美国大学本科的申请中，在填写申请计划的时候，会遇到选择ED、EA、RD，即Early Decision, Early Action, Regular Decision的问题，Early Decision中文意思是早期决定，Early Action中文意思是早期行动，而Regular Decision是常规申请，以下是对这三点的介绍。
Wikipedia上对Early Action的解释
Early action is a type of early admission 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. Students are notified of the school's decision by mid-December instead of April 1.
In this way, it is similar to many colleges' early decision programs. Early decision, however, 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 simultaneously. 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 and an early decision school.
There are two types of early action programs: restrictive early action and non-restrictive early action.[1] Restrictive EA allows candidates to apply to only one early action institution and to no institutions early decision, while, as the name implies, there are no such restrictions on non-restrictive early action. Regardless, the applicant is still permitted to reject any offer of admission in both types of early action.
Harvard dropped all early admissions processes in 2007, along with Princeton and the University of Virginia. Yale and Stanford recently switched from early decision to restrictive early action. Well-known schools that offer non-restrictive early action， the California Institute of Technology, the University of Chicago, Georgetown University, Villanova University, and the University of Notre Dame.
Wikipedia上对Early Decision的解释
Early decision is a common early admission 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. Candidates applying early decision typically submit their applications by the end of October of their senior year of high school and receive a decision in mid-December. In contrast, students applying regular decision typically must submit their applications by January 1 and receive their admissions decision by April 1.
Some colleges offer either an early decision program or an early action one. Others accept applications in a relatively long window known as rolling admission. 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. Early action is not binding, so a student admitted to a school early action could choose not to enroll in that school. Furthermore, early decision programs require applicants to file only one early application, while, depending on the institution, early action programs may allow candidates to apply to more than one early action institution.
Early Decision：早期决定，这是美国大学希望吸引学生的一种录取时间计划，通常来看。录取难度会稍微低一些。它的申请截止日期通常在每年10月中，录取结果在12月份前就可以出来。它的内容是，学生只能选择一所学校作为早申请的目标学校。如果选择Early Decision,需要和学校签订协议，接受该学校在录取之后的任何安排，包括或者财务和奖学金的安排。学生只要被该学校录取，按照合同规定就必须去这个学校，没有权力再去其他学校了，即使别的学校可以给你再高额度的奖学金。从我们中国同学的申请实战角度来说，早申请计划的选择是需要非常慎重的。学校的挑选应当经过深思熟虑才可以。很多学生对于早申请的残酷性没有很强烈的认识，选择了一个学校被录取之后，发现其他更好的学校也录取了自己，希望能毁约去其他的学校，但是这种毁约的可能性是微乎其微的，到后面发现自己很吃亏。从美国本科申请的实践角度来说，我认为，学生选择早申请计划，应当选择比较高的，自己非常喜欢的，认为录取自己难度系数比较大的学校。如果录取了就是皆大欢喜，如果不录取，自己也不会很难受。切勿选择自己认能比较容易申请上的学校，到后面发现更好的学校通知书来了自己一腔遗憾。
关于Early Action，中文叫早期行动，提供这种申请模式的学校并不是很多。它和Early Decision的申请时间上有所类似，需要学生在10月15日左右提前申请。12月份就可以给结果，但是一个重要区别就是，早行动的申请结果是不需要绑定的，也就是说，学生在很早获得结果后，可以再看其他学校的申请结果，在次年的4月答复学校是否去学校学习。例如美国著名的Boston College（波士顿学院）就提供Early Action的申请方式。这种方式给了学生很大的灵活性，也很受学生喜欢。不过它也有不利的一面，就是录取的标准要高一些，录取人数也少一些。原因非常简单，学校既然提前录取了学生又不绑定学生，那么会有很大的风险被选择的学生到后来答复不去，那么实际上就浪费了招生的名额，故此，学校必须要将早行动的招生名额的数量限定的少些，标准设定的高些。这样可以尽可能的规避风险。所以虽然Early Action可以给学生不绑定的利益，那么学生在申请这个计划的时候要仔细考虑是否自己的水平能和学校早行动要求的水平一致。如果发现有一定差距，那么还不如不做早行动，选择通常申请。
Regular Decision中文是常规申请，这是学生们最惯常参与的12月份申请截止，4月份录取通知的方式。通常申请对于学生来说，没有任何限制或者技术性的理解问题，学生如果有时间和精力，可以申请无数个学校，最后从结果中选择一个录取学校作为最终学校即可。
