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ACT: A standardized exam widely used for college admission in addition to or in place of the SAT
Alumni: A former student of a college or university, plural; Alumnus, singular masculine; Alumna, singular feminine
Associate's Degree: An undergraduate degree earned from a college or university typically after 2 years of study; it is considered higher than a high-school degree, but lower than a Bachelor's
B.A.: see Bachelor of Arts
B.S.: see Bachelor of Science
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Bachelor Degree or Bachelor's: An undergraduate degree earned from a college or university typically after 4 years of study (~120 credits).
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Bachelor of Arts: An undergraduate degree awarded in the liberal arts or sciences, or both
Bachelor's of Science: An undergraduate degree awarded in the sciences, though many institutions still refer to science degrees as B.A. degrees
Co-ed: Mixed-gender education (classes are not separate, as opposed to non-coed in which men and women have separate classes)
College: In the U.S., a higher-learning institution offering only undergraduate degrees, see University
Commencement: A graduation ceremony
Core: A particular course needed for a particular degree
Credits: Units of measurement awarded for successful completion of academic courses; each course typically gets you a certain amount of credits, typically 3-5. One typically needs a set number of credits to graduate from a given university (usually ~120).
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Cum Laude, Summa, Magna: Title awarded to the high performing students in a graduating academic year
CUNY: City University of New York; the umbrella term for the NYC colleges. Examples include Hunter, Brooklyn College, Medgar Evers, etc
Dean: Head of an academic institution
Doctor of Medicine: Degree obtained when completing medical school
Doctor of Philosophy: Degree obtained when completing your PhD
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Doctorate or Doctoral Degree: An academic degree awarded after completing a course of study and publishing research in a particular field
Dual Degree: A program awarding two degrees simultaneously
Electives: Courses not necessary to earn a particular degree (as opposed to "Cores")
Esquire: A title added after a lawyer's surname
FAFSA: see Free Application for Federal Student Aid
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Free Application for Federal Student Aid: A government program where students can apply for a loan from the government to pay their way through school; see https://fafsa.ed.gov/
Freshman: A first-year undergraduate student
G.P.A.: see Grade Point Average
Grade Point Average: Your "score" of how you're doing in college overall; combined all of your classes. Highest is 4.0, and it roughly correlates with letter grades. 3.67 is an A-, 3.33 is a B+, etc..
Graduate Degree: After finishing college, you get your undergraduate degree, like a BA or BS. If you do further schooling in a masters program (at a "grad school"), then the next degree is called a "graduate degree". (After a graduate degree, you can continue to get your "doctoral degree".)
Graduate Record Examination: An standardized exam typically necessary for admission to most graduate schools
Graduate Student: A student working towards a graduate degree
GRE: see Graduate Record Examination
J.D.: see Juris Doctor
Junior: A third-year undergraduate student
Juris Doctor: Degree obtained when completing law school
LSAT: see Law School Admissions Test
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Law School Admissions Test: Standardized national exam required for those applying to law school
M.B.A.: A master's degree in business administration
M.D.: see Doctor of Medicine
Major: An academic discipline (e.g. biology; history) to which an undergraduate student formally commits
Masters: A second-tier degree earned after a course of study in a particular field; usually only available to
Bachelor's degree holders (see "Graduate degree" above.)
Matriculation: Formal process for entering a college or university
MCAT: see Medical College Admission Test
Medical College Admission Test: Standardized national exam required for those applying to medical school
Minor: A secondary academic discipline (e.g. biology; history) to which an undergraduate student formally commits
Ph.D.: see Doctor of Philosophy
Post Bacc: short for "postbaccalaureate". If someone already got their college degree, but wants to take more courses for whatever reason (for eg, his graduate school requires certain courses that he neglected to take while in undergraduate school), then some schools offer "postbacc" programs where they give you those tailored classes you may need.
Registrar: An individual or office of an academic institution responsible for admissions, enrollment, class placement, and transcript management
SAT: A standardized exam widely used for college admission
Scholarship: An award of financial aid for a student to further his or her education
Semester: A portion of an academic year during which an institution offers classes
Senior: A fourth-year undergraduate student
Sophomore: A second-year undergraduate student
Stafford Loan: A federal loan awarded to American students looking to attend a higher-education institution
SUNY: State University of New York; the umbrella term for the NY State colleges. Most major cities in NY State have SUNYs.
Syllabus: An outline detailing a given course's general requirements and expectations
Thesis or Dissertation: An extensive research paper submitted in support of a student's candidacy for an academic degree (usually a doctoral degree).
Transcript: A document reflecting one's courses taken and grades earned at an academic institution
Undergraduate: A student working towards a Bachelor's or Associate's degree (what people typically think of as "college")
Undergraduate Degree: Degree obtained when completing any undergraduate program (basically, college)
University: In the U.S., a higher-learning institution offering both undergraduate and graduate degrees, see College
Work Study: A program combining education and work experience
High School Diploma: A diploma certified that you've completed high school satisfactorily and presumably now obtained the skills necessary to begin an undergraduate degree. If you don't have a diploma, you can often demonstrate your competence through a GED/TASC, see below.
GED: Now known as TASC (Test Assessing Secondary Completion), this is a standardized exam that one can take to demonstrate that they contain the skills expected of someone about to begin an undergraduate degree, such a basic math skills, reading comprehension, etc. See here for more information.
GMAT: Graduate Management Admissions Test, a standardized national exam required for those applying into certain graduate programs, for example, an MBA (Business)
Faculty: Professors at a college