What Does It Actually Mean?
A brief overview of some of the terms you will hear repeated throughout application and decision season
A brief overview of some of the terms you will hear repeated throughout application and decision season
Reach: A reach school is a university that you may struggle to get into (eg. your GPA might be lower than the average GPA, there may be lower acceptance rates, etc), a reach is also generally a school with low acceptance rates, and no matter what your statistics, it will still be a reach.
Target: A target school is one where your academic credentials (grades, SAT or ACT scores, and class rank) fall well within the school's average range for the most recently accepted class.
Safety: A school that you are most likely to get into. Your academic profile is either exactly along the lines of what the school is looking for or exceeds the expectations.
ED/Early Decision: This is a commitment to the school you are applying to. You can only apply early decision to one school and it is BINDING, meaning that if they accept you, you must attend unless there are extenuating circumstances. You can also apply regular decision/early action to schools while applying early decision, but you must withdraw those applications if you are accepted early decision to a school.
EA/Early Action: This is simply applying early to a school, and it is non-binding. It is basically the same as applying regular decision, except the deadline is earlier and you find out your decision earlier. If you are able to, we recommend applying early action to schools.
REA/Restricted Early Action: Students applying for restrictive early action or single-choice early action indicate to a college that it's their first-choice school by signing an agreement that they will file just one early application at a private institution.
RD/Regular Decision: This means that you are not applying in the early round, and you will receive your admission decision in the spring – usually around late-March into early-April.
Rolling Admission: Rolling admission means colleges review applications as they are sent in, and you will typically receive your decision a few weeks after you apply. However, not all schools have rolling admissions, with many private institutions opting for set deadlines.
FAFSA: The Free Application For Federal Student Aid. Colleges use this to determine the federal financial aid you are eligible for. it also provides you with an "Expected Family Contribution" (EFC), which determines exactly that. Most times, your EFC will be a lot larger than expected, so it's important that you are also looking for outside scholarships.
CSS: The College Scholarship Service, run by CollegeBoard. Not all schools require this, so look to see if your school does before you fill it out because depending on your family's income there is a flat fee to file it, and it costs additional money for each of the schools you send it to. (Yes, I understand it's contradictory, I could not tell you why you would HAVE TO PAY to get financial aid) It gives you additional aid beyond just federal aid.
Waitlist: The college you applied for has not formally accepted you, but may offer admission in the next few months if spaces become available.
Deferred: A deferral means the college wants to review your application again with the regular decision pool of applicants. While it might feel like a rejection, a deferral is not a denial, nor does it mean there was something wrong with your application.
Likely Letters: A "likely letter" is an admission tool used by highly selective colleges and universities. It notifies the school's top choice prospects in the regular applicant pool that an acceptance letter is likely to be coming in the future. A very small percentage of students are sent likely letters, and they are mostly sent to recruited athletes, so don't be upset if you don't receive one.
Common App: The website used by most colleges for submitting applications.
Coalition App: An alternative platform for submitting applications. Significantly fewer colleges use this platform.
Test-Optional: Some schools may list that they are SAT/ ACT test-optional. This means that it is not a requirement to submit your scores.
Supplemental: Additional essays that schools may require with their applications. They are typically anywhere from 250 words to 650 words, so watch out with word count because they may be different not just for each school, but with each supplemental.
Letters of Recommendation: Usually written by teachers, counselors, and advisors, these letters give the college you are applying to an outside look as to who you are.