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UNITTENTEXTONEWhenPrinceton,theUniversityofVirginia,andHarvardannouncedlastfallthattheywoulddroptheirearlyadmissionsoptionsbecausetheygaveanunfairadvantagetoaffluentstudents,manycollegecounselorsheldtheirbreath.Wouldearlydecisiongothewayofkegsindormitories?Notfornow,atleast.Earlyadmissionisstillgoingstrongatmanycollegesanduniversities,includingmanytop-tierschools.Earlydecisioninparticular--inwhichastudentcommitstoafirst-choiceinstitution--isoftentoutedasaplusforbothschoolsandstudents.CollegescanlockuphalfoftheirclassbeforeJanuary,andacceptanceratesaretypicallyhigherthanunderregularadmission.Themajordrawbackofearlydecisionisthatitleavesstudentswhoareinthemarketforthebestfinancialaidpackageoutinthecold.Byapplyingearly,youmustenrollifaccepted,socomparingawardswiththoseofotherschoolsisoutofthequestion.Schoolslikethat,ofcourse,becauseithelpstheirbottomline.Butthereisapossibleendrun:Askifaschoolwillreleaseyoufromyourobligationshoulditsaidpackagefallshort.Insomecases,aschoolwillrollyouintotheregularadmissionpool,allowingforcomparisonshoppingcomespringtime.Whilesomeschoolsadmitalmostthesamepercentageofapplicantsduringearlyandregularadmission,manyfavortheearlypool.JohnsHopkinsUniversitytook44percentfromitsearlyroundand24percentfromtheregularpool.EarlybirdsatHopkinsmakeupathirdofthisfall'sfreshmanclass.Nonetheless,collegecounselorshaveseenborderlinestudentsgetaboostbyapplyingearlydecision.Iftheyaren'tlegacies,athletes,oranunderrepresentedminority,earlydecisionmaybetheonlyhookthatsomestudentshave,saysJimConroy,chairofpost-high-schoolcounselingatNewTrierTownshipHighSchoolinWinnetka,Ill.Butyouneedtoberealistic.Ifaschoolisoutofyourreach,it'soutofreachwhetheryouapplyearlydecision,earlyaction,orregularadmission,saysSarahWilburn,acollegecounseloratCampusBoundinQuincy,Mass.Moveonandsetsomenewgoals.Advantageornot,applyingearlydecisionmakessenseonlyifyou'reconvincedthataschoolisagoodfitforyou.ErinMurraydecidedtoapplytoDartmouthearlydespitetheadviceofhercollegecounselorandothers.TheywantedhertobeefuphertranscriptaftershehadspentasemesterofhighschoolinItaly.ButtheteenagerfromCheyenne,Wyo.,wiselyplayedupherexperienceabroad(her4.0GPAandtop-notchboardscoresdidn'thurt,either)andwasaccepted.Iprobablywouldhavefitwellatanumberofschools,sheadmits,butDartmouthwastheonlyplaceIcouldseemyselfwalkingacrossthegreens.Itwasagutreaction.IfyoulackthesamecertaintybutclinchingaslotbeforeNewYear'sisappealing,considerotherearlyadmissionsplans.EarlyactionisanonbindingalternativethatallowsyoutoapplybyNovember1andhearbackbeforetheregularapplicationdeadline.Somehighlyselectiveschoolsrequirethatyousubmitonlyoneearlyactionapplication--calledsingle-choiceearlyaction--meaningyoucan'tapplyearlyelsewhere.Anotheroptionistoapplyearlytorollingadmissions,whereanapplicationthatarrivesinthefallmaystandoutmorethanonethatarriveswithmostoftheothersinJanuary.参考译文：普林斯顿大学、弗吉尼亚大学和哈佛大学去年秋天宣布将取消提前入学选择，因为这是给富裕学生的一种不公平的优待，许多大学顾问都紧张了起来。提前择校是不是要和宿舍小桶事件如出一辙？起码现在不是这样的。提前择校在许多大学和学院中依然愈演愈烈，包括许多一流学校。提前择校时指学生指定到首选学校上学，这种方式常被吹嘘为对学校和学生都有利。大学可以在1月前就确保其大半课程的人数，接受率一般要比正常入学的高。提前入学的主要缺点是让那些寻找最好的经济资助的学生们暴露在了冷风中。如果他们提前申请，那么如果一旦学校接受他们就必须得入学，因此无法比较其他学校的奖学金。当然，学校喜欢这种做法，因为这可以帮助他们达到底线。也有个迂回方法，学生在申请时可以先问问学校如果其助学金不多是否将自己放行。在有些情况下，学校可以把你加入正常入学学生的名单中，这样学生就可以在春天的时候选择学校了。一些学校称提前和正常入学学生的申请人数几乎一样，但是许多学校都更倾向于录取提前入学的学生。约翰斯·霍普金斯大学从申请提前入学学生中选了45%，从申请正常入学学生中选了24%。霍普金斯提前入学的学生占当年秋季入学一年级班级的1/3。不过，学校顾问们发现一些态度不明确的学生如果申请了提前入学可以得到一些帮助。“如果他们不是遗产继承人、运动员或未被充分代表的少数民族，那么提前入学可能就是一些学生的必然选择。”Winnetka的NewTier镇中学后高中咨询中心主席JimConroy说道。但是你必须要现实一些。马萨诸塞州昆西校园约束顾问SarahWilburn说，“如果你没有资格到某个学效，那么不管你填写了提前入学申请或一般申请你都还是没有资格，接下来你得设定新的目标才行。”不论是否有利，除非你需要坚信某所学校是非常适合你的，否则的话不要急于采取行动。ErinMurray决定提前申请达特茅斯学校，尽管她的大学顾问和其他人都不让她去。他们希望她先去意大利读完一个学期的高中后就可以加强她的成绩单竞争力了。而十几岁的夏安族学生Wyo却聪明地强调提到自己在国外的经验（4.0GPA和高分也都没有负面影响），后来获得了该校的录取通知书。“我感觉好多学校都可能适合我，”她承认说，“但是达特茅斯是唯一一个我可以看到自己漫步绿地的地方。这是一种内心的反应。”如果你没有Wyo那么确定但却希望在新年前作出决定，那么就考虑一下其他提前入学计划吧。提前入学是种没有限制的选择，你可以在11月1日前申请，在一般的申请中止之前静候佳音。一些严格的学校要求你只能提交一份提前申请，叫做“单一选择提前申请”，意思是你不能在别的地方再提前申请。另外一个选择是提前申请到入学名单中，在秋天之前就能拿到申请表，而不是和其他人一样在一月份才能拿到。TEXTTWOGalvanizedbytheApriltragedyatVirginiaTech,inwhichSeungHuiChokilled32studentsandfacultymembersandthencommittedsuicide,collegesanduniversitiesaroundthecountryareurgentlytakingstockofthereachandeffectivenessoftheirmental-healthservices.Thegoalisnotjusttoavoidanothercatastrophecausedbyadeeplytroubledstudentwhofellthroughthecracks.It'salsotofaceuptotheneedsoftoday'sstudents,whoincreasinglystrugglewitheatingdisorders,schizophrenia,bipolardisorder,anddepression.Therateofdepressionamongcollegestudentshasdoubledinjust15years;lastyear,some45percentofallstudentssaidthey'vesometimesfelttoodepressedtofunction,accordingtoanannualsurveybytheAmericanCollegeHealthAssociation.Ninepercentofcollegestudentsseriouslyconsideredsuicide.SomeofthekeyquestionsthatVirginiaTechhasbroughtoutare:Whendoyourecognizethatastudent'shavingseriousproblems?Whatstepsdoyoutake,andhowdoyoucoordinatecare?saysRichardKadison,directorofmental-healthservicesatHarvardUniversityandauthorofCollegeoftheOverwhelmed.Lastweek,Kadisonandoth