Below, you’ll find a list of the common words/terms that may come up during your college admissions process.

Missing any? Add them to the comments below and we’ll update the post!

AdCom: Admissions Committee.

Alternative Assessment: Approach to college admissions that places more emphasis on the student’s individual traits and body of work than on standardized testing and other traditional admissions criteria.

Award Package: The term for the offer that a college or university will give an admitted applicant for financial aid, including scholarship, federal grants, federal loans, and work stuy opportunity.

Candidate Reply Date: The date by which an admitted applicant must reply to colleges they have been admitted to accepting or denying enrollment. An applicant should consider and compare all colleges they have been admitted to before replying. All colleges and universities must be replied to by May 1.

College Board: A national organization that provides essential services during the College Application process. Your SAT, ACT, and AP scores will be housed here; you must go through college board to have these scores sent to the colleges you are applying to.

Common Application: An online college application that 414 colleges and Universities accept, covering 44 states, the District of Columbia, and even Germany and Italy. Requirements of the application include a personal statement/essay, two or more recommendation letters, a resume of academic and extra-curricular activities and awards, financial information, basic biographic information, past employment information, and more. Many colleges using the Common App also have a supplemental portion of the application with more short answers or essays. If you are applying to multiple colleges using the Common App, you will only have to fill out the application once, very advantageous to your time applying.

Ivy League Schools Using the Common App: Brown, Dartmouth, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, UPenn, Yale

Cross-Registration: Students who are enrolled at one institution can complete courses at another without going through a formal application process.

CSS Profile: The College Board Financial aid form, much more detailed than FAFSA. Many universities and colleges require this form as well as FAFSA to offer financial aid. A small fee is required to submit the application to the college of your choosing.

Deferred: When applying Early Action or Early Decision, an applicant may be “deffered” rather than accepted or rejected. This means that the applicant will be considered anew with the pool of regular admission applicants; the admission board postpones accepting or rejecting the applicant.

Early action: An early application that does not bind the applicant to the admissions decision. This option also allows you to apply to multiple colleges or universities that have early action applications. You can apply freely to other colleges during regular admission. You can choose to commit to the college immediately upon early acceptance or wait until late spring to do so.

Early decision: This admission decision is binding. You essentially are agreeing to attend that college if it accepts you and offers you enough scholarship to make attending viable. You can apply to other colleges in the regular admissions process if you apply early decision. However, you are expected to withdraw your other applications if you are accepted under an early decision application program.

Expected Family Contribution: The amount that a student would be expected to pay for one year of college based upon financial status. See http://apps.collegeboard.com/fincalc/efc_welcome.jsp

FAFSA: Acronym for Free Application for Federal Student aid. This is a form that should be filled out annually by prospective and current college students alike. The form determines your eligibility for financial aid programs at your university as well as through the government, including Pell Grants and work-study programs. FAFSA calculations are based on family assets, income, and the dependency of the student. See http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/

Federal Pell Grant Program — “A Federal Pell Grant, unlike a loan, does not have to be repaid. Pell Grants are awarded usually only to undergraduate students who have not earned a bachelor’s or a professional degree. (In some cases, however, a student enrolled in a post-baccalaureate teacher certification program might receive a Pell Grant.) Pell Grants are considered a foundation of federal financial aid, to which aid from other federal and nonfederal sources might be added.” From Federal Student Aid. (2007, June 17). Federal pell grant. Retrieved from http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/PellGrants.jsp

Federal Perkins Loan Program — “The Federal Perkins Loan Program provides low-interest loans to help needy students finance the costs of postsecondary education. Students can receive Perkins loans at any one of approximately 1,800 participating postsecondary institutions. Institutional financial aid administrators at participating institutions have substantial flexibility in determining the amount of Perkins loans to award to students who are enrolled or accepted for enrollment. Borrowers who undertake certain public, military, or teaching service employment are eligible to have all or part of their loans canceled. In general, schools are reimbursed for 100 percent of the principal amount of the loan canceled, and the reimbursement must be reinvested in the school’s revolving loan fund. These institutional reimbursements for loan cancellations are an entitlement.” From U.S. Department of Education. (2009, November 23). Federal perkins loan program. Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/programs/fpl/index.html

Federal Direct Loan — “Direct Loans are low-interest loans for students and parents to help pay for the cost of a student’s education after high school. The lender is the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) rather than a bank or other financial institution.”

From Federal Student Aid. (2010, September 28). Direct loans. Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/DirectLoan/student.html

Federal Work-Study Program (FWS) — “The FWS Program provides funds that are earned through part-time employment to assist students in financing the costs of postsecondary education. Students can receive FWS funds at approximately 3,400 participating postsecondary institutions. Institutional financial aid administrators at participating institutions have substantial flexibility in determining the amount of FWS awards to provide to students who are enrolled or accepted for enrollment. Hourly wages must not be less than the federal minimum wage.”

From U.S. Department of Education. (2009, November 23). Federal work study program. Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/programs/fws/index.html

Fee Waiver: Some colleges will allow students with financial need to apply for a waiver for the cost of the application.

Gap: The difference between the financial aid package that a student is offered and the cost of attendance. This is the amount that student will be expected to pay.

Gap Year: Taking a year off between high school and college. Some students apply to college during their Senior year and then ask for a one-year deferral from the college of their choice on their admission. Some students take the year off and then apply to college after their senior year. Students use this year to enroll in a program or travel.

Legacy: An applicant’s parents or grandparents attended the college that he or she is applying to

Mid-year Report: A report of your Senior year grades that may or may not be required by the colleges you are applying to. Some reports must be sent in by your High School Counselor in the form of an official transcript; other colleges allow you to enter the information online. This report updates colleges on your progress Senior year, many times demonstrating your abilities in difficult classes and also your focus and commitment to academics through the college application process.

Need blind: A college admission decision that is made independently of a student’s family financial status and ability to pay.

Non-matriculated: A student who, while not yet admitted to the institution, is able to take classes, participate in athletics, and apply for financial aid.

Open admissions: Institutional policy by which academic qualifications are not reviewed and do not factor into an admissions decision.

Restrictive early action: Like early action, except if you apply to an REA program, you can only apply to that one under the early action umbrella

Rolling admissions: Admissions policy wherein no deadline is set for applications—students can apply at any time.

Score choice: Option that allows students to choose which SAT score to send to their prospective college(s). SAT scores are sent automatically if this option is not selected or if the institution does not provide this option.

Single-choice early action: The same as early action, except you can only apply to one school in the early application process.

Student Search Service: A free service that allows colleges to search for you based on your data from College Board Standardized tests such as the SAT and AP tests. You can allow the service to access you data by selecting the optional service when you fill out your testing form. See http://www.collegeboard.com/parents/csearch/find-right-college/21168.html

Superscore: Some colleges will look at the results of all attempts at the SAT and/or ACT. The school will take the highest score in each subsection, even if on different attempts, and will compile these to calculate the “superscore.” Not all colleges and universities use this formula, and some only do so one of the standardized tests.

Supplement: An additional portion of the application required by some colleges. Usually includes some short answer and essay questions. Also known as supplemental materials/additional materials

Transcript: The official record of grades. Acquired through a counselor and required as a part of the college application

Waitlisted: The status of a student who is considered qualified for a college, but will be granted admission after the accepted students decide whether or not to attend the college.

Waiver to view recommendations — Some applications, such as the Common App, allow students to choose whether or not to view their recommendations before sending them to the admissions office. The recommender will mark this on the recommender form. It is advantageous to waive viewing the letter because it marks the trust in the student/recommender relationship.

Yield: The percentage of applicants accepted to a college that enroll in the college. The percentage is calculated by dividing the total number of students accepting admission by the total number of students offered admission.

*Sources: Ashley from the Hyperink team; Collegeview.com