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| 图示：Bob Morse |
最新的2012USnews美国大学排名已经新鲜出炉，哈佛与普林斯顿并列第一，5所大学并列第5的结果有些出乎人们的预期。借这个机会，美国最大的升学网站Zinch向中国学生征集了一些关于USnews排名的问题，并将这些问题提给了被《时代》称为“The man behind the rankings”的《美国新闻与世界报道》数据研究总监Bob Morse。Bob非常细致耐心地解答了每一个中国学生的提问，相信看过了这个Q&A之后，大家都能对传说中的USnews排名又一个更加深入的了解。
Bob Morse
《美国新闻与世界报道》数据研究总监
Bob Morse自1976年起就开始为《美国新闻与世界报道》工作，现在的职位为数据分析总监（director of data research）。他开发了年度美国最佳大学与最佳研究生院排名的方法论和调查问卷，并始终关注美国高等教育的发展趋势，确保为学生们择校提供最好的数据分析支持。他本人的博客，摩斯电码（Morse Code），对排名所采用的方法论提供了更加深入的分析，同时也为关注USnews排名的人提供了一个可以互动交流的平台。Bob本人在辛辛那提大学修得经济学学士学位，随后在密歇根州立大学拿到了金融MBA。
I’m thrilled to hear from our friends in China who had questions about the U.S.News & World Report college rankings. We want our rankings to be helpful to folks across the world, so I’ll sit down and try to answer your questions the best that I can.
能收到中国朋友关于《美国新闻与世界报道》美国大学排名的提问我非常激动。我们一直希望我们的排名能够为来自世界各地的朋友们提供帮助，所以，我会认真地回答下面的每一个问题。
Zincher: When did U.S. News start to do the rankings? Who started it? And Why?
U.S.News是从什么时候开始做大学排名的？谁发起的？初衷是什么？
Bob: We started doing the rankings in 1983. They used a much simpler methodology than today. A group of editors and researchers started them. I am the only one who is still working on them from those early days. We do the rankings now for the same reasons we did them the first time: to provide prospective college students and their parents comparative information on colleges so they can choose the best school for them.
我们是从1983年开始做美国大学排名的。当时使用的排名方法和现在相比可简单多了。当时参与排名制作的是一些编辑和研究人员，我是其中唯一一个一直为排名工作至今的人。二十多年来，我们制作排名的目的始终没有变过：为准备上大学的学生和他们的父母提供可供比较的大学信息，来帮助他们更好的选择申请院校。
Zincher: How many people are working behind these rankings? Will they visit these colleges themselves or just read data on the computer?
有多少人是专门负责排名这项工作的？他们会亲自走访这些大学吗？还是只是对着电脑屏幕研究数据？
Bob: Here in the office, there are about 20 people who create and publish the rankings. We are a team, with some folks collecting data, some working on the IT side, others writing and editing the editorial content, and a few publicizing the rankings so you and your friends know about them. We work on the rankings throughout the entire year, though admittedly, we get a little more frantic between June and September, right before we launch the next edition of the rankings.
在我们的办公室里，大概有20人负责制作和发布这些排名。我们是一个团队，其中一些人负责数据收集，另一些人负责IT方面的工作，还有一些负责撰写和编辑排名的内容，当然，正因为有了那几位负责宣传工作的同事，你和你的朋友才能了解到关于排名的信息。
The cool thing is that even when meetings run long and our to-do lists get longer, we still manage to have a ton of fun in the process.
即使现在的工作会议时间越来越长，待办工作清单上的内容越来越多，我们依然能够在工作中找到很多乐趣，为此我们很骄傲。
Sometimes our team members get a chance to visit a university, but that’s not always possible. Our rankings are based on a survey of about 600 questions that ask college officials about SAT scores, graduation rates, and pretty much everything else we could possibly think of. We don’t use everything from the survey to formulate our rankings, but almost all of that information is available on our website.
某些时候，我们的同事的确会有机会亲身访问某个大学，但这种机会并不是一直都有。我们的排名是基于向大学官员提供的含有600个问题的调查问卷而来。这些问题涵盖了SAT分数，毕业率和几乎所有大家能想到的东西。当然，最终的排名并不是对所有600个问题答案的总结。不过几乎所有调查中所涉及到的方面，你都可以在我们的网站上找到相应的内容。
Zincher: What factors do you consider when you rank a college? How long will it take to evaluate one college?
你们评估一所大学的时候所考量的方面都有哪些? 评估一所大学要用多长时间？
Bob: Awesome question. We’ve been creating these rankings since 1983, and over time, we’ve developed a consistent methodology. We take many factors into consideration when we use this methodology. We ask schools about SAT and ACT scores, graduation rates, student to faculty ratios, high school class standings, acceptance rates, and hundreds of other questions. We want to know as much as possible about each school so we can create a well-rounded ranking and publish much of the information online for you to see for yourself.
好问题。从1983年第一个排名问世至今，我们已经开发出了一套稳定的评估方法。这其中涵盖了非常多的考量因素。比如说学校录取时的SAT和ACT分数，毕业率，师生比，高中排名，录取率和数百个其它方面的问题。我们希望能够尽可能多的了解每一个大学，从而做出一个最全面的排名，然后把这些信息都公布在网上供你们参考。
Because we’ve been ranking colleges for more than 20 years, we’ve developed a pretty consistent methodology. However, we sometimes need to make small adjustments to our process. We make sure to publish whatever changes we make to the methodology page, where you can also see exactly what goes into our rankings.
虽然说20多年的时间让我们的评估体系已经足够稳定。但我们也会与时俱进，偶尔做出一些小调整。不过，我们会确保每一次调整都会公布在网站的排名方法页面，这样你们就能清楚地知道我们的排名做出了哪些改进。
Zincher: I went to your website and found that I have to pay for the complete college rankings data. So what is missing on the free rankings published on your website?
我上了USnews的网站，但是发现想看完整的排名是需要付费的。我想知道相对而言，你们公布的免费排名信息里面少了哪些内容？
Bob: Great question. Our College Compass product provides much more detailed information on the schools. You pay for information about graduation and retention rates, specific majors, career opportunities, computer resources, and much more. Look at the free version of the rankings, and you’ll see that some information is “locked” with a tiny image of a padlock. After buying College Compass, you can access all that locked information.
非常好的问题。我们付费的College Compass 产品里提供了更多更为详细的学校信息。你支付的费用能为你带来学校的毕业及留校率，具体专业的情况，就业情况，校内的计算机资源等等。仔细看看网站上的免费排名，你会发现有一些信息被一个锁型的图片给“锁定”了。而一旦你成为了付费用户，你就能够查看所有之前锁定的信息。
When you purchase Compass, you can also use our cool new My Fit tool. This product is like a very customized college search engine. Enter your information, such as SAT and ACT scores, location, and intended major. Then you can customize your search even more by specifying which aspects are particularly important to you, such as religious affiliation and distance from home. You’ll then see a list of schools that should be a perfect fit based on what criteria you entered.
当你购买了Compass，你还可以使用我们最新最酷的My Fit工具。它就像是一个深度定制的大学搜索引擎。你可以输入你的信息，比方说，SAT或者ACT分数，所在位置和意向专业。你还可以更加人性化地设置某一个因素对你而言最为重要，比如：教派属性，和居住地的距离等等。之后，就会有一个完全匹配你喜好的院校名单出现在你面前。
We’ve been working on My Fit for months, and we’re excited for you to check it out! Our friends in China can order Compass (and My Fit) on an offer page that we’ve translated into Chinese.
制作My Fit工具耗时数月，我们非常期待你们能来尝试一下！中国的朋友们可以在我们精心准备的中文购买页面上进行订购。
Zincher: Some of the student reviews are really takes time to read…Can you make it simpler by just asking them telling what is good and what is bad?
一些学生评价写的太长了…能不能让这部分变的简单些，说清楚什么不错什么不行就行了。
Bob: That’s a great idea. I know those reviews can sometimes get a little lengthy; I think it’s because students have a lot to say about their schools. I like the idea of shortening the reviews by asking students more specific questions, and I’ll pass that suggestion along to my team.
这个主意很不错。我也看到了有些评价写的的确不短。本人觉得是因为这些学生对于他们学校的确有很多话要说。我觉得用让学生回答具体的问题来取代现有的评论方式是个很好的注意，我会让我们的团队来考虑这件事儿。
We’re always looking for new ideas that can help students and parents better understand and evaluate a school. It’s especially great to get a suggestion from across the world from our friends in China! If you have any other ideas or feedback, we want to hear it.
对于能让学生和家长更好的理解和评估学校有建设性作用的意见，我们一直都非常欢迎。尤其是能得到来自中国朋友的建议！如果还有类似的想法，请务必告诉我们。
Zincher: For those factors that you use in the evaluation process, will they change frequently? How many adjustments did you make on that for the past 10 years?
在排名评估方法中所考量的那些因素会一直变吗？过去10年里，你们对于这些因素做出了多少调整？
Bob: Awesome question. We’ve been creating these rankings since 1983, and over time, we’ve developed a methodology that’s stayed pretty much the same over the past 10 years. Our goal is to keep the methodology as consistent as possible so that the process is fair and even for both the schools and the people who use the rankings. The methodology is always based on many factors, such as ACT scores, graduation rates, and student to faculty ratios. For a better look at exactly what goes into our evaluation process, check out the methodology page.
非常好的问题。自1983年排名创立以来，我们所使用的评估系统可以说是非常稳定的，尤其是在过去10年里。我们希望能将这个体系尽可能稳定地沿用下去，从而做到无论是对于它的使用者还是学校来说，这个排名都是一个相对公平的方案。
To keep up with the times, we do adjust our methodology now and then. When we change something, we make sure to let everyone know so that they can use it as one more consideration when exploring the rankings. We publish the changes on our methodology page.
为了做到与时俱进，我们的确时不时的对于评估体系做出一些调整。每一次调整，我们都会让大家看到。让大家知道他们又多了一个考量学校的因素。这些调整都会公布在我们的评估体系页面。
Zincher: Just curious, what is the lowest ranking of Harvard in the U.S. News rankings history?
纯好奇，哈佛大学在USnews排名中最低的排名是多少？
Bob: Well, Harvard has always landed in our ranking’s top five national universities, but I believe that in 1989 it dropped to number four. To my memory, that’s the lowest ranking that Harvard has seen from us.
呵呵，哈佛大学一直都是我们排名中最顶尖的5所大学之一。不过我记得在1989年，他曾经仅仅排名第四。这是我记忆中，这是哈佛在USnews排名中排名最低的一次。
We want you to remember that rankings aren’t everything. Of course, we put a lot of work into these rankings, but they are one of many factors you should consider when choosing the school that’s best for you. Think about the size of the school, the programs they offer, the academic setting, and many other factors. Do you want to study alongside nearly 70,000 classmates at Arizona State, or would you feel more comfortable at a school of only about 750 students, such as Sweet Briar College? Do you want to explore the city life of a school in New York, or are you more interested in the yearlong warm weather at a California campus?
我们想借这个机会提醒大家，排名并不能说明一切。虽然这个排名花费了我们大量的心血，但它也不过是你择校过程中众多的考量因素之一。你还需要考虑学校的大小，具体专业的情况，学术结构等很多东西。你是想成为亚利桑那州立大学70000在校生的一员，还是更倾向于在一个只有750人的斯威特布莱尔学院里舒适地进修？你想体验纽约大都会的生活节奏还是对加州四季如春的气候更感兴趣？
Zincher: What should I do if I found my intended college ranked top20 in U.S. News but out of top50 at Princeton Review?
如果我想去的学校在USnews里排名前20，但是到了普林斯顿评论那边连前50都进不了，我该怎么办？
Bob: There are many college rankings out there, and each is a result of a specific evaluation process. Some of the criteria that the various ranking publications use may be similar to others, and some may be different. We recommend that you consider any ranking, be it ours or another publication’s, as just one factor in your college decision.
现在有很多大学的排名，每一个都是有它独特的评估体系。彼此间有些考量因素可能是类似的，有些则完全不同。我们建议你们可以考虑任何一个排名，无论是我们的还是其他人的，前提是记住看排名只是你择校过程中的一小部分。
In addition to the rankings, consider class sizes, acceptance rates, and career centers. Does the school offer the specific major you want to study, and are there opportunities to study abroad? Think about life outside the classroom, too. How important are competitive sports, volunteer opportunities, or location? Rankings are good to use as a guide, but take a step further to determine which schools fit your specific interests.
除了参考排名，你还要考虑班级人数，录取率，有没有职业规划中心，这个学校提供的专业与你感兴趣的方向是否吻合，有没有到国外做交换生的机会。当然，不要忘了考察一下学习之余的生活，这个学校重不重视体育，有没有志愿者项目，以及它所在的地理位置如何。排名可以用来当做一个择校的向导，但你自己需要更深入地考虑某个学校与你的个性化要求是否匹配。
Zincher: I heard that there are some colleges, good colleges, in the US never let themselves be put on rankings. What is your opinion on this? And how can I compare those colleges with one that is within the ranking?
我听说美国的一些学校，而且是好学校，从不参与大学排名。您对此是何看法？我又该如何去拿这些学校与排名内的学校去做比较？
Bob： You’re right—we don’t rank or evaluate every school in the U.S. I wish we could, and maybe someday we will. It’s important to know that an unranked school can still be a very good fit for you. Don’t let schools with a low rank or no rank at all scare you away from learning more about what those schools have to offer. One of these schools may not have the perfect ranking, but it may be in a great location, with affordable tuition, and the special program and extracurricular activities that you seek.
你说的没错—我们的排名并没有涵盖美国所有的大学。我们希望能够做到覆盖所有院校，也许不久的将来它就能够实现。不参与排名的学校一样能够成为最适合你的学校，记住这点很重要。千万不要一看到某个学校没有排名或者不在排名内，就不去深入地了解它们。可能没有好看的排名，但它们也许地理位置很好，学费特别便宜，某个专业或某些业余活动跟你的意愿非常搭配。
Use these rankings as a guide. They’re just one factor to consider. I didn’t go to Harvard or Yale. I received my degree from the University of Cincinnati, which is ranked in the 150s among national universities. Although it’s helpful to know that it ranks lower than some schools and higher than others, it’s also the other stuff—the special programs, location, and cost—that made it the right school for me.
我本人并没有去哈佛或者耶鲁上学。我的本科是在辛辛那提大学完成的，这个学校只排到了150位左右。虽然，了解它排在了XX大学后面，又比XX学院排名靠前对我来说很有帮助，但恰恰是一些其他方面的因素—特别的专业课程，地理位置和花费，让它成为了最适合我的大学。
Zincher: Which college do you rank No. 1 by your own standard?
如果让你用自己的标准来排名，谁是你心目中的No.1大学？
Bob: Well that’s a tough one. I’ve been ranking thousands of colleges since the 80s, and by now, I naturally think more like a professional statistician than a teenage prospective college student. Rankings and the methodology behind them are important because they give you hard data that may otherwise be hard to find.
这个问题真是难到我了。自从80年代开始我就为数千所大学进行排位，到现在，我基本上会是自然而然地站在一个职业统计学家来看待学校，而不是像一个高中毕业生那样去评价他们。我所考虑的都是那些评估体系所带来的不为人知却又非常重要的数据。
On the other hand, it’s up to you to weigh the importance of a ranking with all the other factors that should go into your college decision, such as location, class sizes, and tuition. I graduated from University of Cincinnati (UC), which is a public school in Ohio.
不过话说回来，你在择校过程中考虑的那些因素，孰轻孰重，完全取决于你自己。我只能说，我毕业于辛辛那提大学，一所俄亥俄州的公立学校。
Zincher: Is there any foreign language edition of the ranking? When are you gonna publish those rankings in Chinese?
USnews的排名有外文版本吗？我们什么时候可以看到中文版排名？
Bob:That’s a great suggestion, and I’ll make sure the rankings team and I discuss this more! We want to reach out to students in every language, but that will take some time.
非常好的建议，我保证我和我的团队会好好的讨论一下这个问题！我们希望任何国家的学生都能够方便的看到我们的排名。但是这个的确需要时间。
We’ve also spent some time translating the offer page for our College Compass product, which gives you more detailed information on each school. The Compass information is in English, but the offer page and order form is in Chinese. We know this may be a small step toward Chinese rankings, but we think it’s one in the right direction!
我们已经把College Compass订购页面翻译成了中文，它可以帮助你们了解学校的更多细节。这只是大家看到中文排名前的一小步，不过我们会沿着这个方向继续走下去。
Zincher: What other factors do you suggest us to consider to make an application decision beside remember the college’s ranking?
Bob: There are too many factors to count! We encourage our friends in China to explore how their top American schools help international students. Does the college accept the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) in place of the SATs? Are there special centers or learning communities for international students?
We also encourage you think about campus location. Do you want to go to a school in downtown New York, near the beaches of California, or maybe in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado? Also think about size. At Arizona State, you would have nearly 70,000 classmates, as opposed to about 750 at Sweet Briar College. Other factors to consider are academic programs offered, affordability, religious affiliation, and graduation rate.
Zincher: How many American students use U.S. News rankings?
有多少美国学生使用U.S.News的排名？
Bob: Each month, millions of American students and parents from all over the United States check out the U.S. News rankings. High school counselors also use our rankings to advise their students on which college to attend. We are proud to have visitors from all over the world.
每个月都会有来自美国各地数以百万计的学生和家长来浏览我们的排名。高中的升学顾问也参考我们的排名来给即将升学的学生建议。能够拥有来自世界各地的用户，我们非常骄傲。
Everyone uses the rankings differently. Some agonize over the top-ranked schools and memorize admissions dates. Others use the rankings to help discover schools that may not have been on their original list of potential schools. Use the rankings as a guide, and also factor in your special interests and preferences.
我们每个用户对于排名的用法也各有不同。有些人更关注高排名的学校以及他们的申请截止日期。另一些则用它来发现一些没有被自己列在择校名单里的优秀院校。
Thank you, everyone, for submitting your questions!最后，感谢所有提问的同学！
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