致所有被我拒绝的女孩们
在向我咨询美国留学事宜的学生中，女生的比例大大超过男生。近年来，中国学生被美国大学录取的，似乎女生的比例也高于男生，被美国名校录取者尤是。前几天读了《纽约时报》的一篇文章，感触良多，把它翻译在此，希望有益于大众。这是一个沉重的话题，我女儿把这篇文章转发给我时，在邮件的主题上留下的是“sad article”（伤感的文章）。 ――高燕定
◎ By Jennifer Delahunty Britz1）
译/高燕定2）
A few days ago I watched my daughter Madalyn open a thin envelope from one of the five colleges to which she had applied. “Why？” was what she was obviously asking herself as she handed me the letter saying she was waitlisted3）。
Why， indeed？ She had taken the toughest courses in her high school and had done well， sat through4） several Saturday mornings taking SAT's and the like， participated in the requisite number of extracurricular5） activities， written a heartfelt and well-phrased essay and even taken the extra step of touring the campus.
She had not， however， been named a National Merit finalist6）， dug a well for a village in Africa， or climbed to the top of Mount Rainier. She is a smart， well-meaning， hard-working girl， but in this day and age of swollen7） applicant pools that are decidedly female， that wasn't enough. The fat acceptance envelope is simply more elusive8） for today's accomplished young women.
I know this well. At my own college these days， we have three applicants for every one we can admit. Just three years ago， it was two to one. Though Kenyon was a men's college until 1969， more than 55 per cent of our applicants are female， a proportion that is steadily increasing. My staff and I carefully read these young women's essays about their passion for poetry， their desire to discover vaccines9） and their conviction10） that they can make the world a better place.
I was once one of those girls applying to college， but that was 30 years ago， when applying to college was only a tad11） more difficult than signing up for a membership at the YMCA12）。 Today， it's a complicated and prolonged run that begins early， and for young women， there is little margin for error： A grade of C in Algebra II/Trig13）？ Off to the waitlist you go.
Rest assured14） that admissions officers are not cavalier15） in making their decisions. Last week， the 10 officers at my college sat around a table， 12 hours every day， deliberating16） the applications of hundreds of talented young men and women. While gulping17） down coffee and poring over18） statistics， we heard about a young woman from Kentucky we were not yet ready to admit outright. She was the leader/president/editor/captain/lead actress in every activity in her school. She had taken six advanced placement courses and had been selected for a prestigious state leadership program. In her free time， this whirlwind19） of achievement had accumulated more than 300 hours of community service in four different organizations.
Few of us sitting around the table were as talented and as directed at age 17 as this young woman. Unfortunately， her test scores and grade point average placed her in the middle of our pool. We had to have a debate before we decided to swallow the middling scores and write “admit” next to her name.
Had she been a male applicant， there would have been little， if any， hesitation to admit. The reality is that because young men are rarer， they're more valued applicants. Today， two-thirds of colleges and universities report that they get more female than male applicants， and more than 56 percent of undergraduates nationwide are women. Demographers20） predict that by 2009， only 42 per cent of all baccalaureate21） degrees awarded in the United States will be given to men.
We have told today's young women that the world is their oyster； the problem is， so many of them believed us that the standards for admission to today's most selective colleges are stiffer for women than men. How's that for an un in tended con sequence of the women's liberation movement？
The elephant that looms large in the middle of the room is the importance of gender balance. Should it trump the qualifications of talented young female applicants？ At those colleges that have reached what the experts call a “tipping point，” where 60 percent or more of their en rolled students are female， you'll hear a hint of desperation in the voices of admissions officers.
Beyond the availability of dance partners for the winter formal， gender balance matters in ways both large and small on a residential college campus. Once you become decidedly female in enrollment， fewer males and， as it turns out， fewer females find your campus attractive.
What are the consequences of young men discovering that even if they do less， they have more options？ And what messages are we sending young women that they must， nearly 25 years after the defeat of the Equal Rights Amendment， be even more accomplished than men to gain admission to the nation's top colleges？
In the meantime， I'm sending out waitlist and rejection letters for nearly 3，000 students. Unfortunately， a majority of them will be female， young women just like my daughter. I will linger over letters， remembering individual students I've met， essays I loved， accomplishments I've admired. I know all too well that parents will ache when their talented daughters read the letters and will feel a bolt of anger at the college admissions officers who didn't recognize how special their daughters are.
Yes， of course， these talented young women will all find fine places to attend college―Maddie has four acceptance letters in hand―but it doesn't dilute22） the disappointment they will feel when they receive a rejection or waitlist offer.
I admire the brilliant successes of our daughters. To parents and the students getting thin envelopes， I apologize for the demographic realities.
几天前，我看到我女儿玛德琳打开一个薄薄的信封，那是她申请的五所大学中的一所大学的来信。当她把这封将她的名字放在录取候补名单上的信递给我时，她明显在自问“为什么？”
到底是为什么？她选修了她所就读的高中里开设的最难的课程，并且取得很好的成绩；她连续几个星期六早晨参加SAT等考试；参加了好几项课外活动；写出了动人心弦、修辞生动的申请论文；甚至还到几所学校去看过。
诚然，她没有当选为国家荣誉学者决胜者，没有为非洲的农村挖过井，也没有攀登过瑞尼火山。她确实是个聪明的、懂事的、刻苦的女孩。但是，在这个申请者蜂拥而至的年代，以上的条件无疑地对于女孩来说是绝对不够的。厚厚的录取信封对于今天有成就的年轻女性来说更加难以获得。
我对这一点是太了解了。最近，在我自己的学校里，每 3个申请人中，我们只能录取一个，而在3年以前，是2：1.虽然凯尼恩学院在1969年以前还是一个男子学校，现在却有超过55%的申请者是女性，这个比例还在持续增长。我和我的职员们仔细地阅读这些年轻女性的申请论文：感受到她们对诗歌的激情，对找到疫苗的渴望，以及她们能够将世界变得更加美好的信念。
我也曾经是个像她们一样的女孩，我也申请过大学，不过，那是30年前的事情。那时候申请大学只比登记成为一个基督教青年会会员稍稍难一点。如今，申请大学是一件非常复杂的、很早就开始的长跑。对女孩来说，不允许有一点点的差错：你在代数II及三角函数课上拿了一个C意味着什么呢？意味着你只能排到候补名单上了。
请放心，招生人员绝不是随随便便地就做出决定的。上个星期，我们学校的10位招生人员，每天12个小时，齐齐地围坐在桌子前，从数百位优秀的申请者中小心翼翼地进行筛选。一边大口地喝着咖啡，一边认真研究各种统计数据。这会儿，正说到一个来自肯塔基州的女生，我们还没有痛痛快快地做出录取的决定。她参加学校的各项活动，身兼领导、主席、编辑、球队队长、戏剧主演等等。她选修了6门AP （大学课程，译者注），并且被选拔参加州里著名的领导才能培训项目。在她的课余时间里，她在4个不同的组织里做了超过300个小时的社区服务，使她获得旋风式的成就。
坐在桌子前面的我们，没有几个人在17岁的时候像这位女生那么优秀和那么有定向性的。遗憾的是，她的考试成绩和平均学分绩点处于所有申请人的中间段。我们不得不进行一场辩论，然后才决定，忍受这个中等的分数，在她的名字旁边写下“录取”。
如果她是一位男生，我们即使犹豫过――如果有的话――也不会那么难决定录取她。现实的状况是，男生比较稀罕，他们成了更有价值的申请者。如今，2/3的大学统计报告指出，他们收到的女性申请者多于男性，全美国大学里的女生（本科）超过了56%.人口统计学家预测，到了2009年，美国的学士学位将只有42%是授予男生的。
我们曾经告诉今天的青年女性，世界是你们的，问题是，她们中有那么多人相信我们，然而，今天大多数录取难度大的大学对于女生来说，录取难度要大于男生。这难道就是妇女解放运动预期不到的结果吗？
性别平衡的重要就像把大象放在一间屋子中央那样不可忽视。难道优秀的女性申请者的素质要屈从于性别平衡？在那些入学女生达到被专家们称之为“临界点”的60%的大学里，你从招生官员的谈吐中，能够感觉出绝望。
除了冬季大型舞会的舞伴匮缺外，性别不平衡在住宿大学里有很多大大小小各方面的问题。一旦你的学校女生绝对的多于男生时，不但男生不愿意来，女生也会觉得这个学校没有吸引力。
当男生们发现，尽管他们付出较少，却仍有较多的选择时，将会造成什么样的后果？在权利平等修正案夭折将近25年以后，难道我们给青年女性发出的信息是，她们必须比男生更有成就，才能与男生一样，获得著名大学的录取？
其间，我正给将近3000位学生发出候补通知和拒绝信。很不幸的是，其中多数是女生，正是像我女儿一样的年轻女性。我流连在一封封信中，在这些信里，我回忆着我所见过的一个个学生，一份份我喜爱的申请论文，一项项我所钦佩的成就。我非常清楚地知道，在优秀的女儿们读着这些信的时候，他们的家长将是多么心痛，他们将对招生官员没有认识到他们女儿们的不平凡而暴怒。
当然，这些优秀的女生最终都将找到不错的学校入学――玛德琳手上也已经有了4份录取通知――不过，这并不能冲淡她们接到拒绝信和候补通知时失望的感觉。
我很钦佩我们的女儿们所取得的辉煌成功。对于接到薄薄的信封的家长和学生们，我为这个人口统计学上的现实向他们道歉。
1. Jennifer Delahunty Britz：本文作者，为美国著名文理学院凯尼恩学院（Kenyon College）的招生院长。
2. 高燕定：1986年旅美，在美国得克萨斯A&M大学任研究仪器专家至今，为独立升学顾问。热衷教育研究和考察，深入了解美国教育。20年来，以独特的视角潜心探究美国教育文化，融合中西方教育思维之优势，形成自己对精英人才综合素质培养的独到见解，本文即摘自他的个人博客 （http://blog.sina.com.cn/m/gaoyanding）。
3. waitlist v. 把……登入申请人名单
4. sit through：一直挺到结束，耐着性子看完（或听完）
5. extracurricular adj. 课外的，业余的
6. finalist n. 参加决赛的选手
7. swollen adj. 肿胀的
8. elusive adj. 难以捉摸的
9. vaccine n. 疫苗
10. conviction n. 信念
11. tad n. 微量，少量
12. YMCA：Young Men's Christian Association，即基督教青年会
13. Trig：即Trigonometry，［数］三角学，尤其研究三角函数
14. rest assured：放心
15. cavalier adj. 自由自在的，傲慢的
16. deliberate v. 慢慢地考虑，权衡
17. gulp v. 吞，一口吞下
18. pore over：注视，钻研
19. whirlwind n. 旋风
20. demographer n. 人口统计学家
21. baccalaureate n. <美>学士学位
21. oyster n. 牡蛎，蚝
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