Glossary of College Related Terms

 ACT. American College Test given by the American College Testing Service. This is a college entrance exam. It is divided into four parts: English, Social Studies, Math and Natural Science as well as and optional writing assessment. The exam is scored out of the 36 points. Most colleges accept the ACT's in addition to or in place of the SAT's and many students find the ACT easier than the SAT. www.act.org

Admissions Office The office at a college responsible for processing applications. It is also the location for campus tours and interviews.

Advanced Placement (or AP) refers to college-level classes offered by some high schools in various subject areas. Students participating in AP courses often take national AP exams prior to the end of the school year for placement purposes in college and/or for testing out of certain college requirements. Students can earn college credits at many Colleges and Universities for receiving certain scores on the AP exams.

Associate Degree A degree granted upon successful completion of a two year course of study.

Bachelor Degree A degree granted upon successful completion of approximately four years course of academic study.

Board -The price you pay to eat in the college dining halls and cafeterias. Some colleges require freshman to have a meal plan for use in the dining halls.

Bursar The Bursar is the business office of the college and handles tuition payments, distribution of financial aid, auditing of student accounts. If you have a question about your bill or if your are waiting for a financial aid payment, see the Bursar.

CSS Profile This financial aid profile is required by many private schools. If you are applying to a school that requires this profile, you must complete it. For a list of schools that require the CSS profile, click here.

Candidate's Universal Reply Date -The May 1st deadline observed by selective colleges, by which the applicant must respond to an offer of admission, usually with a nonrefundable deposit of several hundred dollars. Colleges that require a student to respond by May 1st, usually notify students of their acceptance by April 1st.

 Credit Hour -Colleges measure the degree of difficulty of courses by assigning them a value in credit hours. For example, it is expected that a four credit course will be more demanding and require more work that a three credit course. Most colleges require students to accumulate a specified total number of credit hours to graduate.
 
College Board -The organization that sponsors the SAT I and SAT Subject Tests (SAT II). The College Board admissions tests are developed and administered by the Educational Testing Service. www.collegeboard.com

Cost of Attendance (COA) - The total cost of attending a given college including tuition & fees, room & board, books, transportation, personal expenses and all other necessary expenses associated with going to that college.

Common Application -Hundreds of colleges in the United States agreed that students may apply to their colleges by completing one common application instead of individual applications for each college.  All the colleges participating in the common application agreement sign a statement that they do not discriminate among the students who submit the common application instead of the school's individual application. www.commonapp.org

CUNY -City University of New York, consisting of two and four year colleges. One application is used for applying to CUNY schools. The SAT I is required for admission.

Dormitory -On campus housing. In some schools a choice can be made as to the type of housing you would prefer.

Early Action -An admission application option in which a student files for early admission to his/her top choice college (or colleges) early in the senior year (sometimes as early as October but usually no later than the beginning of December). In contrast to Early Decision, the student is not committed to attending a particular college at the point of acceptance under this option. (Note: Some colleges do not allow students applying to their institutions to submit multiple Early Action applications, so check with the colleges you are considering to see if this applies.)

Early Decision -An admission application option in which a student files for admission to his/her top choice college early in the senior year (sometimes as early as October but usually no later than the beginning of December) under the guiding principle that the student will be bound to attend that college if accepted.

Expected Family Contribution (EFC) - The amount of money a student/family is expected to pay toward college costs in a given academic year for a given student according to the federal formula.

FAFSA-Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The website for the FAFSA application is www.fafsa.ed.gov   Please do not be scammed by the website www.fafsa.com where you will pay to complete an application that is meant to be free. For more information on financial aid, click here.

GED (General Education Development Diploma) - High school equivalency diploma for those who have not received a traditional high school diploma from the State. The GED requires completion of a test that covers writing skills, math, social studies, science, literature and the arts. It is sometimes referred to as a general equivalency diploma.

Graduate Degree

Major The sublect of study in which the student chooses to specialize. A series of related courses which are usually taken in the junior and senior years.

Masters Degree -An advanced degree of study based on one or two years after the Bachelor's Degree. This degree may be needed in a number of professions.

NCAA National Collegiate Athletic Association, which regulates college athletic programs.

Open Admissions A policy under which any applicant with a high school diploma is accepted. At state universities that have this policy, Open Admission is usually limited to state residents.

PSAT/NMSQT -A practice test for the SAT college entrance exam. The Preliminary SAT is a junior-level test but is often taken in the sophomore year for practice and again in the junior year. The PSAT in the junior year serves as the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT). All NYC public school students take the PSAT in both their sophomore and junior years for free.

Rolling Admissions -The practice of processing an application for admission as soon as all required forms and credentials are received, rather than announcing all admission decisions on the same date.

Student Aid Report (SAR) - The report that is processed and sent to a student, showing the student's EFC, after s/he files the FAFSA. Copies of the report also are sent to the student’s state grant agency and the colleges the student lists on the FAFSA.

SAT I- (Logic and Reasoning Test) -Scholastic Aptitude Test given by the College Board. This is a college entrance exam. It is divided into Critical Reading, Math and Writing.  The exam is scored out of 2400 points. Each section is worth 800 points. Most colleges accept the SAT's in addition to or in place of the ACT's. The website for the SAT is www.collegeboard.com.

SAT II- (Subject Tests) -Examinations offered by the College Entrance Examination Board in a number of academic areas. Selective colleges use them as part of the admissions process; other colleges use them for level placement college courses. The website for the SAT II's is www.collegeboard.com.

 SUNY- State University of New York -System of public universities, colleges, community colleges and technical schools in New York State.

Subsidized – Federal Subsidized Direct Stafford Loans are available to qualified students with subsidized interest, meaning the federal government pays the interest on the loan while a student is in college. So, no payments need to be paid until the student stops attending at least half-time. The government does not pay any other portion of the loan during or after college, and the loan begins collecting interest following a six- or nine- month “grace period” after the student stops attending at least half-time (6 credits per semester). 

TAP – The Tuition Assistance Program is a grant provided through New York State to students who are: legal U.S. residents, residents of New York State, and attend college in New York State.

TOEFL   Test of English as a Foreign Language. It comes in three parts, testing your ability to read and write English, plus understand spoken English.

Transcript -Official record of high school or college courses and grades.

Undergraduate Degree –A college or university student who has not yet received his/her first bachelor or associates degree.