College Admissions Glossary: Learn the Language of College Admissions

These are terms you should become familiar with as you embark upon your college admissions journey.

ACT

A standardized test accepted by most colleges and universities with a multiple choice format and covers English, Math, Science, and Reading and is scored on a 36 point scale.

Admissions Rate

A college’s acceptance rate, the percentage of applicants who are admitted.. It is calculated by dividing the number of accepted students by the number of applicants.

Advanced Placement

A program run by the College Board that allows high school students to take courses that can potentially earn college credit. The AP tests are college-level exams on specific subjects, scaled 1-5, and administered in May.

Class Rank

How a student’s academic achievement compares with other students in the same grade.

Common App

An online college admissions application accepted by over 900 member colleges and universities.

CSS Profile

This form is used primarily by private schools and some state universities to award institutional grants and scholarships to pay for college. This aid is non-federal.

Deferred Admission

After having applied Early Decision or Early Action, the college to which you have applied is postponing its admission decision and will review your application with the regular decision applicant pool.

Early Action (EA)

A non-binding early admissions program. Candidates apply early, usually in November, and receive an admission, denial or deferral in December or January. Students admitted under this program are not committed and may submit other applications.

Early Decision (ED)

A binding early admissions program. Candidates apply early, usually in November, and receive an admission, denial or deferral in December or January. Early decision is a contract to attend the college if admitted. Once admitted, the student must withdraw all other applications.

FAFSA

A form used by colleges to determine federal student aid and the student financial aid award.

Financial Aid

Financial aid helps students and their families pay for college. The money is given or lent to the student by the school or the U.S. government. The types of financial aid awarded include grants, scholarships, loans, and work study. The way to apply for aid is by completing the FAFSA. Also, look up the CSS Profile.

GPA

Grade point average. The sum of all earned points divided by the number of courses taken. There are two types of GPA-- weighted and unweighted. The unweighted GPA is measured on a scale of 0-4.0 and does not take into account the difficulty of a class. The weighted GPA is measured on a scale of 0 - 5.0 and takes difficulty into account.

Legacy

A student show parent graduated from the institution to which they are applying.

PSAT/NMSQT

A standardized test administered by the College Board and co-sponsored by the National Merit Scholarship. Familiarizes students with the type of questions asked on the SAT. Students often take this test in the 10th or 11th grades but only 11th grade scores are eligible for the National Merit Scholarship Program.

Regular Decision

An application option with a cycle that starts in late fall/early winter and ends with an opportunity to learn of an admissions decision by the spring.

Rolling Admissions

College review and make decisions about acceptance as they are received. The cycle is completed when the freshman class has been filled.

SAT

A college entrance exam created by the College Board and used my most colleges and universities as part of their admissions decisions. The SAT is a multiple-choice with two sections -- math and evidence-based reading and is on a 200-800 point scale per section. The highest score is 1600.

SAT Subject Test

A standardized test that allows you to demonstrate proficiency in specific subject areas.

Score Choice

A score reporting option which allows you to choose which SAT scores to send to colleges. Choose by test date for the SAT and by individual test for SAT Subject Tests. Some colleges will request you send all scores.

Test Optional

Students are not required to submit standardized test scores. Submission is up to the student. Many schools shifted to test-optional admissions for the 2020-2021 admissions cycle because of the inability to access testing due to COVID-19.

Transcript

The official documentation of your high school grades which includes courses, grades and grade point average.

Wait List

The college has filled the for the incoming freshman class.

Yield

The percentage of students offered admissions who accept and enroll.