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Essential Terms to Know - College
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Associate
Degree – a degree granted by a college or
university after the satisfactory completion of a two-year
fulltime program of study or its part-time equivalent.
Bachelor’s Degree – a
degree received after satisfactory completion of a four or
five year, full time program of study; BA (Bachelor of Arts)
and BS (Bachelor of Science) are the most common.
Class Rank – the
student’s position relative to other fellow students in a
graduating class. Class rank is used by colleges to
determine how well a student has performed academically
relative to his/her peers.
College Work Study – a
financial aid program through a college in which a student
is offered the opportunity to work up to 15 hours a week in
a school-related job. This is available to students who
exhibit financial need.
Course Load – the number
of courses taken within a semester (typically between 12-18
for full-time students).
Deferred Admission –
allows the college to postpone making a decision about a
candidate until additional data is collected. It is neither
an acceptance or rejection.
Early Action – term
describing a student applying to a college or university
“early” in his/her senior year (usually by early to mid
November) and receives an admission decision within 5-6
weeks. If accepted, the student is not bound to attend and
has until May 1st to notify the institution of his/her
decision.
Early Decision – a term
describing a student applying to a college or university
similar to early action. The difference is if the student is
accepted, the student is bound to attend and must withdraw
all applications to other colleges. A student may apply only
to one college via early decision.
Financial Aid – a low
interest loan package awarded on the basis of financial
need. Loans must be paid back with interest; Grants are
given to students on a financial needs basis and do not have
to be paid back.
Grant – a financial gift
for a student to use toward college costs that does not have
to be repaid.
Regular Decision – a
term describing the application process between January and
May which colleges review most of its applications prior to
notifying its candidates.
Rolling Admission – a
process in which colleges are constantly reading and making
decisions on applications until all seats within a specified
college program and/or department is at capacity.
Technical School – a
school or institution which offers an occupational education
program that results in immediate employment or placement in
a variety of fields, such as engineering or physical
sciences, computer technologies. One-year certificate
programs are available in certain crafts and clerical
skills.
Transcript – the
official high school record of courses and grades that is
sent to colleges/universities as part of the student’s
application
Wait List – a student is
not offered admissions, but is placed on a waiting list
should an opening occur. If an opening becomes available,
the student is admitted. After a certain time, if an opening
is not available, the student receives a rejection.
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