自主招生是高考[1]改革[2]的大势所趋。长期以来，高考的弊病已广受社会抨击。高校联考[3]正是在这样的背景下诞生的，联考正在一点点瓦解高考的顽固地盘。

但是作为一种探索中的新鲜事物，高校联考也存缺点。它却有了联手抢生源的嫌疑，这在某种程度上也可以说是造成了新的教育不公平。其次，联考试卷也在向高强度、高难度挺进。事实上，如果联考考题都成了竞赛题，成了另一种"小高考"，不但不利于评价考生的真实能力，也可能对基础教育产生不良的误导。

更重要的是，高校联考之所以令众多家长与考生不满，根本性的原因在于，这种联考仍然没有全面突破高考体制，通过了联考，只是将来在高考成绩的基础上享受分数不等的加分优待而已，名义上是扩大了考生选择权，实际上可能反而增加了考生的负担。尽管目前的高校自主招生都有令人不满之处，但我们可以将这理解成教育改革过程中不能避免的代价。我们应努力实现真正学生和学校的双向选择，建立起高等教育的市场竞争机制。
 

Taking the initiative in recruiting students is the inevitability of the reform in the college entrance examination (gaokao). For a long time, the disadvantages of gaokao have already been attacked by the wide society. The jointly-given entrance exam (liankao) of universities comes to being exactly due to this background, as liankao is breaking little by little the conservative domain of gaokao.

However, as a fresh thing in probation, shortcomings also exist in the universities' liankao. Liankao is under the suspicion of jointly 'robbing' the students' resource, which in some level could be said to bring about new education unfairness. Secondly, the liankao exam answer-sheet is pressing forward towards high strength and high difficulty levels. In reality, if the exam papers of the liankao become a contest, or another type of 'small gaokao', then not only it would not be beneficial in evaluating the real abilities of the examinees, it could also generate harmful misleading in the basic education.

More significant, is reason why many parents are dissatisfies of the universities' liankao's examinees, lying basically on the fact that this type of liankao still hasn't made a comprehensive breakthrough within the gaokao system. Passing liankao is merely enjoying the benefit of additional grade points in the result of the future gaokao, nominally expanding the options of the examinees, which could actually add burden on the examinees instead (of reducing it). Although the present student recruiting initiative of universities, make people unsatisfied in some aspects, we can understand this as an unavoidable price in the educational reform process. We should make great effort in truly realizing a two-way choice between students and universities, setting up a competitive market mechanism in high education.

Based on an article that appeared in Renmin Wang (人民网), www.people.com.cn .

[1] 高考 gāokǎo - College entrance examination; the extremely important exam high-school (gao zhong) student attend in the end of their studies, determining which class of universities they could apply for and in which majors.

[2]高考改革 gāokǎo gǎigé - 'Reform of the college-entrance examination'; In 2010 a new era of reforms in the gaokao was initiated by the Ministry of Education, wishing to reduce the importance of the gaokao, as the only measurement of an applicant qualification for higher education. Thus far, several universities (most notable in Beijing and Shanghai) have initiated additional criteria to examine students' applications, such as interviews, accepting letters of recommendations from high-school principles, special university-written exams and the liankao (see 3). These methods do not replace the gaokao, but allow students to receive additional points through alternative channels as well.

[3] 高校联考 gāoxiào liánkǎo - 'Universities' jointly-given entrance exam'; An exam initiated by top Chinese universities, mainly in Beijing in Shanghai, which serves as an additional factor to the gaokao grade, when examining students' applications. Several universities are conducting an exam they have jointly generated. The main criticism on this method is that it allows urban and middle-class students to improve their enrollment chances, while not having such effect on rural students.