#选校讲解# 文理学院VS综合性学院,美国留学问问微信公众号文章

文/Thomas Anderson

Choose Your University, Part 2　如果选择你的理想院校－－第二部分

In Part 1 of “Choose Your University”, we introduced the concepts of “reach”, “target”, and “safety” schools. In this blog, we will discuss the importance of choosing the university that best fits your long-term academic and professional goals.

在第一部分的“选校”中，我们介绍了三个概念：梦想学校，目标学校和保底学校。在这一篇博客中，我们将讨论如何选择针对你长期学术和职业目标的学校。

While the infamous annual US News report on National University Rankings is a good general guide for overall university prestige, some highly ranked universities rank poorly in certain fields of study, while some average universities rank highly in other fields of studies. This is true for not only undergraduate programs, but especially for graduate programs. For example, the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign’s graduate program in Civil Engineering ranked higher than MIT’s and Stanford’s. This may come as a surprise, given that MIT and Stanford rank within the top 10 overall universities, while the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign is ranked #41. It is therefore important that you do your research on program specific rankings depending on your field of study. A great resource to do this can be found here.

尽管著名的美国时报每年都会在全国高校排行榜上公布大学的威望和学术排名，但是一些综合排名很高的学校却在某些领域排名很低，而一些很普通的学校却在某些专业上十分突出。这不仅仅是针对本科学习，研究生院更是如此。例如，伊利诺斯厄本纳--香槟分校研究生院的土木工程专业要比麻省理工和斯坦福的同专业排名高很多。这也许会让很多人感到惊奇，因为麻省理工和斯坦福大学的排名都在全美前十以内，而伊利诺斯厄本纳--香槟分校的排名只有41。因此，很重要的一点是你需要根据你想申请的专业搜索相关项目的排名。在这里为大家提供一个很好的资源here.

Another consideration when choosing your university is whether you’d like to be in a large-university environment, or a smaller, more cozy liberal arts environment. It is a mistake to write off liberal arts colleges simply because you have not heard of them. While schools such as Swarthmore, Williams, and Amherst may not be as internationally well-known as Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, they are considered highly prestigious institutions, and provide similar academic rigor as Ivy league universities. Furthermore, small universities and liberal arts colleges tend to focus exclusively on undergraduate education, and because of their size, foster a more tight-knit community than large universities. For a list of the top liberal arts colleges in the US, click here.

另外一个选校的考虑就是你是喜欢在大的校园环境中还是小的，更加安逸的文理学院的环境。仅仅因为你没有听说过这些文理学校的名字就不将其考虑在你的选校范围是不明智的。像斯沃斯莫尔学院，威廉姆斯学院和阿默斯特学院，虽然不像哈佛大学，普林斯顿大学和耶鲁大学那么出名，他们仍是享受盛名的学校而且能为你提供类似常春藤大学一样严谨的学术环境。另外，小的大学和文理学院更加注重本科的教育，因为他们的规模，比起大校园，能够打造出一个更加紧密地社区环境。想要了解一个最顶尖的文理学院，可以点击此处here.。

While some prefer the intimate setting of a small university or liberal arts college, others prefer to be part of a larger university environment. By attending a large university, you join a alumni network that may help in finding employment upon graduation. Large universities also offer an abundance of research opportunities and athletic events that may not be found at smaller universities. Moreover, simply because of the sheer size of large universities, you are likely to find a club or organization for just about any interest you have.

有些人会比较喜欢比较小的大学或者文理学校的小圈子环境，另外一些同学会更加喜欢规模比较大的大学。如果选择较大的大学，你可以加入一个校友联络网帮助你毕业后的就业。大的大学也可以为你提供许多研究机会和在小规模的大学中不会有的一些活动项目。除此之外，仅靠大的大学的规模，你很有可能找到你自己感兴趣的俱乐部和组织。

Lastly, when choosing your university, you should consider where the university is located. Your mental well-being and happiness are important factors, and you should ask yourself: “Will I be happy spending 4+ years at this school?”. A more rural university environment like that found in Ithaca, New York (home to Ithaca College and Cornell) may not be suitable for students who thrive in cosmopolitan settings. Conversely, if you do not enjoy city life, you are unlikely to be happy spending four years at NYU or Columbia in busy Manhattan.

最后，选择院校的时候，你应该考虑大学的位置。你的心智状态也是重要的考虑因素。你应该问自己：“如果在这所学校呆上4年我会不会开心？”　一个位于纽约Ithaca区，更加农村环境的的大学，可能不适合在大都市中成长的学生。(例如Ithaca 大学和康奈尔大学)相反，如果你不喜欢城市生活，你可能不会喜欢位于繁华的曼哈顿的纽约大学或者哥伦比亚大学。

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog. We hope this information helps as you narrow down your options of where you’d like to study. And be sure to check out Part 3 of “Choose Your University” next week!

希望这边博文可以帮助大家做出选校决策。下周，我们还会为大家带来选校系列的第三部分