A cautionary tale about educational consultants:

這是一個有關教育顧問的警世故事。

Gerald and Lily Chow, who lived in Hong Kong, were so eager to get their two sons into an Ivy League school that they invested heavily in a plan from Mark Zimny, an educational consultant, who aimed to get the boys into Harvard, The Boston Globe reported:

生活在香港的杰拉爾·周(Gerald Chow)和莉莉·周(Lily Chow)都急切希望自己的兩個兒子能進入常春藤盟校(Ivy League)，所以他們把大量資金投入了教育顧問馬克·奇姆尼(Mark Zimny)的入學計劃，后者的目標是讓他們的兒子進入哈佛大學(Harvard)。《波士頓環(huán)球報》(The Boston Globe)寫道：

"First, Zimny's company would provide tutoring and supervision while the boys attended American prep schools. Then, according to a complaint and other documents the Chows filed as part of a lawsuit in US District Court in Boston, Zimny said he would grease the admissions wheels, funneling donations to elite colleges while also investing on the Chows' behalf.

"首先，奇姆尼的公司會在孩子就讀美國預科學校期間為其提供輔導和監(jiān)督。根據(jù)周家向波士頓地區(qū)法院提交的申訴信息和其他文件，奇姆尼表示，他會向名牌大學捐款，疏通關系，從而保證錄取的順利進行，并同時為周家進行投資。"

"According to the suit, Zimny warned the Chows against giving to schools directly. "Embedded racism" made development offices wary of Asian donors, he allegedly advised them; better to use his company as a middleman."

"根據(jù)訴訟案，奇姆尼曾告誡周家不要直接向大學捐款。據(jù)稱，他告訴周家，“根深蒂固的種族歧視”讓大學的開發(fā)部門對亞洲捐款人抱有戒心。據(jù)稱，他向二人建議，最好以他的公司為中間人進行操作。"

Two years and $2.2 million later, the Chows' investment in Mr. Zimny's consultancy, IvyAdmit, failed. (The sons did wind up at top universities, The Globe's Mary Carmichael writes, but neither of them went to Harvard.)

周家在兩年中共向奇姆尼的“常春藤錄取計劃”投入了220萬美元，但這一計劃以失敗告終。（《波士頓環(huán)球報》記者瑪麗·卡邁克爾[Mary Carmichael]寫道，他們的兩個兒子最終的確進入了頂尖大學，但都不是哈佛大學。）

Now the Chows are suing to get their money back, claiming that Mr. Zimny lied to them and committed fraud and breach of contract.

如今，周家希望通過訴訟拿回自己的錢，他們稱奇姆尼撒謊欺詐、違反合同。

The Globe has PDFs of the legal complaint from the Chow family and Mr. Zimny's motion to dismiss, the invoices to the family, and interestingly enough, the consultancy's detailed plan to get the boys into Harvard.

《波士頓環(huán)球報》獲得了PDF格式的周家訴狀和奇姆尼的撤訴動議，還有開給周家的發(fā)票信息，以及奇姆尼策劃的讓周家兒子進入哈佛大學的詳細計劃，相當有趣。

There is no doubt that navigating the American college admissions process can be a daunting task with an unpredictable outcome, especially for prospective international students, so thousands of college consultants have stepped in to help.

毫無疑問，完成美國大學的申請過程可能是一項艱巨任務，其結果也難以預計，對那些潛在的國際學生來說尤其如此，所以才有成千上萬的大學顧問前來提供幫助。

However, as the New York Times senior editor Jacques Steinberg wrote in 2009, independent college counselors are jumping into a field that requires "no test or licensing to offer such services, and there is no way to evaluate the counselors' often extravagant claims of success or experience."

然而，正如《紐約時報》資深編輯雅克·斯坦伯格(Jacques Steinberg)在2009年寫道，獨立大學顧問爭相進入的領域不要求“考核和執(zhí)照就可以提供服務，也沒有辦法對顧問們經(jīng)常自詡的成功和經(jīng)驗進行評估”。?