A2C: Applying to College; common abbreviation used in college applying generation.

Admission: Getting an offer from the college. Let them know by May 1st.

August 1: Common App application opens for that year.

BigFuture: Resource for College Board to find colleges.

Binding: If you apply and if they offer you the admission, you must get enrolled.

CBFinAid ID: ID number created when a CSS profile is created with the College Board. This ID is used by the colleges (or funding agencies) to match an applicant.

Counselor Evaluation (CE): (a component of Common App) It is a letter written by the teacher for the student. Uploaded by the recommender’s account.
Deficit: The amount a student will pay to the college after a scholarship.

CoA: Cost of Attendance

College freshman: First year of college (equivalent to class 13)

College junior: Third year of college (equivalent to class 15)

College senior: Fourth year of college (equivalent to class 16)

College sophomore: Second year of college (equivalent to class 14)

CSS: College Scholarship Services; used by International students who can not apply for aid through FAFSA.

Deficit = CoA – Financial Aid & Scholarship

DN: Demonstrated Need

DS -160: US Embassy Visa Interview form.

Early Action: Applied early during November, non-binding

Early Decision: Applied early during November, binding

ED2, ED3: Second and third Early Decision rounds.

EFC: Expected Family Contribution

Endowment: money received from alumni by the college. Great source of earning for private colleges, since they don’t get tax benefit.

Enrollment: Admitting into the program by paying and registering for the class.

FAFSA: Free Application For Federal Student Aid. Applicable for those who are US Citizens or have green cards.

Flagship campus: Main campus when the college has multiple campuses.

Full-ride scholarship: Aid that covers tuition and other expenses including meal, lodging and sometimes flight.

Full-tuition scholarship: Aid that covers tuition and some related fees.

High school freshman: Student of Class nine

High school junior: Student of Class eleven, equivalent to HSC first year in Bangladesh.

High school senior: Student of Class twelve, equivalent to HSC second year in Bangladesh.

High school sophomore: Student of Class ten

I-20: Form I-20 which the College sends you to apply for the Visa.

In-state tuition: Reduced tuition for state-residents, given by state (public) universities. Not seen in private universities.

LAC: Liberal Arts College; small teaching-focused and mainly private colleges.

Legacy: (secondary meaning) Tendency or bias to give privileges to requests received from big donors of the university.

Net Price Calculator: an application from College Board used to estimate approximate expenses for a particular college (factors used are: dependency status, parent household, parent income, parent assets, student finances, questions specific for the college being applied to). Note: it is not applicable for international students.

National College Decision Day: May 1

Non-binding: If you receive the offer, you may decline.

October 1: FAFSA and CSS opening day

Out-of-state tuition: higher tuition that out-state residents or international students pay, especially in the state universities.

Priority dates: Date before which Rolling Admission programs give priority.

REA: Restrictive Early Action; you can’t apply to other programs at the same time.

Rolling admission: No deadline; you can apply until their class is full.

SCHEA: Single Choice Early Action (similar to REA).

SEVIS: Student and Exchange Visitor Information System

STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.

Sticker price: Tuition fee before an aid is awarded.

Yield: Percentage of students who actually get enrolled after receiving the admission offer.

CEEB Code: (pronounced as mxe code) stands for College Entrance Examination Board Code. A six-digit number that College Board uses to identify a high school.

CGI Account: for visa interview.

AP: Administrative Processing (after visa interview)

LOCI: Letter of Continued Interest; a letter that you write when your application is deferred from a top college.

TAL: Technology Alert List: List of technological items or concepts that visa consular needs to investigate further, and a visa is delayed due to AP (administrative processing).

AO: Admission Officer

VO: Visa Officer, the interviewer at the embassy.

iDOC: stands for “Institutional Documents”. It is a part of College Board where students can upload their additional financial documents. Usually completed after creation of the CSS profile.

ETRF number used for IETLS score sending.

CLASS = Consular Lookout and Support System; a system where all info of DS-160 is stored and all immigration officers can look up any info from here.

INA = Immigration and Nationality Act;

School Report (SR): (a component of Common App) used by counselors documenting a student’s academic progress. It usually contains high school profile and transcripts.

School Report Transcripts (ST): (a component of Common App) School Transcript is a part of School Report. Some partner colleges of Common App may need to separate the transcripts from the school report.

Homeschool Supplement to the School Report (SR): (a component of Common App) this is usually not applicable for international students where homeschooling is almost absent. The parents usually serve to be the counselor in such cases.

International Supplement to the School Report (SR): (a component of Common App) based on the invitation of the student from their Common App account, the high school counselor uploads the essential documents on their portal.

Counselor Recommendation (CR): (a component of Common App) it is the recommendation letter of the high school counselor (also called the guidance counselor).

Guidance Counselor: another name for High School counselor.

Midyear Report (MR): (a component of Common App) it is the result or report published after mid-year or half-yearly examination in many high schools and colleges in South Asia. It may not be available if there is only one year-ending examination.

Midyear Transcripts (MT): (a component of Common App) similar to Midyear Report (MR), but it is the transcript or marksheet.

Optional Report (OR): (a component of Common App) it is not specific to any time (such as mid-year or quarter of a year). Rather it’s available at any time of the year, and can be used to correct any previously submitted grade errors. Cannot be used to substitute the mid-year or year final examination.

Optional Transcripts (OT): (a component of Common App) similar to Optional Report (OR), this is the transcript.

Final Report (FR): (a component of Common App) is needed once an admission decision has been made and the student wishes to be enrolled. The final report will include course-completion examination. For example, if a student receives an admission offer with grade 11’s result only and the HSC or A2 exams are taken afterwards, then the results of HSC or A2 must be produced before enrollment to the program.

Final Transcripts (FT): (a component of Common App) similar to Final Report (FR), but it is the transcript.

Teacher Evaluation (TE): (a component of Common App) it is a letter written by the teacher for the student. Uploaded by the recommender’s account.

Fee Waiver (FW): (a component of Common App): it is initiated by the student from the Common App, and the high school counselor endorses it from their end.

Early Decision Agreement (ED) & (EDII): (a component of Common App): applicable when a student applies in ED cycle and the agreement is signed by both the parents and the counselor.