To all you high school seniors mentally kicking yourselves because you didn't apply early to college and now have to endure months of nail biting, here's some good news:

對于所有沒有申請大學預科而內心掙扎的同學，在接下來的幾個月里會很痛苦，但是下面就是不申請預科的優點：

Research suggests you could end up getting more financial aid than those who committed early to college. And 10 years from now, you could very well be happier with whatever college choice you ended up making.

Of course, the data clearly show that applicants who apply early to college are more likely to get acceptance letters.

研究調查表明普通申請的學生得到的獎學金比申請預科的學生多。

當然數據明顯地顯示出提前申請大學的學生更容易被錄取。并且很多學校為學生提供了EA申請來代替約束性的ED申請——限制申請學生在高三的秋天就決定去一所學校，EA申請可以允許申請人申請多所學校。

But experts who've studied the ins and outs of college admissions say that the relief and other advantages of restrictive "early decision" applications comes at a price for late bloomers, those who need aid to pay for college and several other kinds of students. In fact, they say, there are six kinds of students who shouldn't apply early decision:

但是研究過大學申請的專家說約束性的ED對于潛力大的學生來說有很多優勢，需要大學助學金的學生和其他幾類學生，實際上是不適合申請ED的。

1. Obviously under-qualified. Research by Christopher Avery, a professor at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, found that applying early only gave a slight edge to students whose test scores, grades, and other qualifications were slightly below the college's average. Significantly underqualified students were rejected no matter when they applied.

1. 資歷不夠的學生：哈佛大學甘乃迪政府學院的一個教授Christopher Avery做了調查顯示申請預科對于分數以及其他方面的素質較低的學生來說優勢并不明顯，資歷很差的學生不管申請什么學校都不會被錄取。

2. Obviously over-qualified. Students who were slam-dunk candidates were admitted no matter when they applied, Avery found, so early applications can unnecessarily limit their options.

2. 水平很高的學生：水平高的申請人不管申請什么學校都能被錄取，所以預科申請會限制他們的選擇。

3. Reliant on financial aid. Students who get into several colleges get more aid than those who get into only one, research shows. While students can appeal financial aid offers made by colleges, they're likely to have more bargaining power if they can leverage offers from competing schools. In fact, a growing number of colleges including Harvard University, Cornell University, and Carnegie Mellon University now state publicly that they will consider matching financial aid offers from competing colleges. Students who commit to a single college in the fall can't get any competing offers.

3. 依賴獎學金救助：調查顯示申請多所學校的學生比只申請一所學校的學生能得到更多的獎學金。很多學校包括哈佛大學，康奈爾大學和卡內基梅隆大學都公開聲明獎學金資助要跟競爭學校進行對比。所以只申請一所學校的學生不能申請到有競爭力的獎學金。

4. Late bloomers. While many public colleges' regular admissions deadlines are as early as November, many other colleges accept admissions through the spring of senior year. Students who stumble academically sophomore or junior year—but are able to recover in their senior year—need the extra time to prove to admissions officers (and themselves) that they can succeed in college.

4. “大器晚成”的學生：很多公立大學的常規申請截止日期是11月份，而另外一些大學的申請是在高三的春季。那些高一高二成績不突出的學生，在高三一年會有突破性的飛躍，他們需要更多的時間去證明自己能在大學里取得更高的成就，預科申請時間太早不能顯示出自己的優勢。

5. The undecided. Few teenagers have clear career goals and a realistic understanding of what specific kinds of educational qualifications they want. "At the time they need to be preparing for college (many high schoolers) are just forming independent ideas about who they are and what interests them academically and socially," writes Barbara Schneider, an education professor at Michigan State University.

5. 拿不定主意的學生：極少部分的學生對自己有清晰的職業目標和自己想獲得的具體的教育層次。密歇根州立大學的教育教授Barbara Schneider寫道，在準備申請大學的時候(一些高中生)要在心里有獨立自主的想法，對于自我的認識以及學習上和生活上的興趣愛好。

6. Those who delayed their college search until senior year. It takes time to sort through hundreds of college options. Students need to spend time understanding themselves and the quirks of each college, Schneider believes. Applicants who only start doing research in their senior year often don't have enough time to find a "perfect match" by early deadlines, some of which are as early as Nov. 1.

Schneider, who worries that the pressure to apply to college early could worsen what she calls "college fever," says her surveys of college graduates have turned up "some evidence that students who make these choices very early without having opportunities to explore other options, later on (in their twenties) report some dissatisfaction with their college choices and lives."

6. 在高三才開始查學校的學生：要在成千上百所學校里選擇是要花時間的。Schneider認為學生要花時間對自己有個反思并且對學校的一些趣聞怪事要有個了解。一般到了高三才開始找學校的學生，是沒時間在截止日期之前找到一所很適合自己的學校的，因為預科申請一般在11月份就結束了。

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