CONGRATULATIONS. You've been accepted to more than one college. Now comes the hard part: deciding which to go to. Make a mistake and you could be repeating the whole application process again next year — to transfer out.
恭喜啦。你收到了不止一所高校的录取通知书。现在，艰难的时刻到来了：选择上其中哪所大学。这一步错了，明年就有可能再重复一遍申请大学的全过程——办理转校。
Let's say the cost is similar. How to choose between two good options?
先来假设学校的费用相仿。那么，在两所都不错的选项里，你该如何挑选呢？
Look to the Future
展望未来
Remember this, says David Montesano, founder of the consulting company College Match: "College is just a tool to help you achieve your life goals."
咨询公司College Match的创始人大卫·蒙特萨诺(David Montesano)说，要谨记以下这条：“大学只是帮你实现人生目标的一个工具。”

If your goal is to make money, don't assume the more prestigious the institution, the more earnings. Equally smart students make about the same whether they attend a top school or not, according to the economists Stacy Dale and Alan B. Krueger. But Hispanic, black and low-income students, they found, can expect to earn more if they graduate from an elite school. Data at Payscale.com can give you a sense of what graduates of individual colleges earn.
如果你的目标是赚钱，不要想当然地认为学校越有名望，将来赚的钱就越多。根据经济学家史黛西·戴尔(Stacy Dale)和亚伦·克鲁格(Alan B. Krueger)的统计，两个同样聪明的学生未来赚的钱将一样，不管他们是不是进了最好的学校。不过他们也发现，西班牙裔、非洲裔和来自低收入家庭的学生如果从名校毕业，将有望赚更多钱。看看Payscale.com的数据，可以了解各所大学毕业生的薪金水平。
If your goal is grad school, investigate which colleges produce healthy numbers of master's and doctoral students. Some colleges post comparative lists on their sites crunched from federal surveys. The National Science Foundation also lists feeder schools for science and engineering Ph.D.'s. The percentage from Reed College, by the way, is higher than from Princeton or Harvard.
如果你的目标是继续深造，需要研究下哪所大学的毕业生攻读硕士和博士学位的数字较为稳健。一些大学在网站上公布了来自联邦调查的比较表。美国国家科学基金(National Science Foundation)也列明了本科院校毕业中攻读科学和工程学博士的学生人数排名。顺便说一句，里格学院(Reed College)的比例超过了普林斯顿(Princeton)或哈佛(Harvard)。
Steer Clear of Colleges in Crisis
远离深陷危机中的高校
Reading student newspapers online will tell you whether students approve of how officials respond to problems, like hazing or sexual assault. Are students protesting against the Keystone XL pipeline or problems with the school itself, like too many adjunct teachers or disappearing services? And pay attention to public funding of state schools. Budget cuts can increase class size and make it harder to get the courses you need to finish your degree in four years.
上网读一下学校的学生报，你会了解学生们是否赞同校方对特定问题，比如欺凌或性骚扰的反应。学生们抗议的是Keystone XL输油管线还是学校自身的问题，比如助教过多，或者未提供应有的服务？还要注意拨给州立大学的公共基金。削减预算可能会增加班级规模，也会增加你在四年内如期修满所需课程、取得学位的难度。
Reviews on websites like unigo.com, collegeprowler.com and studentsreview.com can give you a sense of what each school's students complain about - — -at Cornell, for example, students grouse about being graded on a curve, while Rutgers students bemoan feeling like a number. But the best way to determine the weak points of a particular school is to ask students or recent alumni.
看看unigo.com、collegeprowler.com和studentsreview.com这类网站上的评论，你可以大致了解各所学校的学生们正在抱怨哪些问题——比方说，在康奈尔(Cornell)，学生们正抱怨老师按照成绩曲线分布图来打分，而罗格斯大学(Rutgers)的学生哀叹说感觉自己只被学校当成了一个数字。不过，想要了解某所学校的弱项，最好的办法还是去问目前在读或新近毕业的学生。
Go Where You'll Shine
去你将会发光的学校
"One of the most important things a person can get out of college is confidence based on success," says Jane K. Klemmer, an educational consultant in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y. Look for a place where the learning environment and social scene will give you the most opportunities to succeed, she says. "If there are a lot of fancy cars in the parking lot that are going to make you feel poorer and somehow inferior, that could be a problem."
“在从学校所获得的东西中，有一点至关重要，那就是建立在成功之上的自信，”教育咨询师简·克莱默(Jane K. Klemmer)说。她的公司位于纽约布莱尔克利夫庄园。她介绍说，你所要寻找的大学，应该是学习环境和社交活动都能为你的成功带来最多机会的地方。“如果在停车场里看到那么多台靓车，会让你感觉自己有点穷，低人一等，那么这就是个问题了。”
Matthew Baker of Riley Baker Educational Consulting suggests that you gauge whether you will fit in by asking, "Would I want to hang out with these people on weekends?"
赖利·贝克教育咨询公司(Riley Baker Educational Consulting)的马修·贝克建议，你可以通过追问这个问题来评估自己是否能适应某所学校：“到了周末，我愿意跟这群人一起玩吗？”
School traditions might also indicate where you belong. Take Colgate University and Grinnell College, two rural liberal arts colleges on pretty campuses that accept students with similar SAT scores and grades. Colgate students begin and end their college careers with a torchlight procession to a bonfire where they sing the school song. A big tradition at Grinnell is the annual Mary B. James cross-dressing ball. It should be no surprise that Colgate is beloved by preppy scholar-athletes while Grinnell is a haven for hipsters who discuss Derrida into the wee hours.
学校的传统也许同样能表明你属于哪里。就以柯盖德大学(Colgate University)和格林内尔学院(Grinnell College)为例，这两所都是位于乡间的文理学院，校舍美丽，所接收的学生SAT考分和成绩接近。柯盖德大学的学生在刚入校和毕业时，会进行一套仪式，高举火把列成长队走向篝火，并齐声高唱校歌。而在格林内尔学院，这里的一项重大传统是每年一次的玛丽·詹姆斯(Mary B. James)易装舞会。如果告诉你，柯盖德大学深受拿运动奖学金的预科生推崇，而格林内尔是文艺青年的天堂，他们会在深夜卧谈会时大谈德里达(Derrida)，你肯定不会感到意外。
Some relish a challenge. Daniel Surman, a political science student active in Republican politics, ended up at Macalester College, which had offered him the most financial aid. But Macalester topped the Princeton Review's list of most liberal colleges in 2011. "I was intrigued by the idea of being the iconoclast in the class," says Mr. Surman. "Being at Macalester, I've definitely gotten better at defending my views."
一些学生喜欢挑战。丹尼尔·苏尔曼(Daniel Surman)是位积极参与共和党政治事务的政治学学生，他最终选择入读提供助学金金额最大的麦卡利斯特学院(Macalester College)，而这所学校在2011年《普林斯顿评论》(Princeton Review)评选的自由派高校中列居榜首。“想到成为班上的偶像破坏者，这让我特别兴奋，”苏尔曼说，“来到麦卡利斯特后，我觉得自己在捍卫个人观点方面更为精进了。”
And he started a student group. Membership: 5 to 15 Republicans.
他还在学校创立了一个社团。成员比例：5个自由派对15个共和党人。