The College Confidential discussion forums use many acronyms and abbreviations. What do they all mean?
Here is a list of the most widely used phrases that have been aggregated by our users.
Most Common on CC
| Abbreviation | Description |
|---|---|
| CC | College Confidential, Community College |
| D1 or S1 | Daughter/Son #1, Daughter/Son #2, etc. |
| DD or DS | Dear, Darling or Darn Daughter/Son |
| EA / ED / RD | Early Action (non-binding) / Early decision (binding) / Regular Decision |
| HYPSM | Harvard/Yale/Princeton/Stanford/MIT |
| LOCI | Letter of continued interest |
Full List (click to expand)
| Abbreviation | Description |
|---|---|
| pithy remark | narrative voice, usually sarcastic |
| ^^^ | Refer to post above |
| 10 char | Used to fill out minimum character requirement to post (obsolete) |
| AA | African American, Asian American (rarely), or Affirmative Action |
| AA | Associate of Arts |
| AA-T | Associate of Arts for Transfer (California) |
| AB | Artium baccalaureus, Latin for bachelor of arts |
| ABET | Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc. ABET does major-specific accreditation of engineering, engineering technology, computing, and applied science programs. ABET accreditation in engineering is specifically important for those seeking PE licensing or the patent exam, but is also considered an indication of quality of a program that may otherwise not be known (e.g. to an employer). |
| ABLE | Achieving a Better Life Experience |
| Academic Index | Ivy League colleges use a tool called the Academic Index to summarize the academic performance of applicants. Originally developed as a means of establishing common standards for student-athlete applicants, the Academic Index (AI) has become a sort of shorthand for ranking students. Other colleges, elite and otherwise, may also use variants of the Academic in their admission process. |
| ACM | Associated Colleges of the Midwest |
| ACS | American Chemical Society. Has an evaluation and approval process for chemistry major bachelor’s degree programs. |
| ACT | A national college admissions examination, formerly American College Testing |
| ADCOM | Admissions Committee |
| ADN | Associate Degree in Nursing |
| AI | Admissions Index |
| AI | Artificial Intelligence |
| AICE | Advance International Certificate of Education |
| AIME | American Invitational Mathematics Examination |
| AKA | Also know as |
| ALDC | Athlete, Legacy, Dean’s List (relation to donor / development, VIP, etc.), Child of Faculty / Staff, an abbreviation of hook categories other than URM used at Harvard, as revealed in documents from an admissions lawsuit |
| AM | Artium magister, Latin for master of arts" |
| AMC | American Mathematics Competitions |
| AP | Advanced Placement, a program of the College Board with standardized course curricula and associated standardized tests for advanced high school students to learn and be tested on college frosh level material |
| APR | Annual percentage rate |
| APUSH | Advanced Placement United States History |
| AR | Academic Renewal |
| ARWU | Academic Ranking of World Universities |
| AS | Associate of Science |
| AS-T | Associate of Science for Transfer (California) |
| AWS | Amherst/Williams/Swarthmore |
| BA | Bachelor of Arts |
| BArch | Bachelor of architecture, a 5-year NAAB-accredited degree |
| BF | boyfriend |
| BGO | Blue and Gold Officer (USNA Admissions Representative) |
| BIL | Brother in Law |
| BME | Biomedical Engineering |
| BNP | Brand Name Paralysis |
| BRB | Be Right Back |
| BS | Bachelor of Science |
| BSN | Bachelor of Science in Nursing |
| BTW | By the way |
| BTW | Between |
| BUMP | Bring Up My Post |
| Bump # XX | Read post # XX |
| BWRK | Bright Well-Rounded Kid |
| Cal | University of California, Berkeley |
| CAS | College of Arts and Sciences |
| CALS | College of Agriculture and Life and Sciences (at Cornell University) |
| CBB | Colby, Bates, Bowdoin |
| CBNRP | College Board National Recognition Program, a recognition for Black, Indigenous, Latino, and rural area students. Students are invited to apply if they have high enough PSAT scores or scores of 3 or higher on two distinct AP exams. Some colleges offer scholarships for this status. |
| CC | College Confidential, Community College |
| CCC | California Community College |
| CDS | Common Data Set |
| CIS | Computer Information Systems (a less-technical business based major that includes management of computers, networks, and software) or Computer Information Science (a rarely used alternate name for computer science) |
| CMU | Carnegie Mellon U |
| COA | Cost of Attendenance |
| COVID-19 | Coronavirus disease '19 |
| CROP | Carleton, Reed, Oberlin, Pomona (top LACs, outside of the northeast) |
| CPP | California State Polytechnic University, Pomona |
| CPSLO | California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo |
| CS | Computer Science |
| CSE | Computer Science and Engineering |
| CSS Profile | Form needed to apply for aid at some colleges (often in addition to FAFSA) |
| CSU | California State University system |
| CTCL | Colleges That Change Lives |
| CUNY | City University of New York system |
| D | Daughter |
| D1 | Daughter #1, Daughter #2, etc. |
| D12 | Daughter graduated in 2012 |
| dart | Dartmouth |
| DD | Dear, Darling or Darn Daughter |
| DE | Dual enrollment, where a high school student may get both high school and college credit for a college course taken while in high school. |
| DGD | Dear, Darling or Darn Grandaughter |
| DGS | Dear, Darling or Darn Grandson |
| DH | Dear, Darling or Darn Husband |
| DI | Drill Instructor |
| DND | Do not disturb |
| DO | Doctor of osteopathic medicine; in the US, can practice in all areas of medicine like those with MD degrees |
| DODMERB | Department of Defense Medical Examination Review Board (the physical exam all service academy and ROTC scholarship applicants need to take) |
| DP | Dear Parents |
| DS | Dear, Darling or Darn Son |
| DW | Dear, Darling or Darn Wife |
| EA | Early Action (non-binding), where the applicant applies by an early deadline and may get a decision earlier than the usual date (or may get deferred for a decision at the usual date) |
| EC | Extra Curricular activity or (less commonly) Extra Credit |
| ED | Early decision (binding), where the applicant applies by an early deadline and may get a decision earlier than the usual date (or may get deferred for a decision at the usual date); if admitted, the applicant agrees to matriculate (typically with an exception for insufficient financial aid) |
| ED1 | Early decision with deadline usually around November |
| ED2 | Early decision with deadline usually around January |
| EFC | Expected Family Contribution; may differ between FAFSA calculation and each college’s own calculation (FAFSA EFC will be renamed to Student Aid Index) |
| EIT | Engineer in Training, an engineer who has graduated from an ABET accredited program and has passed the FE exam, but has not taken the PE exam for PE licensing (often due to not yet having sufficient experience). |
| ELC | Eligibility in Local Context; for University of California frosh admissions, having a UC-recalculated high school GPA above the top 9% threshold of a recent previous graduating class of your high school gets special consideration |
| ETA | Edited to add |
| FA | Financial Aid |
| FAFSA | Free Application for Federal Student Aid |
| FAO | Financial Aid Office or Officer |
| FE | Fundamentals of Engineering exam, for graduates of or those who will soon graduate from an ABET-accredited engineering program who want to become EIT on the way to PE licensing. |
| FGLI | First Generation, Low Income |
| FM | Federal Methodology for calculating financial need for financial aid purposes |
| FSFAA | Foreign Financial Aid Application |
| FTW | For the win |
| FU | Furman University |
| FWIW | For What It’s Worth |
| FYSA | For Your Situational Awareness |
| Gap year | A year spent doing something other than attending school by someone who intends to resume attending school after that year. Commonly refers to a year after high school but before college, but may be a year away from college after starting college before returning to college. A “gap semester” would be a semester away from school. |
| GC | Guidance Counselor |
| GD | Granddaughter |
| GF | Girlfriend |
| GS | Grandson |
| GTO | Guaranteed Transfer Option |
| Gtown | Georgetown |
| H/SS | Humanities (usually including arts) and Social Studies/Sciences |
| HASS | Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (MIT terminology) |
| HAmLit | Honors American Lit |
| HBCU | Historically Black College or University |
| HEDS | Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium |
| HMFR | Huge Mother F#*!&ing Reach |
| Hook | Applicant attribute that is of particular interest to the school; hooks vary at different schools. See ALDC and URM for common, but not universal, examples. |
| HPME | Honors Program in Medical Education |
| HSA | Humanities, Social Sciences, and Arts (Harvey Mudd College terminology) |
| HYP | Harvard/Yale/Princeton |
| HYPD | Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth |
| HYPS | Harvard/Yale/Princeton/Stanford |
| HYPSM | Harvard/Yale/Princeton/Stanford/MIT |
| HYPSMC | Harvard/Yale/Princeton/Stanford/MIT/Caltech-Columbia-Cornell |
| IANAAO | I am not an admissions officer |
| IB | International Baccalaureate (in high school). |
| IB HL | International Baccalaureate Higher Level (course). May be given subject credit or advanced placement in college. |
| IB SL | International Baccalaureate Standard Level (course). Generally will not be given subject credit or advanced placement in college. |
| ID | Interim decision (term used by some schools instead of Early Action) |
| IDK | I don’t know |
| IGETC | Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum: a set of course categories that California community college students can complete to fulfill frosh/soph level general education requirements upon transfer to a California State University or most campuses and divisions of the University of California |
| IIRC | If I recall correctly |
| IM | Institutional Methododology for calculating financial need for financial aid purposes (varies with each school using IM) |
| IMHO | In My Humble Opinion |
| Iming | Instant Messaging |
| IMNSHO | In My Not So Humble Opinion |
| IMO | In My Opinion |
| IRL | In Real Life |
| ISFAA | International Student Financial Aid Application – each college may have its own. |
| IUPUI | Indiana University-Purdue University - Indianapolis |
| Ivy League | An NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision athletic conference |
| IWSFT | I was surprised to find that |
| JD | Juris Doctor (law degree) |
| JK | Just Kidding |
| KU | Kansas University |
| KWIM | Know what I mean |
| LAC | Liberal Arts College |
| Liberal Arts | Natural sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities (sometimes used to describe only the latter three, excluding natural sciences); contrast to applied subjects that are more explicitly pre-professional like business, nursing, engineering, architecture, and agriculture |
| little ivies | Top Liberal Arts Colleges |
| little ivies | Williams, Amherst, Trinity, Wesleyan, Hamilton, Hobart, Union, Colgate |
| Little Three | Amherst, Wesleyan, Williams |
| LOCI | Letter of continued interest |
| LOL | Laugh Out Loud |
| MA | Master of Arts |
| MArch | Master of Architecture |
| MD | Medicinae doctor, Latin for doctor of medicine |
| MEHAP | Honors American Lit |
| Merit Scholarships | Scholarships based on factors other than financial need |
| ML | Machine Learning, a subarea of computer science |
| Mods | Forum Moderators |
| MOOC | Massive open online course |
| MS | Master of Science |
| NAAB | National Architectural Accrediting Board, an organization that does major-specific accreditation for architecture programs (note: NAAB-accredited BArch programs are 5 year programs) |
| NCAA | National Collegiate Athletic Association |
| NCLEX | National Council Licensing EXamination for licensure of registered nurses (NCLEX-RN) and practical nurses (NCLEX-PN). Pass rates are often of interest when considering nursing major programs. |
| NCP | Non-custodial parent |
| NE | New England |
| Need (financial aid context) | The amount in excess of the student and parent contribution that the student needs in order to pay to attend the college. Because the student and parent contribution may be determined differently by each college, financial aid need will vary based on this variable as well as the list price of the college. |
| Need aware | College admissions may consider an individual applicant’s financial aid need in making the admission decision. A minority of colleges in the US are need aware in admissions. |
| Need blind | College admissions does not consider an individual applicant’s financial aid need in making the admission decision. However, the college may consider aggregate financial aid need of the class when determining admission criteria, and may consider correlates of financial aid need in admissions. Need blind does not imply any level of financial aid. Most colleges in the US are need blind in admissions. |
| NESCAC | New England Small College Athletic Conference |
| NEU | Northeastern University |
| NHS | National Honors Society |
| NMF | National Merit Finalist, which NMSFs apply to advance to, requiring a good enough high school record and “confirming” SAT or ACT score. Some colleges award large scholarships based on NMF status. |
| NMSF | National Merit Semifinalist, a status derived from having a high enough PSAT score in 11th grade. Some colleges award scholarships based on NMSF status (but advancing to NMF would increase the number of colleges and/or size of scholarships offered). |
| NOVA | Northern Virginia |
| NPC | Net price calculator |
| NRC | National Research Council |
| NSE | National Student Exchange |
| NTTAWWT | Not that there’s anything wrong with that |
| NU | Northwestern University |
| NVM | Nevermind |
| NYU | New York U |
| OE | Overseas experience |
| OMG | Oh my God or Gosh |
| OOS | Out of state |
| OP | Original Post(er) |
| OSU | Ohio State University, Oklahoma State University, or Oregon State University |
| OT | Off Topic |
| OTOH | On the other hand |
| OU | Ohio University |
| OU | University of Oklahoma |
| p-ton or pton | Princeton |
| PA | Peer Assessment |
| PE | Physical education. Usually refers to courses in physical fitness and activities, but may also refer to academic study of exercise biology and related subjects. |
| PE | Professional Engineer, a licensed status for an engineer who offers services to the general public or signs off on designs used by the general public. Most commonly sought by civil engineers, but may be sought by other engineers as well. “PE exam” refers to the final licensing exam, Principles and Practices in Engineering. See also ABET, FE, EIT. |
| Penn or UPenn | University of Pennsylvania |
| PG | Postgraduate year |
| PhD | Philosophiae doctor, Latin for doctor of philosophy |
| PLME | Program in Liberal Medical Education (Brown’s special medical program) |
| PLOS | Parent Looking Over Shoulder |
| PLTW | Project Lead The Way |
| PM | Personal/Private Messages |
| PSU | Pennsylvania State University |
| PWI | Predominantly white institution. Sometimes used as the opposite of HBCU, but is not exactly the opposite, since there are a few colleges that are both HBCU and PWI, while there are other colleges that are neither HBCU nor PWI. |
| PWN | Someone who dominates |
| R+B | Room and Board |
| RA | Research Assistant, a common type of employment for funding of PhD students. |
| RA | Resident Assistant (in a college dorm) |
| RA | Rolling Admissions |
| RAR | Regional Admissions Representive |
| RD | Regular Decision |
| REA | Restrictive Early Action (non-binding but requires agreeing to limitations on other early applications; limitations vary by school). Also called SCEA. |
| RIT | Rochester Institute of Technology (NY) |
| ROFL | Rolling on the floor |
| ROFLMAOPMP | Rolling on the floor laughing my ass off peeing my pants |
| ROFLOL | Rolling on the floor/laughing out loud |
| ROI | Return on Investment |
| Rolling admission | Applicants may apply at any time before the deadline; many applicants will receive decisions shortly after applying. |
| RPI | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, NY) |
| RSI | Research Science Institute at MIT |
| S | Son |
| S1 | Son # 1, Son #2, etc. |
| S12 | Son graduated in 2012 |
| SA | Situational Awareness |
| SAI | Student Aid Index, a calculation from FAFSA information formerly called (FAFSA) EFC |
| SAT | A national college admissions examination. Formerly Scholastic Aptitude Test or Scholastic Assessment Test |
| SAT II | Common but obsolete name for SAT Subject Tests. The SAT Subject Tests have been discontinued. Prior to being called SAT II, they were called Achievement Tests. |
| SB | Scientiae baccalaureus, Latin for bachelor of science |
| SCEA | Single Choice Early Action (non-binding but requires agreeing to limitations on other early applications; limitations vary by school). Also called REA |
| SCU | Santa Clara University |
| SDSU | San Diego State University or South Dakota State University |
| SEAS | School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, as the engineering division at some universities (e.g. Columbia and UPenn) is named |
| SEC | SouthEastern Conference, an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision athletic conference |
| SES | Socio-Economic Status |
| SIL | Sister in Law |
| SIR | Statement of Intent to register |
| SM | Scientiae magister, Latin for master of science |
| SMH | Shaking my head |
| SMU | Southern Methodist University |
| SN | Screen Name |
| SO | Significant Other |
| Stats | A student’s GPA, test scores, curriculum and extracurriculars |
| STEM | Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics. Be careful about generalizing over the entire group of majors, since they vary greatly in terms of course work and post-graduation job and career prospects. |
| SU | Syracuse University |
| SU | Seattle U |
| SUNY | State University of New York |
| SWAP | Swarthmore, Williams, Amherst & Pomona; also WASP |
| T1 | Twin 1, Twin 2 |
| TA | Teaching Assistant, a common type of employment for funding of PhD students. Commonly found at research universities running discussion or lab sections associated with a faculty member’s lecture part of the course. At some colleges may be used as the lead instructors of English composition, beginning foreign language, and/or lower level math courses where the class sizes are kept small. |
| TAG | Transfer Acceptance Guarantee, available at some University of California campuses and majors for California community college students who complete specified course and grade / GPA requirements for assured transfer admission. |
| TASP | Telluride Association Summer Program (6 week summer program for juniors) |
| TASS | Telluride Association Summer Program (6 week summer program for sophomores) |
| TCE | Total College Experience |
| THE | Times Higher Education |
| The Ivies | The members of the Ivy League, an NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision athletic conference: Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, UPenn, Princeton, Yale |
| The Public Ivys | University of California - at Berkeley, at Davis, at Irvine, at Los Angeles, at Riverside, at San Diego, at Santa Barbara, at Santa Cruz; Miami University of Ohio; University of Michigan at Ann Arbor; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; University of Texas at Austin; University of Vermont at Burlington; University of Virginia at Charlottesville; William and Mary College of Virginia |
| The Seven Sisters | Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Mt. Holyoke, Radcliffe, Smith, Vassar, Wellesley. These are historically women’s colleges, but Vassar is now coed / all-gender, and Radcliffe is now fully part of Harvard. |
| TIA | Thanks in advance |
| Tip | Something that can tip a candidates app one way or another |
| TJHSST | Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology |
| TO | Test Optional (SAT and ACT scores not needed to apply), at Univ of Southern California can mean Thematic Option |
| TOEFL | Test of English as a foreign language |
| TOK | Theory of Knowledge IB course |
| TOS | Terms Of Service |
| TTFM | Too tough for me |
| TTFN | TaTa for Now |
| UAA | University Athletic Association |
| UC | University of California system |
| UC | University of Chicago |
| UCB | University of California, Berkeley |
| UCD | University of California, Davis |
| UCI | University of California, Irvine |
| UCLA | University of California, Los Angeles |
| UCM | University of California, Merced |
| UCR | University of California, Riverside |
| UCSB | University of California, Santa Barbara |
| UCSC | University of California, Santa Cruz |
| UCSD | University of California, San Diego |
| UCSF | University of California, San Francisco (has no undergrad programs) |
| UDub | University of Washington |
| UH | University of Hawaii |
| UH | University of Houston |
| UIC | University of Illinois, Chicago |
| UIUC | University of Illinois, Urbana - Champaign |
| UK | University of Kentucky |
| UM | University of Maryland |
| UM | University of Michigan |
| UM | University of Miami |
| UM | University of Minnesota |
| UM | University of Montana |
| UM | University of Memphis |
| UM | University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) |
| Umass | University of Massachusetts |
| UMD | University of Maryland |
| UMSL | University of Missouri St. Louis |
| UNC | University of North Carolina, usually Chapel Hill |
| UofC | University of Chicago |
| UPENN | University of Pennsylvania |
| URM | Under Represented Minority |
| USABO | United States of America Biology Olympiad |
| USAFA | United States Air Force academy |
| USAMO | United States of America Mathematics Olympiad |
| USC | University of Santa Clara, former name of Santa Clara University |
| USC | University of Southern California |
| USC | University of South Carolina |
| USCGA | United States Coast Guard Academy |
| USD | University of San Diego |
| USD | University of South Dakota |
| USHAP | Advanced Placement United States History |
| USMA | United States Military Academy |
| USMMA | United States Merchant Marine Academy |
| USNA | United States Naval Academy |
| USNWR | US News World Report |
| UW | University of Washington. University of Wisconsin, University of Wyoming |
| VC | Vassar |
| W&J, W+J | Washington and Jefferson |
| W&L, W+L, WLU | Washington and Lee University |
| WASP | Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Pomona; also SWAP |
| WASP | White Anglo Saxon Protestant |
| WL | Wait List |
| WOW | Walks on water |
| WPI | Worcester Polytechnic Institute (MA) |
| WUE | Western Undergraduate Exchange, a regional tuition discount program across various western states |
| WUStL or WashU | Washington University in St. Louis |
| Yale-NUS | Residential LAC in Singapore: collaboration between Yale University and the National University of Singapore |
| YMMV | Your mileage may vary |
| Z-List | Admission to Harvard but with a required (by Harvard) gap year. |
If you have something that needs to be added that is college related, this post is a wiki, feel free to add them to the OP! (CC Staff and Mods reserve the right to override any edits).
