3月和4月对高三的学生来说，是困难的时间，尤其是当他们知道他们的申请结果以后。大学是怎么决定的呢？接受，等待还是拒绝。5月1日意味着学生必须做出决定，需要寄押金了。我敢离开家那么远么？我交了押金以后，可以放弃学校么？我可以拿回我的钱么？你应该知道大学申请不会比今年更具有竞争性了。一些大学的竞争性上升了25%，很多院校比往年多收了上千份申请，但是他们的新生数量和床位数是一样的。

March and April are tough times for senior 3’s and their families - the time when they learn the results of their college applications. What did the colleges decide? Accept, wait or deny? May 1 means that a decision must be made by the student - a deposit sent in. "Will I dare go that far away from home? What if I get off a wait list after I deposit? Will I get my money back? You should know that college applications have never been more competitive than this year. Some colleges are up over 25%, colleges received thousands more applications than last year, and yet their freshman class and numbers of beds in the dorms remains the same.

 

杜克大学拒掉了半数SAT分数超过2200甚至更高的学生，哥伦比亚从申请者中录取了不到7%的人。我们仍然可以用一种乐观的方式看统计数字：大学录取了很多分数比较低的学生。因为他们在寻找比拿高分和成绩全A更精彩的学生。他们在寻找不寻常的学生，有独特地区技巧和生活方式的

Duke turned down half of those students who apply with College Board scores of 2200 and higher. Columbia accepted less than 7% of their applicants from the class of 2012. But then there's a brighter way to look at those statistics: Colleges take many students with lower test scores because they are looking for more than all A's and top scores. They are looking for someone unusual. Someone from mainland China who has a special regional skill or way of life.

 

假设你接到了两所大学的offer，被4所大学拒了，在埃默里大学和约翰霍普金斯大学的候补订单上。还有什么事情是你可以做的么？肯定有的。在5月1日以前写一封邮件，给出你喜欢埃默里大学和约翰霍普金斯大学的学术上的理由（除了你喜欢他们所在的地点和你的朋友在那里）。在你的需要寄回的卡片上写一些学校不知道的关于你的事情—传真一份按年级分的不错的英语试卷。寄送一份你发在校报上的的短诗或者小故事。你会失去你的押金，如果你决定取消候补名单并且去那里上学。

Let's say that you are accepted at two of your colleges, denied at four and waitlisted at Emory and Johns Hopkins. Is there anything you can do about it? You bet there is! Along with the card that you returned, write an email before May l. Give an academic reason why you are still in interested in Emory and Johns Hopkins (something other than you love the location or your best friend goes there). Add something new that the college doesn't know about you -- fax a great English paper that was graded. Email or scan and send a poem or short story or science project or school newspaper article that you wrote.   And yes, you will lose your May 1 deposit if you get off a waitlist and decide to go there.

 

你们中的很多人都会接收一所已经决定接收你的院校，忘记候补名单吧。其他人会取消候补，也不会拿到offer。无论你做出什么决定，你都必须在5月1日之前让大学知道你打算去上学，即使你不知道继续等待会发生什么？是的，如果你没去，你会失去你的押金。

Many of you will decide to accept a college that accepted you, and forget about the waitlist. Others will get off a waitlist and not take the offer. No matter what you decide, you have to let some college know by May l that you plan to attend, even though you may not know what is going to happen on a waitlist. And yes, you will lose the deposit if you don’t attend.

 

千万不要考虑给两个不同的大学寄两份不同的押金。很多中国学生告诉我，他们无法决定，所以，他们给两所或者3所大学寄了押金，这是签订协议去上两所大学。这是违反规则的。这表明大学认为你没有荣誉感，没有道德，因为你不介意破坏他们的规则。美国大学跟其他院校分享了它们的押金名单，如果他们发现了一个学生给两所大学寄送了押金他们会写信给学生，取消offer。如果你是这样的，那么要当心了。美国大学不想要一个没有道德的学生。

Don’t even think of sending in two deposits to two different universities! Many Chinese students have told me that they can’t decide and so they send in two or three deposits, signing an agreement that they will attend two universities. That is against all of the rules and regulations. It also shows the college that you have no honor – you have no morals because you don’t care if you are breaking their rules. U.S. colleges share their lists of deposits with each other and if they find a student who has deposited in two or more universities, they write the student and withdraw the acceptance. And so if you are a person with no morals who breaks the rules, then beware! The acceptance will be withdrawn because the student does not want an immoral student on their campus.

 

直到5月1日，试着通过给在那个大学就读的学生发email去了解更多关于大学的事情。记住要诚实一点。就像你比分数更精彩一样，大学比排名更精彩。很多学生知道了学长们的想法后会改变他们想要的东西。不管你在哪里上大学，你都会遇到新人，结交新朋友，新的教授，新的可以探索的世界。到春节的时候，无论是哪里，你都是会爱上它的。

Until May 1, keep learning more about the college by emailing students at the college to ask what the college is like. Be honest with yourself about what you are looking for. Just as you are more than your test score, a university is much more than their ranking. Many students change what they want after they know their options. No matter where you go to　college, there will be new people to meet, new friends to make, new professors to learn from, and a whole new world to explore. By Spring Festival, you will love wherever it is!