As high school seniors across the United States wait anxiously for the responses to their college applications, some can take comfort in knowing they sent out the best applications that money can buy.
Their parents paid hundreds -- sometimes thousands -- of US dollars to consultants who helped the students write admissions essays, practice for interviews, prepare for tests and even pick after-school activities, hoping to improve their chance of admission.
The consultants get paid for work that is usually provided free by high school counselors. On average, they charge US$120 (NT$3,900) an hour. You can also hire them for two full years, which costs an average of US$2,900 (NT$93,600). One very expensive two-year consulting program costs nearly US$40,000 (NT$1.3 million).
PHOTO: AP
``Certainly it skews things for people who can afford it, but the whole system is skewed that way, unfortunately,'' said Andrea DuBrow, who hired a consultant to help her daughter get into college.
Many students who can't afford a private consultant aren't getting the attention they need from a high school counselor. There are now some groups attempting to level the playing field by providing free college consulting for students with low-income parents.
One such group, College Match, gives low-income students in the Los Angeles area two years of intensive college preparation and guidance counseling, including free trips to east coast colleges.
But some college officials question whether college consultants are really neccesary at all. Bruce Poch, vice president and dean of admissions at Pomona College in Claremont, California, said many parents hire consultants out of ``paranoia'' about the difficulty of the application process. ``Most of what a private consultant provides can be found in a few books or on the college's own Web site,'' Poch said. (AP)
全美的高校準畢業生正焦急地等待申請學校回覆時,有些同學卻可以高枕無憂,因為他們知道自己已繳交了可以用金錢買來的最佳申請書。
這些人的家長付了好幾百美元(有時是好幾千美元)給幫助學生撰寫讀書計劃、練習面試、準備考試、甚至挑選課後活動的顧問,希望能增加孩子入學的機會。
這些顧問做著高中校內顧問通常免費提供的工作來謀取收入。一般來說,他們一小時索價一百二十美元(新台幣三千九百元)。你也可以雇用他們整整兩年,平均費用為兩千九百美元(新台幣九萬三千六百元)。而頂級的兩年諮詢費用為四萬美元(新台幣一百三十萬元)。
雇請顧問來協助女兒上大學的安卓雅.杜博洛說;「對負擔得起的人來說,這當然能扭轉乾坤,不過不幸的是,整個體系都這麼走樣了。」
許多負擔不起私人顧問的學生並未從校內顧問得到他們所需的關注。現在已有一些團體提供免費諮詢給低所得家庭的學生,試著讓升學競賽公平。
其中一個團體「學院配對」給洛杉磯地區低所得家庭的學生兩年密集的大學入學準備、指導與諮詢,包括免費到東岸大學旅遊。
不過有些大學教職員質疑,入學顧問是否真的有必要存在。加州克萊蒙特市波莫那學院副校長暨註冊處主任布魯斯.波許表示,許多父母過於擔心申請過程困難重重,才會雇請顧問。波許說:「私人顧問所提供的東西,大多數都可以在書中或各大學自己的網站上找到。」
(美聯社)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
Everyone has seen a piece of fruit turn brown after being cut. Have you ever wondered why that happens? It is a common phenomenon that occurs due to a chemical reaction called enzymatic browning. The appearance, flavor and nutritional value of the fruit are all affected by this reaction. Some fruits, such as apples, pears, bananas, avocados and peaches, are more prone to enzymatic browning than others. These fruits contain high levels of an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase, or PPO for short. __1__ This causes a chain of chemical reactions that ultimately transforms the phenolic compounds into
A: As well as Eid al-Fitr, Southeast Asia is celebrating the Water Festival this week. B: And this year, Thailand is expanding the celebration between April 12 and 16 for the event, officially known as the Songkran Festival, expecting to make 24.3 billion Thai baht in tourism revenue. A: Does Taiwan celebrate the Water Festival? B: Some local cities and counties do have similar activities. A: Let’s go experience the festival then. A: 除了「開齋節」外,東南亞「潑水節」本週也盛大登場! B: 泰國今年從4月12日到16日擴大「宋干節」連假,預估觀光收入可高達243億泰銖。 A: 台灣會慶祝「潑水節」嗎? B: 有些縣市會舉辦類似活動。 A: 那我們也去體驗一下吧。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)