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人们看到哈佛大学长期负责招生的院长威廉·菲茨西蒙斯（William Fitzsimmons, 1967届哈佛毕业生）在法庭上被询问，来自农村的学生是否比来自城市的有优势。回答是“有”。
There on a big screen are his emails with the university’s fund-raisers, suggesting special consideration for the offspring of big donors, those who have “already committed to a building” or have “an art collection which could conceivably come our way.”
大屏幕上显示着他与为哈佛募集资金者的电子邮件往来，其中有对大额捐赠者——那些“已承诺为一栋楼出资”或“拥有可能会到我们手中的艺术品收藏”的人——的后代给予特别考虑的暗示。
Grades, test scores, intended major, personality ratings, ethnicity — all the various factors that can help turn an anonymous high school student into a Harvard man or Harvard woman are being dissected for all to see.
成绩、考试分数、意向专业、个性评分、族裔——所有能帮助把一名没有特色的高中生变成哈佛学子的各种因素，都剖析给所有的人看。
Actual student files have been introduced into evidence, with Thang Q. Diep’s family history being pored over alongside Sally Chen’s test scores.
真实的学生档案已被用作法庭上的证据，汤·Q·叶(Thang Q. Diep)的家史与萨莉·陈(Sally Chen)的考试成绩一起受到审阅。
Court documents and trial testimony have introduced Harvard admissions jargon: “tips” are bumps given to applicants, the “dean’s interest list” is a compendium of applicants with clout, and the “Z-list” is a sort of back door into the college for students who are borderline academically. For everyone, the odds are long, as nearly 43,000 applicants sought spots in the Class of 2022 and just 2,024 received letters prompting high-fives and teary phone calls.
法庭文件和庭审证词已把哈佛的招生术语介绍给了大庭广众：“额外考虑”提高了申请人的录取概率，“院长关注名单”是有势力的申请人的汇编，“Z名单”则是学业一般的学生通往哈佛的一种后门。对每个申请人来说，录取的概率都很低，将近4.3万名申请人希望成为今年的新生，只有2024人收到了令他们相互击掌庆祝和在电话中热泪盈眶的录取通知书。
Although many selective colleges are known to engage in the same admissions tactics, Harvard’s lawyers lamented in pretrial papers that being forced to produce application materials would be like divulging trade secrets, and would allow students and college counselors to game the process, which is in full swing right now. The judge even likened Harvard’s formula to the recipe for Coke.
虽然人们知道许多名牌大学都采用同样的招生策略，但哈佛大学的律师们在预审文书中痛惜地说，被迫提交申请材料将会像是泄露商业机密，会让学生和帮助学生申请高校的辅导员钻招生过程的空子。这个神秘的招生过程目前正在全面公开，法官甚至把哈佛的挑选方法比作可口可乐的配方。
In the end, however, Harvard’s lead counsel, Bill Lee (Harvard Class of 1972), said this week that it had been necessary to spill some secrets.
不过，哈佛大学的首席代理律师比尔·李（Bill Lee, 1972届哈佛毕业生）终于在本周表示，泄露一些秘密是有必要的。
“I’ve definitely not revealed the secret of Coke,” said Mr. Lee, who represented Apple in a patent suit against Samsung — another trial that exposed closely guarded secrets. But, he acknowledged, “you’re learning a lot about the admissions process that never would have been public otherwise. We want you to know. Once you understand it, you can understand how decisions are made.”
“我肯定没有泄露可口可乐的秘密，”李说。比尔·李曾在苹果诉三星的专利案中担任苹果的代理律师，该案的审理也暴露了严格保守的秘密。不过，他承认，“你们将了解很多录取过程中的事情，这些事情原本永远不会公开。我们想让你们知道这个过程。一旦你们了解了它，你们就能了解决定是怎样做出的。”
Some, but not all, of the secrets have buttressed Harvard’s elite reputation.
秘密中有一些（并非全部）支撑着哈佛的精英名声。
It casts a wide net for students, aggressively recruiting those in “sparse country,” predominantly rural areas that yield few applications. It considers a dizzying array of factors, from SAT scores (the higher the better) to athletic ability (recruited athletes receive a big advantage) to interviews (be “effervescent,” “fun,” but “mature”) and more. A lack of deep pockets won’t hinder a hopeful and might even help one’s chances, testimony showed.
哈佛广开招生门路，积极争取来自“稀少地区”的学生，这些主要是农村地区，申请的人数很少。哈佛考虑一系列令人眼花缭乱的因素，从SAT分数（越高越好）到体育能力（被招募的运动员有很大的优势），再到面试（“热情洋溢”、“有趣”，但“成熟”）等等。证词显示，不是来自殷实之家并不会成为负担，甚至可能会对其录取的机会有所帮助。
