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）
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