專業的項目。

7 feed off以……為食物來源；依靠……為生。? 8 lateral橫向的，側面的。此處指從一個專業到另一個專業的同層次轉換。