How to Choose the Right University for You如何选择适合的大学

玛丽萨·库尔顿　陈丽/译

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许多高等教育机构可供选择。你应如何权衡才能选出最适合自己的学校？我们采访了学生、招生顾问和报考咨询师，了解该如何着手选择学校，以及在做出这个重要选择前要问自己一些什么问题。

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.

首先要做些誠实的自省，英语专业一年级学生加布里埃尔·科尔说。“选择学校时先写一个清单，列上对你而言真正重要的内容。”她说，“如果直奔网站的话，可能会迷失其中——信息太多了。”她对自己的选择很满意：她挑选了位于蒙特利尔的麦吉尔大学，部分原因是因为该校的声誉极好。学校还给她提供了机会，既能离开她位于安大略省里士满希尔市的家，又能在新的城市经常使用她在小学沉浸式教育中学会的法语。“我觉得我下了足够的功夫来研究并权衡了所有的可选项。”科尔说。

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

我怎么知道学校能满足我想要的？

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？

加拿大韦仕敦大学本科招生经理达亚娜·基比尔兹建议学生采取“PLACE”判断准则，其中P代表爱好，L代表位置，A代表学业，C代表社群，E则代表经历。爱好：学校是否能让你继续你的爱好和课外活动？位置：你喜欢大城市还是小城镇？喜欢与城市区隔的独立校园还是与城市一体的融合校园？学业：你能轻易地转换专业吗？有哪些教授和学位可供选择？社群：你会从教授和同学那里获得足够的支持吗？最后，经历：学校是否提供合作项目或者社区志愿者活动？

How to ace3 your university application？

如何成功申请大学？

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·瓦罗内早在上瑞尔森大学之前就知道自己的兴趣在于公共卫生领域。她在查看可选课程时发现其中存在许多差别：有些会细化为不同专业方向，而有些则会大量倚重合作项目。对瓦罗内而言，质量是关键。而且瑞尔森的位置十分理想，位于城市的核心区，离她家通勤只需45分钟。

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.”

喬尔·尼科尔森是教育咨询公司“入学盟友”的创始人，他强调，学生要尽可能努力调查大学能够提供什么，这很重要。对于那些感兴趣的学校，他建议学生通读专业课程安排和课程概论，结识一些在读生并调查学校可选的课外活动。做些额外的调查可能会让你发现某个你以为自己想要攻读的专业并非最符合你的需要。“许多学生渴望进入女王大学的商科或者获得韦仕敦大学毅伟商学院荣誉商务管理学位的优先录取机会（项目），因为它们被认为是业内‘最棒的。”他说，“不过，我的很多学生最终选择了劳瑞尔大学或滑铁卢大学这样的学校……这两所学校都有很棒的合作项目，一些学生意识到，对自己而言，这比那些‘顶尖专业所能提供的东西更为重要。”

Who can help me decide？

谁能帮我决定？

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.

泰奥·萨尔加多是本部设在多伦多的“韦尔韦史密斯”教育咨询公司的创始人，他建议学生利用可用的所有资源，包括辅导员、朋友和家人。“那些了解（学生的）目标或熟悉其背景和兴趣的人提供的建议最有用。”他还建议学生与父母或监护人讨论财务问题，当学生要考虑上学期间不在家住宿，经济上能否负担得起时，尤其需要这么做。

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

哪个更适合我：大学校还是小学校？

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.

如果你是那种会在更小、更安静的群体中茁壮成长的人，那么更亲密的学习环境就值得考虑。新不伦瑞克省蒙特爱立森大学招生主任库塔依·乌尔库尔表示，“蒙特爱立森人”受益于较小的班级规模和非正式的课堂讨论，课上只有十几名学生围坐在一张桌子旁。他说，这所大学小到“你逃不掉老师的监督”，老师认识每个学生，往往会注意到谁没来上课。

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，假如你需要汲取繁华大都市的活力才能生存下去，那么大城市的学校可能是最好的选择。在离开温哥华前往多伦多大学攻读哲学学位之前，凯蒂·马什听说在那所大学里会感到很孤独，多伦多的天气也很糟糕。“来到这里之后，我意识到那些话对我而言完全不符合实际情况。”她说，“我非常喜欢在金融区跑跑步或散散步。”

What if I make the wrong choice？

如果我做了错误选择怎么办？

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.”

萨尔加多注意到，学生对录取过程的控制权比他们想象得要大。“重要的不是大学想要什么，而是学生想要什么，而该学校是否能够提供学生想要的东西。”他说，“你有很大的控制权。要选择那些你认为需要像自己这样的学生的大学。”

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.

公共卫生专业的学生瓦罗内说，假如你没有被首选专业录取，或者你意识到所学专业并不适合自己，不用惊慌。通常可以在校内相关专业间横向调换。“你不需要现在就非常清楚自己要做什么；你以后会弄明白的。”她说。

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.”

哲學专业的学生马什补充说，学生应避免为做出完美选择而给自己施加太多压力。在选择大学时，你所能做的就是根据已有信息做出最佳选择。该决定并非永久不变。“我知道，无论我怎么选，每种选择都有利有弊。”她说，“每段经历都是一个学习的机会。”

（译者单位：北京外国语大学英语学院）

1蒙特利尔是加拿大乃至全球使用法语人口最多的城市之一。  2 sprawling蔓延的，以杂乱无序的方式向外伸展的。  3 ace该词常用作名词，指纸牌里的A。此处用作及物动词，指顺利地取得（某事的）成功。  4该校现名多伦多都会大学（Toronto Metropolitan University），是加拿大安大略省公立研究型大学之一。瑞尔森大学为其曾用名。

5 = Queens University（女王大学），该校坐落于加拿大安大略省金斯顿，是一所世界一流公立研究型大学。  6毅伟商学院是加拿大最古老、最有影响力的商学院之一。大学生在入校两年后可以申请入毅伟攻读荣誉工商管理学士学位（HBA， Honors Business Administration）。毅伟是加拿大唯一一所可以授予HBA的商学院，其他商学院只能授予普通的工商管理学士学位（BBA， Bachelor of Business Administration）。优先录取机会项目（AEO， Advanced Entry Opportunity）是一种让学生有条件预录取进入毅伟HBA专业的项目。

7 feed off以……为食物来源；依靠……为生。  8 lateral横向的，侧面的。此处指从一个专业到另一个专业的同层次转换。