经过一天漫长的学习，刘良骑车回到家已是晚上九点。深秋的北风使他感到冬天的寒意。期中考试马上要开始了，作为一个初二的学生，他的压力越来越大。明年这个时候将会是他备考中考的最后准备阶段。 他在学校的成绩一般。一些数学概念和公式的掌握对他来讲是个挑战。虽然英语是他最喜欢的学科，但他在学习语法和造句上很吃力。即使他在校一天超过十二个小时,但他在数学和英语学习上遇到的问题并未解决。他和他的父母对此很无助。如何解决刘良遇到的问题?

刘良是一个英俊有活力的14岁男孩。他练习打羽毛球超过五年,并在市一级的比赛中赢得过一些奖牌。他颇有运动天赋,在全市初中生运动会上,他连续三年获得八百米冠军。 除了运动和学习外,刘良还喜欢唱歌。他是学校合唱团的领唱。现在,这些课外的活动和爱好都成为刘良的负担,功课太重,他没有时间去做任何学业以外的事。

今年暑假,像一些其他中国孩子一样,刘良参加了赴美的游学夏令营。他们参观了几所美国中学,这令他大开眼界。同时也让他意识到他所在的中国北方某小城市的中学生活可悲和令人失望。然而,他也切身体会到他在美国几乎听不懂别人在说什么,更谈不上正常的表达自己。这让他感到恐惧。英语在美国是渗透在生活各个角落的，实实在在的,有用的东西,而不像在中国只是在课堂上学习的一门课程。他开始幻想出国读书,对英语学习的兴趣和热情也比以前强了很多。

刘良家境不错,负担他出国念书没什么问题。现在刘良家面临重要的选择:是让他继续在中国念书还是送他出国念书。前者没什么风险但也前景暗淡。后者有些不确定的因素但有吸引人的预期。这些期望也通过刘良的美国之行和父母周边朋友小孩的一些例子得到了生动的验证。即便如此,刘良的父母还是放心不下一些担忧。比如基于刘良不扎实的语言基础和一般般的学习能力，他能上到什么样的高中,他是否足够成熟和独立去处理各种事情,亲情的缺失,安全问题等等。

显然,刘良家所面临的选择是很多中国家庭面临的,有代表性的挑战。没有一个简单的答案。这也正是教育顾问提供专业信息和指导,协助这些家庭作出适合他们自己情况的选择的地方。

It is almost 9 clock at night. Liang Liu rode his bike back home after a long day of study at his school. The cool wind from north brings some sense of winter to him in this later autumn season. Middle term examination is at the corner and he feels pressure as a grade 8th student. Next year this time he will be fully occupied with the final preparation for the entrance examinations of high school. His grades at school are normal at average. He struggled with some Mathematical concepts and formula. English is his favorite subject. But he feels uncomfortable to use some grammar rules in formulating sentences or doing drills. Obviously, his 12 hours stay at school could not solve his problems on English and Math. He is frustrated and so did his parents. What is the solution for the problems Liang Liu is facing?

Liang Liu is a handsome and energetic 14 year old boy. He played badminton for more than five years and won some medals at city level. His athletic talents shined when he won championship for 800 meters running three times in a row in the annual games attended by all local secondary schools. Chorus is his favorite thing to do in his spare time apart from sports. Actually, he is the leading singer in the chorus of the school. All his extra activities become now kind of burden and he barely has time to continue.

Last summer, Liang Liu joined a tour to USA and visited few American secondary schools. That trip opened his eyes and inspired his mind. He found his situation in his Chinese school miserable and disappointed. However, the tour frightened him as well as he barely can understand what he heard and needless to say express himself well. He realized the English is a real and useful stuff in life, instead of merely a subject taught at school. He began to dream of studying abroad someday and learn English with more enthusiasm and interest.

As a financially well established family, studying abroad is an affordable option. Now the family faces the choice point: leave China or stay in China for Liang Liu’s education. Continuing study in China will be a foreseeable and not promising future given Liang Liu’s current status. Leaving China is an uncertain but promising plan according to what the Liang Liu had seen from his trip to US and what the parents had heard from many stories of their friends’ children. Theoretically, the parents and Liang Liu have preference of furthering Liang Liu’s high school education in US, however, they have a couple of concerns such as what kind of high school Liang Liu could finally enter given his limited language ability and normal academic performances at school, maturity of Liang Liu on handling his personal life independently, departing from parents and relationship with parents and security issues etc.

Apparently, Liang Liu’s family is encountering a very challenging and representative problem for many Chinese families. There is no simple right or wrong answer for this question. That is where educational advisers can provide professional and informative assistance in the process of decision making.

如何从一个较低层次的院校,如社区学院,转入更好的大学, 通常会有些规则。 抛开面子不谈,转学确是一个明智的选择,尤其对那些高中成绩不理想的学生来说,更是如此。我们不妨来看看两个例子.一个是哥伦比亚大学,另一个加州大学。

有超过九十所较小的文理学院和著名的哥伦比亚大学签有所谓的”3+2协议”。这个项目的正式名字是”组合计划项目”。 参与该项目的学生通常要完成在其就读的学校的三到四年的学习,然后他们会有机会继续在哥大学习两年的工程。最终,他们可以获得文理学院颁发的艺术学士和哥大颁发的科学学士双文凭。在哥大,这些学生享受与其他转校生同等的待遇,如助学金,有保障的第一年学生宿舍,等哥大本科生的体验。只要达到一些要求(参见链接: http://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/apply/combined-plan),参与该项目的学生将确保进入哥大。在该项目的文理学院名单见链接:

http://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/combined_plan_affiliates_2013-14.pdf

加州政府关于教育的总体规划中明确了社区学院,加州州立大学和加州大学各自的定位和角色。在基础层面,社区学院提供两年制的社区学院教育和副学士学位, 而加州州立大学则主要负责职业训练及提供相应的学位课程。在顶端,加州大学则主要定位是研究性大学。对那些没能在大一成功进入加州伯克利,或加州洛杉矶分校的学生来说,从社区学院转学是很不错的选择。 同时,加州大学在接受转学生时也优先考虑社区学院的学生。类似与文理学院与哥大的协议,一些加州大学会确定录取与他们有合作协议的社区大学学生,只要他们满足某些要求,比如说最低的平均成绩GPA。尔湾峡谷社区学院和加州大学尔湾分校之间就有这种合作协议。

然而,转学不是什么都好。我本人经历过转学,改变学习和生活的环境。对我而言,这并不困难。但对很多其他人而言,突然中断两年建立起来的朋友圈子和联系,而进入到全新而陌生的环境,是有难度的挑战。除此以外,还有各种课外活动及其延续性带来的问题。一般而言,比较理想的情况是在大学里持续四年参加某活动或组织(比如学校的Formula SAE团队,一种大学学校的竞赛团队)。 如果转学生想加入,他们不得不作为新成员从头开始.

总之,转学对很多学生而言可能是一个明智的选择。 从一个环境转到一个不同的环境能否兼容,取决于学生放弃原有的一切,从新建立人际及职业的圈子,甚至各种爱好,活动圈子等的意愿。必须指出某些学校(如斯坦福大学和波莫那学院) 很少接受转学生, 每年不超过20名。加州大学圣地亚哥分校,洛杉矶分校,伯克利分校等只接受三年级的转校生(意味着你必须在原来学校学完至少两年课程)。

There remains a certain amount of stigma associated with transferring into a college, especially from a lower-tier institution like a community college. However, without taking into account matters of pride, transferring can be an extremely smart decision, especially for students with unsatisfactory high school grades. Let us examine two case studies here: first, that of Columbia University, and second, that of the University of California.

Over 90 schools, typically smaller liberal arts schools with a focus on the humanities, have what is sometimes referred to as a "3/2 agreement" with Columbia University. Yes, THAT Columbia university in New York City. The official name for this program is the "Combined Plan Program," in which a student first studies for three years (sometimes four) at a liberal arts college, and then studies engineering at Columbia for two years. At the end of this program, the student will attain a Bachelor of Arts degree in a liberal arts discipline as well as a B.S. in one of the many engineering disciplines offered at Columbia. While at Columbia, these students are treated effectively as transfer students, and are eligible for financial aid, guaranteed first-year housing, and the unhindered Columbia undergraduate experience. As long as certain requirements (http://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/apply/combined-plan) are met, students will be guaranteed acceptance into Columbia University. A list of affiliated liberal arts colleges can be found here:

(http://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/combined_plan_affiliates_2013-14.pdf).

The California Master Plan for Public Education lists out specific educational roles for the California Community Colleges, California State University, and University of California to fulfill. At the very bottom, community colleges were to provide 2-year Associate Degrees. Next, the Cal State system was designed to provide mainly vocational training and degrees, with the entire system capped off by the University of California as a research-first institution. For many students who fail to get accepted into schools like UC Berkeley or UCLA for their freshman year of college, transferring from a community college remains a highly viable option. When accepting transfer students, UC schools make community college students their first priority. Similar to the agreement liberal arts colleges have with Columbia University, some UC schools will guarantee admission to community college students so long as the students meet certain requirements (usually a minimum GPA). Irvine Valley College and UC Irvine have exactly such an agreement.

However, transferring schools is not without its downsides. I personally have extensive experience switching to new living areas and schools, so the process of transition from one college to another was not a particularly difficult one. For many others, though, the process of establishing friends and connections at a school for two years, only to then uproot those connections and enter a strange, foreign environment may present its difficulties. There's also the issue of extracurricular activities and continuity - while it is ideal for a student to remain involved with an activity (take, for example, a school's Formula SAE team) for four consecutive years, transfer students must start over as brand-new members in different clubs and organizations.

Ultimately, transferring can be a smart decision for many students. The compatibility of transferring is contingent upon the student's willingness to uproot and then establish new social and professional networks, as well as the types of extracurricular activities they are intent on pursuing. It should be noted that some schools (like Stanford University or Pomona College) are not very receptive of transfer students; they generally accept less than 20 transfer students each year. UC San Diego, UCLA, and UC Berkeley only accept junior transfers (so students will have to complete at least two years at another school before transferring).

阮老师是广州市远近闻名的数学老师，因为在过去的十年中她培养了一批国际数学奥林匹克竞赛获奖的学生，她也被尊为“金牌教练”。 当她十年前开始训练学生时，她只是专注于教学，很少考虑她从中能得到什么。之前，阮老师只是普通中学的一名普通的数学老师。 教数学是她的饭碗，也可称之为职业。 年复一年孜孜不倦的努力终于换来回报。她培养的学生在各种数学竞赛中表现优异，她也开始小有名声。不久后，她被省重点高中相中，进入名牌学校。在这里，她培养的学生是全省的尖子，终于，她的一个学生代表中国在国际奥林匹克数学竞赛中获奖，这成为她人生的转折点。她被任命为学科带头人，作为学校的领导之一，她不再是一个单纯的老师。她作为个人也越来越多的涉足近年来在中国疯狂发展的课外辅导生意。

现在阮主任每周会给高年级的，选拔出来的学生上两到三次课。 在学校，她的日程通常会被各种事务性的工作占满。 在校外，各式各样的家长排着队见她，或请她吃饭。 象学校其它有经验的老师一样，在学校附近阮老师也有自己的辅导教室，侯着放学后的学生。 这些课后辅导课程是为丰富学生的知识，提高他们的技能而精心设计的， 目的是帮助他们在各种区域性，甚至全国性的竞赛中取得好成绩。通常辅导班有20－30名学生，有时会多到50－60人。 辅导收费按人头每小时从50－100元不等。这种辅导班伴随着学期的开始和结束，在暑假会达到高峰。显然，这是一笔不小的收入，可以算是阮女士的财富。

这种情景在中国高中是很普遍的现象。教育对这些有成功经验的教师而言越来越像积累个人财富的赚钱机器。把教育作为一项事业来追求的愿景在他们的心中已逐渐逝去.

Teacher Yuan is a famous high school mathematical teacher in Guangzhou city attributed to her students’ achievements as medal winners of the International Mathematical Olympia Competition in the past ten years. She is called “Gold Medal Coach”. When she began to train those students ten years ago, she cared not much about what she would get from those students. She was a normal Math teacher, working in a local normal high school. Teaching Math is her occupation if you can call it as “career”. Amazingly, year by year, with her restless efforts and students’ impressive performances in various Math contests, she became well known and was enrolled by one of the most famous magnetic high schools in Guangdong Province. In such top tier high school, she got more talented students to train and finally, one of her students won a medal from the International Olympia Competition, representing China. That was a turning point for her. Since then, she was appointed as the head of the Math faculty at the school and worked as a leader, not just a teacher. Personally, she got much more exposure to the training business which has been rampant in China in the past few years.

Now Director Yuan still teaches two or three times each week at school, normally for those senior or gifted students aiming for contests. Her schedule is occupied by various administrative issues. Outside school, she is even busier as she gets various parents lining up to meet or to dine. Naturally, like many other experienced teachers at the school, she has her own training classroom outside of school, waiting for students after the school hour. The training courses are carefully designed and serve to enhance the selected students for further knowledge and skills which either critical in local or even in national competitions. Each class normally enrolls 20-30 students, sometimes, even to 50-60. The training fee is counted by hour at around RMB 100. This type of training session will run along with school terms and will reach its peak during summer break. Obviously, that is big chunk of money. Actually, it is a fortune to Mrs. Yuan.

This picture is a popular phenomenon in current high schools of China. Education for those experienced teachers becomes more like a machine which can generate great deal of money, or personal fortune. The pursuit of education as a career is gradually vanishing in their minds.

参与课外活动不仅是为了申请大学的需要,它可以扩展学生的视野,知识和人际关系.培养一个全面发展的人是学校课外活动的主要目的。

选择课外活动的关键是发现什么是你最有激情去做的事。寻找机会去做那些你很享受的事情,争取做个领导,学习掌握新的技能并持之以恒。品质胜于数量。坚持常年做两到三件事要比蜻蜓点水地做很多事情更有意义。

你应该合理安排你的活动,不要让它影响你的学习成绩。充分利用暑期去尝试新的事物,或参加一些你平时上学无法参与的项目。实习,兼职或志愿者工作都会给你提供运用课题所学于现实生活并发现你的职业或学习兴趣的机会。

既然我们谈到课外活动,自然离不开运动话题。运动在美国校园可以说无处不在。除了保持和不断完善自己的体型外, 运动会提升你的自我形象, 使得你有机会去练习你的领导力，时间管理的能力和团队合作的技能。八成以上的哈佛的学生会参加某项体育或娱乐的活动。其他好的大学的情况也类似。从文化的角度看,浸淫于某项美国流行的运动,如美式足球,棒球,篮球和冰球,会给你带来人际交往中的共同话题。

最后,既然你是在探讨课外活动,不要忘了寻找乐趣。你通过参加课外活动所学到的东西，不仅会加强你的申请,它还会帮助你形成个性,发展技能,发现兴趣。你会因此而终身受益。

*本文材料源于哈佛大学官网

Getting involved in extra-curricular activities will help expand students’ horizons, knowledge, and network—not just for college applications. The development of a well-rounded individual is also the main goal of extracurricular activities at school.

The key to choosing extracurricular activities is to discover the things about which you are most passionate. Look for opportunities to do the things you truly enjoy, to become a leader and to acquire new skills, then stay consistent. Quality, not quantity, counts! It’s more meaningful to have two or three deeply committed activities through the years than a list of superficial activities.

You should arrange your activities in a way that won’t negatively impact your grades. Take full advantage of summer vacation to try new things or expand on activities you don’t have time to during busy school year. An internship, a part time job or volunteer work will provide you an opportunity to apply classroom learning to the real world and also help you identify career or study interests.

Some words on sports since we are on the topic of extra-curricular activities. Sports are BIG (widespread) on US campus. In addition to improve or maintain physical fitness, it promotes self-esteem and provides the opportunity to develop leadership skill, time management skills and team work. Nearly 80% of Harvard students body participates in some form of athletics and recreation on campus*, which is also true for many top tier schools. From culture perspective, immersing into some of the American’s favorite sports such as football, baseball, basketball and hockey may offer a common topic for discussion in a variety of social environments.

Finally, as you are exploring extra-curricular activities, remember to have fun. Things you learn through these extra-curricular activities will strengthen your school application and help you shape your personalities, develop skills and discover interest that may benefit you for your whole life.

*resource data from Harvard admission office