Achievement tests: The old name for what are now known as SAT II subject tests. Most highly selective colleges require at least three SAT II tests for admission.
ACT: A standardized test offered nationwide, it can be used in place of the SAT I at most highly selective colleges. In some areas of the country, such as the Midwest, this test is taken more often than the SAT I.
Advanced Placement: College-level exams offered by the College Board in a number of different subjects. These tests are scored on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being the highest score. Many highly selective colleges give college credit for high AP scores.
AI: Academic index. A formula used in Ivy League schools, particularly with regard to athletics, that averages three factors: the single-highest SAT I verbal and the single-highest SAT math, the highest of three SAT II tests, and the converted rank score. The highest possible AI is 240.
All-American: A high school sports award reflecting an athlete who is one of the top players in the country.
AN-county: A high school sports award reflecting an athlete who is one of the top players in the county.
All-state: A high school sports award reflecting an athlete who is one of the top players in the state.
AP Scholar: An award given by the College Board to students who score 3 or higher on at least three different AP exams.
Common application: A. generic college application that can be used for many colleges around the country.
CRS: Converted rank score. An Ivy League convention intended to compare high school students' rank in class from all over the country by putting them on a uniform scale of 1 to 80, with 80 being the highest.
Decile: A division used in breaking down class rank into tenths. Top decile refers to the top 10 percent of the class; second decile refers to top 10 to 20 percent of class, and so on. There are ten deciles.
Early action: An admission program offered by many schools that allows a student to apply by an earlier deadline and to hear from the college as early as December or January. The program is not binding, so if you are admitted, you can decline the offer. Harvard and Brown are the only Ivy League schools that have early-action programs.
Early decision: An admission program offered by many schools that allows a student to apply by an earlier deadline and to hear from the college as early as December or January. The program is binding, so if you are admitted, you are obliged to attend that college. All the Ivy League schools have early-decision programs except Harvard and Brown.
GPA: Grade point average—the average of an applicant's grades in high school. The two most common grading scales are 1 to 100 and the 4.0 scale.
International: Defined by colleges as a student who does not hold a US. passport, is not a permanent resident, and does not have a U.S. green card. International students are not treated as need-blind in terms of financial aid.
International Baccalaureate: College-level exams and full-diploma program offered by almost 300 U.S. high schools, with about 55 or so being added each year. The exams are scored on a scale of 1 to 7, 7 being the highest score. Many highly selective colleges give college credit for IB scores of 5, 6, or 7. For more information, call their North American office in New York at (212) 696–4464.
Legacy: The son or daughter of a graduate of a particular school. A student would be considered a legacy applicant at Yale if his father or mother graduated from Yale. This term refers only to sons and daughters of graduates from the school, not to those whose aunts, uncles, grandparents, et cetera, attended.
Magnet school: A selected high school (almost always a public school) that attracts top students from many different area school districts. Typically magnet schools offer high-level coursework for advanced students.
Mean: A mathematical term referring to the average score of a group of scores. It is calculated by adding up all the scores and dividing by the total number. The average of 3, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 20 would be 7.7: 3+3+4+5+9+10+20/7.
Median: A mathematical term referring to the middle score of a group of scores. Half of the group scores over the median, while half scores under the median. In the following set—3, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 20—the median would be 5, because there are three numbers lower than 5 and three numbers greater than 5.
Minority: In the context of selective admissions, the four minority groups are Asian-Americans, African-Americans, Native Americans, and Hispanics. Only the last three are considered underrepresented minorities and are therefore subject to affirmative-action policies.
MW: Most valuable player. A high school sports award designating the most valuable member of a particular team, usually voted upon by fellow teammates or the coach.
National Merit “commended” An award given out by the College Board for high PSAT scores by state. It is a runner-up to the higher designation of National Merit semifinalist.
National Merit semifinalist: An award given out by the College Board for high PSAT scores by state. Different states have slightly different formulas, but students awarded this honor tend to be among the top scorers in their respective state.
Need-blind: A term used in college admissions to describe the fact that the school does not take into account the applicant's ability to pay when making admissions decisions.
North country applicant: A designation used by Dartmouth College for applicants from Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire whose parents did not graduate from college.
Postgraduate student: A student who opts to attend high school for a fifth year (thirteenth grade) before college.
Quartile: A division used in breaking down class rank into fourths. Top quartile refers to the top 25 percent of the class; second quartile refers to top 25 to 50 percent of class, and so on. There are four quartiles.
Quintile: A division used in breaking down class rank into fifths. Top quintile refers to the top 20 percent of the class; second quintile refers to top 20 to 40 percent of class, and so on.
Rank: A method used by high schools to express where the student stands in his or her high school class. A rank of 1/200 would mean that the student has the highest GPA in the class and has graduated ahead of the other 199 students.
Recentering: The process instituted in 1995 by the College Board when they changed the median scores on the SAT I back to 500 for both verbal and math sections. The median had dropped to well below 500 in both areas.
Recruited athlete: An elite-level athlete who is one of a college coach's top choices for his sport's team.
SAT I: Formerly known as the Scholastic Aptitude Test, now it stands for Scholastic Assessment Test. The test is designed by the College Board to evaluate students in the verbal and math areas. The two sections of the test are scored on a scale of 200 to 800, with 800 being the highest possible score.
SAT II: Formerly known as achievement tests, these tests are one-hour subject tests prepared by the College Board in over seventeen different academic subjects. Most highly selective colleges require two or three of these tests for admissions.
Squeeze play: A term specific to Ivy League athletics when an athlete gets an offer from one school well before the official notification date and has to force the other schools to make an early decision on his acceptance.
Transcript: The official high school record of grades and course work that is forwarded to colleges.
Unweighted: A high school treatment of grades on the transcript in which no extra points are added to give extra credit for difficult courses. Grades are reported exactly as they are earned.
Wait list: A list of students who were not accepted outright to colleges but were too strong to reject outright. These wait lists can include as few as ten students and as many as several hundred. Every school has a different policy with regard to putting students on the wait list.
Weighted: A high school treatment of grades on the transcript in which extra points are added to give extra credit for difficult courses.
Westinghouse finalist: One of the most prestigious national awards, given out once a year to students who have done exceptional scientific research. Since only a few students nationwide are awarded this designation, it is weighed very strongly by highly selective colleges.
Who's Who: Being listed in Who's Who is a somewhat meaningless designation at the highly selective college level, since so many students nationwide are listed in this yearly publication. The company's main object is to sell books to students whose accomplishments are listed therein.