夜迹晨拾

慧聪网2007年9月19日转载《光明日报》文章：美国高校以新形态进入中国高等教育市场。

“我们没有数量目标；我们没有招收学生的数量计划。”美国塔芙茨大学（Tufts University）教务长和资深副校长詹伯儒(JamshedBharucha)，在面对提出入学申请的北京高中生的提问时，一再这样强调。日前，在北京王府饭店二楼的小会议室里，他用纯粹美国式的面谈高中生的方法，与5位优秀的北京学生进行了交流。而两天前，他刚与15位上海高中生进行过类似谈话。这是美国大学在进入中国高等教育市场时，开始出现的新的形态。

这种与申请入学高中生面谈的方式，是美国高校在其本土招收高中毕业生的传统做法。塔芙茨大学把这种方式用来招收部分中国学生，的确是新的尝试。而拥有美国历史最悠久的国际关系学院、北美唯一独立营养学学院和著名牙医学院的塔芙茨大学，把与中国高校的高起点项目合作放在重要位置。它启动了两国学生为期两个月的固定结对互访的交流模式，目前，它又与复旦大学签约进行包括最新牙种植技术在内的高起点牙医教育科研合作、与中国疾病预防控制中心合作儿童和老年人营养研究、与中国外交学院和中欧国际工商学院合作交流，与浙江大学开展的学生交流计划也进入深化阶段。中央教科所研究员储朝晖认为，包括美国高校在内的海外高校，面对日益重要的中国高等教育市场，在表现出来合作热情的同时，已开始以高质量的合作内容和丰富的合作形态进入其中。对于中国高等教育的发展，这是一个积极的发展动向。

Via xinhuanet.com:

BEIJING, June 19 (Xinhua) — Educational Testing Service (ETS),the promoter of the TOEFL test, has decided to provide 25,000 additional places on the Chinese mainland for people taking the internet version of its test, TOEFL iBT.

The additional places will be available from July to December this year, according to China’s National Education Examinations Authority (NEEA) on Tuesday, US-based ETS’s partner on the Chinese mainland.

“We will offer 14 TOEFL iBT administrations by the end of this year with the support of the Chinese side,” said Paul A. Ramsey, senior vice president of ETS’ Global Division.

“We are working on several fronts, expanding seat capacity at existing test centers and opening new test centers,” he said.

The TOEFL iBT registration website is being monitored to ensure an open, fair test registration process, Ramsey added.

Every year, about 75,000 people take the test on the Chinese mainland, and the number is on the rise as more people seek opportunities to study abroad.

ETS’ major rival in the English-testing market in China is IELTS which tested more than 140,000 candidates in 2006, a rise ofnearly 40 percent on the previous year.

At present, more than 6,000 colleges and universities in 110 countries rely on TOEFL to measure the English-language skills of their students.

ETS launched internet-based TOEFL test in China’s mainland in September 2006.

Most Chinese primary school students start learning English in the second grade, at the age of eight. A total of 200 million Chinese people are learning foreign languages, with English the most popular choice.

Experts advices on how to narrow down your choices of schools.

Tempted to throw up your hands in confusion over the multiplicity of colleges to choose from? Feel like throwing darts at a wall papered with all those brochures stuffing your mailbox? In that case, you already know that narrowing your wish list to a mere handful of target, reach, and safety schools is tough.
But wait. Did someone say a “mere handful”?

Yes. Despite anecdotes of anxious students’ applying to 20 schools or more, a recent survey of 600 high-achieving high school seniors conducted by the research and marketing firm Lipman Hearne found that the average number of colleges they applied to was just under four.

Surprised? It’s true that over the past 10 years, the number of students applying to more than two colleges has increased with the advent of the common application and online access. But narrowing your list to a reasonable number can yield benefits that go beyond financial savings (those application fees do add up). Although some students believe they’re raising their odds by applying to a dozen schools, they may end up shortchanging themselves by diluting their efforts rather than concentrating on getting to know–and making their interest known to–a smaller number of schools.

So forget the darts. Get the facts, then break down the process step by step.

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