Before the new coronavirus began spreading around the world,
在新型冠状病毒开始在全球范围内传播之前,
Serra Sowers was thinking about what she would do after high school.
塞拉.索沃斯一直在思考她高中毕业后要做什么。
The 17-year-old from Florida had planned to visit seven colleges this spring to help her decide where to continue her education.
这名来自佛罗里达州的17岁少女原本计划在今年春天参观七所大学，来帮助自己决定在哪一所学校继续学业。
In the United States, high school students often visit colleges and universities they might attend before they officially seek admission.
在美国，高中生经常在正式申请入学前参观他们可能就读的学院和大学。
But like so many things during Sowers final year of high school, the coronavirus pandemic has pushed the process online.
但是就像索沃斯高三这年发生的许多事情一样，冠状病毒疫情使得这一过程被迫在线上进行。
Sowers has had to depend on virtual visits,learning about schools through video meetings with college officials.
索沃斯不得不依靠虚拟访问，通过与大学官员的视频会议了解学校。
Her mother, Ebru Ural, says she worries how the pandemic might affect her daughters college experience itself in a few short months.
她的母亲埃布鲁.乌拉尔表示，她担心疫情可能会在短短几个月内影响她女儿的大学生活。
"We e dealing with the unknown, and we e trying to make such a huge decision.
“我们正在处理未知的事情，我们正试图做出如此重大的决定。
She invested the better part of the last year trying to earn acceptance to these institutions,"
去年大部分时间，她都在努力争取这些机构的认可，”乌拉尔说,
Ural said, but "we really don know what we e buying right now."
但“我们真的不知道我们现在正在选择什么。”
The Associated Press reported her comments.
美联社报道了她的评论。
The pandemic has affected plans for millions of students, both in the United States and overseas.
疫情影响了美国和海外数百万学生的计划。
Many are making virtual visits to schools while dealing with concerns about paying for a college education in an economic downturn.
许多人在虚拟访问学校的同时，还得担心经济低迷时期支付大学学费的问题。
They also are wondering whether college campuses will even reopen by late summer.
他们也想知道大学校园是否会在夏末重新开放。
Boston University, for example, has already canceled all "in-person summer activities" at its main campus.
例如，波士顿大学已经取消了其主校区所有的“面对面暑期活动”。
And the universitys plan for dealing with the pandemic states that if health officials say it is unsafe to re-open this year, it may wait until January .
而该大学在应对疫情的计划中指出，如果卫生官员说今年重新开放校园是不安全的，可能要等到1月(再重新开放)
Earlier this month, Harvard Universitys president said Harvard is considering several possible plans of action.
本月早些时候，哈佛大学校长表示，学校正在考虑几个可能的行动计划。
Yet the future is still very unclear.
然而，未来仍然非常不明朗。
Oregon State University and University of Arizona officials have expressed hope their schools would re-open,
俄勒冈州立大学和亚利桑那大学的官员表示，希望他们的学校能重新开放,
but shared similar concerns about what the future holds.
但对未来的发展也有类似的担忧。
In efforts to keep student enrollment numbers up, colleges are offering interactive one-on-one online meetings, using video services like Zoom.
为了保持学生注册人数的增长，大学提供一对一的在线互动会议，使用Zoom等视频会议。
Hundreds of schools have given families more time to decide by delaying the date of their first required payment from May 1 to June 1.
数百所学校给了学生家庭更多的时间来作出决定，将首次缴费时间从5月1日推迟至6月1日。
In addition, the Associate Press reports that the two leading college admissions tests - the SAT and the ACT- have been cancelled.
此外，美联社报道，两类大学入学考试已经被取消一学习能力测验和美国大学入学考试。
So a growing number of schools are removing admissions test requirements for students entering college.
因此，越来越多的学校取消了对学生进入大学的入学考试要求。
But for all the schools efforts, many families say it is difficult to look forward when students are still finishing high school from home.
但尽管学校做出了种种努力，许多家庭表示，如果学生仍在家中完成高中学业，很难有什么期待。
Opinion studies have found that large numbers of American high school seniors plan to spend at least a year working or traveling before attending college.
民意调查发现，许多美国高中毕业生计划在上大学之前至少花一-年时间工作或旅行。
Studies also have shown that many Americans may decide against the first-choice school on their list of colleges because it is too costly.
研究还表明，许多美国人可能会选择放弃他们大学名单上的首选学校，因为太贵。
Others say they would feel safer attending a school closer to home.
另一些人则表示，在离家较近的学校上学感觉更安全。
About 3.7 million American students are expected to graduate from high school this year.
预计今年约有370万美国学生高中毕业。
Nearly 70 percent expected to start college in the late summer.
将近70%的人预计在夏末上大学。
Lauren Kohler of Connecticut was planning to spend her high schools spring break visiting three universities.
康涅狄格州的劳伦.科勒本来计划在高中的春假期间参观三所大学。
They are the University of South Carolina, Florida State University and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
即南卡罗来纳大学、佛罗里达州立大学和马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特分校。
Kohler visited South Carolina last year.
科勒去年参观了南卡罗来纳州。
But now the 18-year-old is depending on virtual visits and friends experiences to learn about Florida State.
但现在，这位18岁的年轻人依靠虚拟访问和朋友的经历分享来了解佛罗里达州。
She also recently walked around an empty UMass Amherst campus.
最近，她还在空荡荡的马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特分校四处逛了逛。
"Im a big believer that you can walk on a campus and say, This is my school, or This is not my school," said Kohler.
科勒称:“我坚信，你可以走在校园里说，‘这 是我的学校’，或者‘这不是我的学校’。
"It really depends on the feeling and the type of people that are there."
“这真的取决于感觉和校园里人的类型。”
Grace Malloy of Oregon did get a chance to visit to Long Island University Post in New York.
俄勒冈州的格蕾丝.马洛伊参观了位于纽约的长岛大学波斯特分校。
But her spring break visits to Nebraska Wesleyan University and the University of Northern Colorado were canceled.
但她取消了春节期间参观内布拉斯加卫斯理公会大学和北科罗拉多大学的计划。
Malloy also wanted to see six other schools.
马洛伊还想参观另外六所学校。
Now she is worried she will not know how to reduce the number of choices on her list.
现在她担心自己不知道如何减少清单上的选择。
"Decision-making is not my strong suit," she said after completing her third virtual visit of the week.
“做决定不是我的强项，”她在完成本周第三次虚拟访问后表示。
