William Fitzzsimmons, 哈佛大学招生与财政资助院院长
Marlyn E.McGrath, 哈佛大学院招生院主任
Charles Ducey 哈佛大学教育研究生院，心理学助理讲师

那些当年招收过现在应届毕业生父辈的大学招生官员，具备着一种特有的视角优势，可以观察到从上一代到这下一代的改变。很多人都认为，今天学生承受的压力似乎远远大于上一辈所承受的。由于拿到“好的”大学学位对于“成功”有着重大的意义，大学的录取对越来越多的学生而言显得愈发重要。特别对于录取苛刻的大学，我们尽可能地帮助学生避免大多数报道所说的“筋疲力尽”现象，从而激发他们发挥出最大的潜能。

当然，追求大学的录取只是导致今天很多学生的“综合症”的一个方面。最近社会上涌起很多有关财富的传奇故事。那些青年富豪们的万贯家产、体育明星和歌星的巨额薪酬以及CEO令人咋舌的待遇，进一步刺激了人们对于一夜暴富的追求。学生(和他们的家长)比以往任何时候都竞相模仿那些“中了大奖”的人，试图像他们一样获取那超乎寻常的回报。

从摇篮开始
对奖牌的追逐很早就开始了，最近的一些报道听上去则有些匪夷所思：父母们尝试用古典音乐开启婴儿的心智；蹒跚学步的儿童被电脑和所谓的寓教玩具淹没；“专家们”误导家长告诉他们要趁小孩三四岁时抓紧时间进行幼儿教育，否则将抱憾终生……诚然，教育顾问在孩子的成长历程中发挥不可或缺的作用，他将指导孩子准备所有重要的面试和游戏考察项目，而这些面试和考察项目直接决定了孩子能否被录取到“好的”幼儿园、学前班或小学，从而进一步保证孩子能否进入好的高中、大学、研究生院等等。顾问还可以教孩子很多实用的东西，例如在面试中如何依靠与面试官的目光交流来展示自信，以及在各种考察项目中如何展现领导能力和分享能力。一些幼儿园、学前班和语法学校的录取竞争非常激烈，从统计数据来看，其录取率甚至比哈佛更低。一旦进入了“好”学校，学生会被老师，家庭教师督促学习。如果他们落后了，学习专家会帮助他们以最有效的方式赶上。学生结束一天学业回到家中后，晚上还要进行系统的学习和训练。即使来自出于好意的父母，对于孩子来说这份压力也是残酷的。很大程度上，这些父母总是想要孩子们成为最好的，担心自己的孩子会被其他更优秀的孩子甩在后面。

体育，音乐，舞蹈和其它娱乐活动，曾被认为是广受大家喜爱的休闲放松的方式。如今，那个时代已经一去不复返了。为获得大学奖学金或将来的企业聘任书而进行的各种培训，早在孩子尚在就读语言学校时就纷至沓来。耗时耗力的职业指导、夏令营、实践活动和各种比赛占去了学生几乎所有业余的时间。学生和家庭的通勤安排变得愈发繁琐与复杂。甚至在孩子的游戏时间，家长们通常也煞费苦心的安排合适的玩伴和有教育意义的活动。至于暑假，早已成为了一桩往事。日复一日紧凑的步伐让孩子们没有时间单纯地“做个孩子”，或者可以说，成为一个健全的人。

中学：快节奏的过渡期
高中阶段，学生的压力继续增大。这时的学生开始专注于一种活动，以致会放弃其它追求。为了努力完善自己的新天赋和新个性，学生们开始借助选定的活动决定自己的前途：成为运动员，舞者或是音乐家等。

美国儿科学会报道了长期专注于一种运动可能给身体和心理带来的伤害。泰格?伍兹式的成功只能算是个例。每一个类似的成功，代价都是无数其他人的黯淡。一些学生花费同学习一样多的时间来参加活动。例如，体育团队常常奔波在高速公路上，参加周末的客场比赛。训练和比赛也占用了他们大部分的时间。至于专注于某项专业的运动员、音乐家或舞蹈家，会为了参加更好的训练项目而转学，甚至不惜客走他乡，也不在乎转去学术薄弱的学校。

在特定的家教和中学SAT预备班的支持下，对于文化课的要求也逐步提升。高中阶段，每天晚上和每个周末的SAT预备班成为一些学生生活的一部分。一个“好的”家教，其薪酬可达每小时上百美元。他们的工作是全职教学，为此甚至整个夏天都陪伴学生——或住进学生家的海滨别墅，或就近寻找居所。如同预备学校和大学的暑期课程一样，暑期SAT补习班变得愈发普遍，很多甚至在初中就已经开始了。

“好大学”之探索
专业的大学顾问（私人的或学校的）在早期或在中学阶段就会介入学生的成长与发展，为学生设计和安排学业及课外活动，从而为进入“好”大学做好准备。就最好的情况而言，这种建议可以有效帮助学生评估才能、目标，以及在学生未来生涯中做中途的修整或改进。从质疑的角度来看，这种安排学生出国旅行、社区服务或其它活动的指导仅仅是为了丰富大学申请文书的内容，或提高面试能力。这种服务可能要几千美元。在准备材料方面，该服务质量参差不齐，有恰如其分的，也有抄袭的。如同引导校园之旅一样，录像模拟的大学面试是一些服务套装的一大特色。一系列的服务在学生九年级（七或八年级则没有额外费用）时开始，费用在30000美元以上。更多具体的服务项目包括文章检查服务，提供头脑风暴和尽可能多的文书核查。这种服务，会增加而非减轻社区和家庭生活正常预期的压力。他们的“作品”，例如过于流畅的文章，可能会对一个学生的录取有负面影响，因为那些文书有时更容易在录取过程中遭到质疑。

优秀大学录取所带来的困难感常常归咎为我们目睹了太多的压力。但是，在大学招生部工作的我们，认为所谓大学只是人生快行车道上众多目的地之一。就像把赌注加大一样，对于“加分”和各种竞赛成绩或荣誉的不断追求，反而会带来更大的压力。“好的”大学，“好的”研究生院，然后是“好的”工作，这一系列的成就虽然能让你进驻“好的”社区，并得以开始抚育下一代，但是你的下一代则不得不跨越更高的障碍去获取更大的成就。

后果
一些学生有意逃避当今社会的快速发展，逐渐沉沦于纵酒狂欢及其他自我毁灭的行为。由是，中学和大学的顾问服务面临着更高的挑战。有种现象屡见不鲜：即使是赢得所有奖金的最成功的学生，也会退一步思忖这样做的意义和价值。三四十岁的专业人士：内科医生，律师，学者，商人及其它，有时会给人一种在野外集训营幸存者下来的茫然印象。有些人说，是别人的期望毁掉了自己的事业；抑或他们只是漂流到此，却从未停下来想想他们是否热爱自己的工作。这些人经常感叹自己完全迷失了青春，从未生活在当下，总是在追寻迷雾一样的未来。

一些早期建议
我们能做什么呢？幸运的是，这些年轻一代自己萌生了减压和避免筋疲力尽的想法。在大学申请论文和面试中，在同在读大学生谈话和辅导时，在同校友讨论时，很多现在的学生都意识到了短暂休息的价值。这样一种短暂休息可以有多种形式。它可以很笼统，也可以持续一年或几年；可以是事先安排好的，抑或是没有安排的；可以是指引职业方向的，研究学术的，或者纯粹是个人追求。总而言之，这是一段退一步并反思的时间，为的是领悟人生价值和目标，或者为了获得一种与期望中完全不同的生活经验。

经年累月在高中奔劳的学生们提出了这样几条建议：
● 家庭应该允许在假期、周末，或在一周中的某几个用餐时间，或其他休息时间设立一段“短暂休息时间”。家庭生活已然受到了家长越来越大的工作压力的侵扰。一些家长自己亲身经历了第一波快车般仓促的童年，也经常会为自己奉献给孩子那少的可怜的不受干扰的空闲时间而感到担忧。

● 把夏天找回来。暑假不必全部安排计划缜密的暑期项目，例如暑期班、旅行项目、或者体育训练营。这种活动换种方式可能会更好。可以召集“同龄人超级集会”，设定几乎不可能达到的标准。在活动中，每个人按自己的速度进行，可能会更有趣，更有帮助。传统的夏季工作与学校生活完全不同：学生可以遇到不同背景，不同年龄和生活经历的陌生人。这种方式提供了心理上的休整时间，开启了未来可能性的一扇窗，因此是非常宝贵的。学生需要有足够的时间反思，休养（也就是“休养”自己不受要成功的压力的影响），积蓄力量应对下一学年。

● 选择一所高中（或大学）不仅仅凭“名校”或者声誉，而是选择最合适自己的。从长远来看，步伐更慢，在学术或课外侧重有所不同的学校可能更适合某些学生。

把握高三学年
高中最后一年预示着特殊的挑战和机遇。美国教育委员会高中毕业部称高三学年是“丢失的、亟需重新夺回的时光”。虽然一些学生尽量不给自己找麻烦，但是大多数学生却感到这是他们一生中压力最大的一年：除了要完成越来越多的课程及课外活动的领导责任，还要承受大学申请及入学考试所带来的压力。

选择“好”大学并被录取通常会有很大的压力。学生和他们的家人对这一特殊压力的反应不一，很多人都希望大学录取过程越快越好。

本文摘自哈佛大学官网

William Fitzsimmons, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, Harvard College
Marlyn E. McGrath, Director of Admissions, Harvard College
Charles Ducey, Adjunct Lecturer in Psychology, Harvard Graduate School of Education

College admissions officers, especially those who admitted the parents of today's applicants, have an unusual vantage point from which to observe changes from one generation to the next. Many of us are concerned that the pressures on today's students seem far more intense than those placed on previous generations. College admission - the chance to position oneself for "success" through the acquisition of the "right" college degree - looms large for increasing numbers of students. Particularly because selective colleges are perceived to be part of the problem, we want to do everything possible to help the students we enroll make the most of their opportunities, avoiding the much-reported "burnout" phenomenon that can keep them from reaching their full potential.

Of course, the quest for college admission is only one aspect of a much larger syndrome driving many students today. Stories about the latest twenty-something multimillionaires, the astronomical salaries for athletes and pop-music stars, and the often staggering compensation packages for CEOs only stimulate the frenzied search for the brass ring. More than ever, students (and their parents) seek to emulate those who win the "top prizes" and the accompanying disproportionate rewards.

From the Cradle On...
The chase for the prize begins early, and some recent reports sound hyperbolic. Anecdotes abound of infants serenaded with classical music to enhance their mental powers; toddlers overwhelmed with computers and "educational" toys; "experts" guilt-tripping parents by telling them that their children will be hopelessly behind by age three or four if they don't follow myriad prescribed strategies.

Consultants are paid thousands of dollars to prepare toddlers for the "all- important" interview and observed play-time that will determine admission to the "right" pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, or primary school - thereby presumably ensuring admission to the right high school, college, graduate school, and so on. The consultant will teach the child to maintain eye contact in the interview and to demonstrate both leadership and sharing during the observed play sequence. The competition for admission to some of the Pre-K, Kindergarten, and grammar schools can be intense - statistically more difficult (with lower admission rates) than Harvard.

Once in the "right" school, students are pushed along by teachers, by outside tutors and, if they stumble, by learning specialists who will help them approach their studies in the most efficient manner. The school day continues well into the night with structured study time and drills. The pressure can be relentless, even from well- intentioned parents. For the most part, they simply want the best for their children who, they fear, will be left by the wayside by other high achievers.

Sports, music, dance, and other recreational activities used to provide a welcome break, a time to relax and unwind. No more: training for college scholarships - or professional contracts - begins early, even in grammar school. Professional instruction, summer camps, and weekly practice and game schedules consume many hours and nearly all free time. Student and family commuting logistics become byzantine in their complexity. Even "play-time" is often structured and enriched with just the right mix of appropriate playmates and educational activities. Summer vacations have become a thing of the past. The pace of the day and the year allows little time simply "to be a kid" - or, it seems, to develop into a complete human being.

The Middle School/High School Fast Track
By high school, the pressure intensifies. Students start to specialize in one activity even to the exclusion of other pursuits. Athletes, dancers, musicians and others begin to define themselves by their chosen activity as they try to perfect their new-found talents and identities.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has warned of possible physical and psychological damage that can result from specializing in a sport prematurely. For every Tiger Woods success story, there are countless other less happy results. Some students participate in programs that take up as much time as school. Fast-track athletic teams compete or practice most days - with weekend-consuming road games, and national or international schedules during summers and vacations. A serious athlete or musician or dancer may change schools for a better athletic program, even moving far away from home to do so, and perhaps to an academically weaker school.

Academic demands also ratchet up, supported by special tutors and the beginnings of SAT prep in middle school. In high school, SAT prep becomes a way of life for some students, with night and weekend sessions. The "right" SAT tutors may command several hundred dollars per hour, and can be engaged to live during the summer at or near their tutees' beach houses. Summer "cram schools" for the SATs are increasingly common, as are summer school sessions at the best prep schools and universities, some beginning in middle school.

The Quest for the Right College
Professional college counselors (either independent or school-based) appear on the scene early, sometimes in middle school, to begin to structure students' academic and extracurricular profiles for entrance to the "right" college. At its best, such advice can be helpful in assessing talents, goals, and making "mid-course corrections" that can make a real difference in students' lives. From a more cynical perspective, such advice steers students toward travel abroad, community service, or other activities solely to enhance college application essays or interviews. Such services may command thousands of dollars, and assistance in preparing applications ranges from appropriate to plagiaristic. Videotaped mock college interviews are features of some packages, as are guided tours of colleges. An array of services start in ninth grade ("or seventh or eighth grade for no extra charge") for fees of over $30,000. More specific services include Essay Review, which offers "brainstorming session and as many revisions as necessary". Such services can add to, rather than alleviate, the stress of the normal expectations of school, community, and family life. Their "products", such as overly-slick essays, can even hurt a student's admissions chances as they can sometimes be easy to spot in the admissions process.

The pressure of gaining entrance to the most selective colleges is commonly blamed for much of the stress we observe. But those of us who work in college admissions recognize that college is only one of many destinations in the fast lane. The accumulation of "credentials" simply continues to intensify as the stakes increase. The "right" graduate school looms after college, and the "right" sequence of jobs is next. Such attainments make it possible to live in the "right" kinds of communities and to begin the job of bringing up the following generation, one that might need to vault even higher hurdles.

The Fallout
Faced with the fast pace of growing up today, some students are clearly distressed, engaging in binge drinking and other self-destructive behaviors. Counseling services of secondary schools and colleges have expanded in response to greatly increased demand. It is common to encounter even the most successful students, who have won all the "prizes," stepping back and wondering if it was all worth it. Professionals in their thirties and forties - physicians, lawyers, academics, business people and others - sometimes give the impression that they are dazed survivors of some bewildering life-long boot-camp. Some say they ended up in their profession because of someone else's expectations, or that they simply drifted into it without pausing to think whether they really loved their work. Often they say they missed their youth entirely, never living in the present, always pursuing some ill-defined future goal.

Some Early Remedies
What can we do to help? Fortunately this young fast-track generation itself offers ideas that can reduce stress and prevent burnout. In college application essays and interviews, in conversations and counseling sessions with current college students, and in discussions with alumni/ae, many current students perceive the value of taking time out. Such a "time out" can take many forms. It can be very brief or last for a year or more. It can be structured or unstructured, and directed toward career, academic or purely personal pursuits. Most fundamentally, it is a time to step back and reflect, to gain perspective on personal values and goals, or to gain needed life experience in a setting separate from and independent of one's accustomed pressures and expectations.

For the years during high school, here is some of the advice students have offered:
● Families should allow for "down-time" during vacations, weekends, and during the week at mealtimes or at any other break in the action. The fabric of family life is already under assault from the demands of parents' increasingly stressful jobs. Parents, some of whom experienced the first wave of fast-lane childhoods themselves, are often distressed by how little uninterrupted free time they have to devote to their children.

● Bring summer back. Summer need not be totally consumed by highly structured programs, such as summer schools, travel programs, or athletic camps. While such activities can be wonderful in many ways, they can also add to stress by assembling "super peers" who set nearly impossible standards. Activities in which one can develop at one's own pace can be much more pleasant and helpful. An old-fashioned summer job that provides a contrast to the school year or allows students to meet others of differing backgrounds, ages, and life experiences is often invaluable in providing psychological downtime and a window on future possibilities. Students need ample free time to reflect, to recreate (i.e. to "re-create" themselves without the driving pressure to achieve as an influence), and to gather strength for the school year ahead.

● Choose a high school (or a college) not simply by "brand name" or reputation but because it is the best fit. A school with a slower pace or a different academic or extracurricular focus can be a better match for certain students in the long run.

Using the Senior Year
The senior year of high school presents some special challenges and opportunities. The U.S. Department of Education's Commission on the High School Senior Year calls the senior year a "lost opportunity that we need to reclaim." While some students try to get by with as littlework as possible, others find it the most stressful year of their lives, with more demanding courses, more leadership responsibilities in their extracurricular activities, and the added burden of applying to college and taking the requisite college entrance tests.

There is often great tension about choosing and being admitted to the "right" college. Students and their families react to this particular stress in a number of ways, and many want the college admissions process over with as soon as possible.

Source from Harvard Universitys Official Website