美国本科转学申请，先读懂缩写词汇吧！（2）.

　　美国本科转学申请，词汇缩写 ED,EA,RD是什么意思呢?

　　ED: early decision, 译为提前录取

　　EA：early action,译为提前行动

　　RD：REGULAR DECISION，有翻译作正常录取

　　Early decision is a common policy used in college admissions in the United States for admitting freshmen to undergraduate programs. It is used to indicate to the University or College that the candidate considers that institution to be his or her top-choice. Unlike the regular admissions process, candidates typically submit their applications by the end of October of their senior year of high school instead of December and receive a reply in mid-December rather than April 1.

　　Most colleges offer either an early decision program or an early action one. Early decision differs from early action in that it constitutes a binding commitment to enroll; that is, if offered admission under an early decision program the candidate must withdraw all other applications to other institutions and enroll at that institution, whereas early action is not binding. Furthermore, early decision programs allow applicants to file only one early decision or early action application, while, depending on the institution, early action programs may allow candidates to apply to more than one early action institution.

　　Typically, a candidate who has applied "early" (i.e. applied either under an early decision or an early action program) can receive one of three outcomes in December. They may be admitted, rejected, or derred (their application will be reconsidered with the regular pool and a final decision made by April 1).

　　Admission rates for "early" applicants tend to be higher than the overall admission rates for the institution; this is particularly true of the most selective colleges. This is usually attributed to two factors: firstly, candidates who apply "early" can only present colleges with their transcripts until the end of junior year of high school and therore must be particularly strong applicants with very persuasive transcripts; secondly, candidates who apply "early" have dedicated themselves to an institution and are more likely to match the institution&apos&aposs admission standards.

　　All Ivy League colleges offer early decision programs except for Harvard and Yale, which offer single-choice early action (i.e. applicants may not apply to more than one early action college).

　　Controversy surrounds early decision. Critics of the program think that binding an applicant, typically seventeen or eighteen years old, to a single institution is unnecessarily restrictive. Furthermore, candidates for financial aid are, if admitted under early decision, unable to compare financial aid offers from different colleges. It was in answer to these criticisms that, starting in 2003, Yale and Stanford switched to single-choice early action from early decision, while Harvard switched from multiple-choice early action to single-choice early action in answer to criticism that multiple-choice early action deated the purpose of letting candidates select a clear first choice.

　　Early action is a type of process for admission to colleges and universities in the United States. Unlike the regular admissions process, early action usually requires students to submit an application by November 1 of their senior year of high school instead of January 1, it and notifies students of decision by mid-December instead of April 1.

　　In this way, it is similar to many colleges&apos&apos early decision programs. However, early decision is a binding commitment to enroll; that is, if accepted under an early decision program, the applicant must withdraw all other applications and enroll at that institution. Thus, early decision does not allow applicants to apply to more than one early decision school. Early action, on the other hand, allows candidates to decline the offer if accepted, and depending on the program, it may be possible for a candidate to apply to more than one early action school.

　　There are two types of early action programs: single-choice early action and multiple-choice early action. As their names imply, single-choice allows candidates to apply to only one early action institution, while there is no such restriction on multiple-choice early action. Regardless, the applicant is still permitted to reject any offer of admission in both types of early action.

　　Almost all institutions offer some form of early decision or early action, with the majority offering early decision. Notably, Harvard recently switched from multiple-choice early action to single-choice early action, and Yale and Stanford recently switched from early decision to single-choice early action.