Dr. Don Martin, Ph.D., 是一位在高等教育领域颇有名气的招生专家，哥伦比亚大学（Columbia University）、西北大学（NorthwesternUniversity）、芝加哥大学布斯商学院（University of Chicago Booth School ofBusiness）前招生办主任。他从多年实际经验出发，指出了选校过程中极易出现的几个误区，同时提出了七点实用的建议。
During my 28-year career in enrollment and student services, I regularlyhosted "open" office hours to avail myself to students. Often, those who came to seeme were unhappy and sometimes angry. At the core, many complaints came from a belief that the student hadbeen misled about the graduate school program—that it was "not at all" what heor she had expected.
在我28年的招生和学生服务工作中，来找我的学生经常闷闷不乐，甚至非常生气。他们抱怨的主要原因是，自己选择的研究生项目根本不是之前预期的样子，他们完全被误导了。
When I asked how the decision to come toour institution was made, the reply was often "Well, you're highlyranked" or "I know someone who went here and said it was great."I was astounded by how many times students said they made the decision toattend my program almost entirely because of its ranking and word-of-mouthreputation.
当我问他们当初是如何决定来这里时，得到的答案往往是“排名高啊”或者“我认识一些在这里读书的人，他们说还不错”。不知道有多少学生决定参加我们的项目，几乎完全是因为排名和口碑，这让我十分震惊。
Let me be clear: Predicating your graduateschool choice largely on prestige and the recommendations of others is amistake. There are a number of factors you need to consider. Therefore, applythe due diligence and take the necessary time to find the program that'sbest for you. After all, your graduate education is yours. It is your time,your effort, and your money.
我必须要明确指出：在选研究生项目的时候，仅仅依赖排名和他人的建议是错误的做法。除了排名和口碑，还有其他一些你需要考虑的因素。因此，你必须利用必要的时间来进行“尽职调查”，以此寻找到最适合你的项目。毕竟，这是你的研究生教育，是你的时间，你的努力和你的金钱。
Asyou embark on your graduate school exploration, here are seven criticalcomponents to include in your research in order to discover the school that'sright for you.
当你开始探索时，这里有七点建议供你采纳，希望帮助你找到最合适的项目：
1.Allow enough time: Waiting a few weeks before the application deadline to conductyour research is way too late. Allow at least six months before you apply toreview websites, gather information, and contact individuals you believe willhelp clarify your grad school options. As you will read below, finding time toconduct a campusvisit is highly recommended.
1.给出足够的时间：如果你在申请截止日期前几个星期才开始进行探索研究，那么为时已晚。你需要给出至少半年的时间来阅读学校的网站、收集信息、联系对项目更了解的人给你相关的选择建议。
2. Know your industry: This is huge. It isimportant to learn as much as possible about what professionals in your chosencareer do every day. I cannot tell you how many times students with whom I methad never considered the professional realities of their career choice orwhether they'd actually like the work. Please, don't be one of those students.Interview individuals in the field you are considering. Ask if you can"shadow" them for a few hours. And ask if they had it to do overagain, would they choose the same profession.
2. 了解你的行业：这是项庞大的工程。你要尽可能多的了解在你选的行业里，那些专业人士们每天都在做些什么，这一点非常重要。我不知道有多少来找我的学生从未考虑过自己的职业选择的专业现实，也没有考虑过这是否是他们喜欢的工作。请不要成为这些学生之一，建议你去咨询在目标行业里的工作的人们，看看是否可以伴随他们一起工作几个小时，询问他们如果有机会再来一次，他们是否还会选择同样的职业。
3.Toss a wide net: Start out with a large number of options on your grad schoollist and check out each one.Begin with at least 15 to 20 schools. Do anInternet search utilizing broad keywords such as "graduate programs inbusiness" or law, medicine, education, arts and sciences, etc. And don'tbe afraid to include overseas schools. Because you are starting with a verywide net, rankings provide a good resource here, but they should not be youronly resource. Go to the websites of at least 20 to 30 schools and do a littlereading.
3. 阅读大量官网：把你的备选学校和项目官网一个个看过去，至少15至20所学校起步。可以用一些关键词进行搜索，如“商科研究生项目”或法律、医学、教育、艺术和科学等等。你至少要访问20至30所学校的网站，其中学校排名是一项重要信息，但不是全部，请多做一些更广泛的阅读。
4. Create a spreadsheet: This is soimportant! Make a compare and contrast spreadsheet. Put the names of yourgraduate school options on the left hand column. Across the top of the page,add the aspects that are most important to you in considering whatprograms are best (e.g. location, financial aid, cost). This will take sometime, but it is well worth it. You'll likely discover programs and schools thatare of much greater interest. Conversely, programs and schools that wereoriginally high on the list may lose their luster.
4. 创建电子表格：做一个对比表格，把你考虑的项目名称写在最左列，表格的首行依次列出你最关注的因素，如地理位置、学费、奖学金等。这需要花些时间来完成，但确实非常值得。经过比较，你可能会发现更感兴趣的新项目，而那些原本在你候选清单里的项目可能不再那么适合你了。
5. Test the admissions office: Choose animportant question you don't have the answer to, and cannot find the answerfor, on the school's website (e.g., "What types of career services aremade available to students?") Send an E-mail to each admissions office andadd two columns on your spreadsheet to compare answers for these questions: How long did it take to hearback? Was my question answered and was it in a friendly, professional manner?If you are treated poorly as prospective student—and you have not even paidyour first tuition bill—how will you be treated after you are enrolled in theprogram?
5.测试招生办：选择一个你在官网里找不到答案的重要问题（例如，“你们会给学生提供什么类型的职业服务？”）发送E-mail给每个招生办公室。在你的电子表格中增加两列：“他们多久回复你”和“他们的回复是否够专业且态度友好？”记录和比较他们对这些问题的回答情况。如果作为“准学生”你都没有被很好的对待（你连一笔学费都没交过），那么当你正式参加这个项目后又会被如何对待呢？
6. Visit the campus: Do you know what itwould feel like to be on the campus? If you don't do a campus visit, you won'tknow. You could be unpleasantly surprised when you show up for orientation, butby then it's too late. Keep in mind that you'll be on campus nearly every dayfor the next one to two years, if not longer. Ask yourself: Will the physical and cultural environments besomething with which you are comfortable? Are the facilities up to date? Willyou feel at home there?
6. 参观校园：你知道在校园里的真实感受是怎样的吗？如果你不去参观一下就不会知道。当你真的到那里以后才感到种种不满，那时已经太晚了。请记住，你未来一到两年（甚至更长时间）中几乎每天都要在这个校园度过。问问你自己：这儿的物质和文化环境让你觉得舒服吗？这儿的设备是最新的吗？你会有家的感觉吗？
7. Talk to current students and alumni: Theimportance of doing this cannot be stressed enough. Create a list of afew questions for both students and alumni.Ask around to find currently enrolled or recently graduated individuals.Contact them and request a few minutes of their time. Ask them to be completelycandid with you. What you hear might surprise you and may be extremelyhelpful.
7. 联系在校学生和校友：这一点特别重要！列一个针对学生和校友的问题清单，通过周围的人找到目前在读的学生或刚毕业的校友，与他们取得联系，问问他们是否愿意耽误几分钟时间和你坦诚地沟通。相信我，你得到的信息会令你十分惊讶，并且可能非常有帮助。（当然，得益于兴华的校友网络，兴华的小朋友们完全不用担心这个问题哟~~~记得每次准时参加我们的校友分享就好！）
Having taken the time to do the above, you will be in a much betterposition to make an informed decision about where you want to apply. And I canassure you that when the time comes to enroll, you'll be more confident aboutyour decision and have a much richer student experience.
如何挖掘“隐藏”在官网上的实用信息？
根据Dr. Don Martin的建议，我们至少需要半年的时间来搜集分析学校的各种信息。对即将处于2016申请季的你而言，寒假是最佳起点。大部分中国申请者可能没有机会去走访Dream School，但阅读官网这件事却并不困难。那么，在阅读官网时，除了排名，我们还需要特别注意官网中的哪些信息呢？以下是主页菌的几点Tips:
1、学校/学院的基本情况及历史沿革
2、入学要求及经济帮助计划
3、项目具体介绍及培养目标
4、就业服务及毕业生就业状况
5、其他你感兴趣的任何信息（如学生社团等）
