Guide/01 Start Here
Key Admissions Terminology
The handful of terms you'll hear constantly — grouped by topic, in plain English.
Chapter 4 of 243 min readUpdated September 23, 2026 Preview
Admissions has its own vocabulary, and a lot of the anxiety around the process comes from not knowing what people mean. This chapter covers the terms you'll run into most often, grouped by topic so they make sense together.
For the full A–Z list, see the glossary.
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What’s in this chapter
- 1How applications are evaluated
- 2Application rounds
- 3Outcomes
- 4Testing
- 5Your college list
- 6Paying for college