Abbreviation Thread

[siglio21]

can anyone give me a semi-complete list of all the acronyms, backronyms, portmanteaux, and abbreviations that are (mostly) unique to this site?

[Georgia Girl]

TO....This refers to the Thematic Option offered at the Univ. of Southern California.

[ucacheer2213]

I would talk about IUPUI!! I go there ,but yeah we are know more for our weird name then our academics.

[It'sGr82BeAGator]

PG stands for? I've seen it used a lot in this thread.
Math Whiz but no other subjects or friends?

[VeryHappy]

Postgraduate year. Like, 13th grade.

[Northeast]

Summary of useful abbreviations pertinent to college planning process.
LAC - liberal arts college
COA - Cost of Attendance (Direct billable expenses tuition, fees room & board plus Indirect expenses, books, supplies, personal expenses, travel, computer) Invariably only a few colleges use a realistic number for financial aid purposes. i.e. Harvard and Princeton do.
BNP Brand Name Paralysis
FAO - Financial Aid Officer
RAR - Regional Admissions Representive
WL - Wait List
RA - Rolling Admissions
HYP - Harvard/Yale/Princeton
Little Three = Amherst, Wesleyan, Williams
HBCU-historically black colleges/universities
AWS - Amherst, Williams, Swarthmore meaning specifically those three or a stand-in for most selective LACS
ED-Early Decision (binding)
ED1, ED2 - two different deadlines for schools which have them; usually around Nov 1 for ED1, Jan _ for ED2
EA-Early Action (non-binding)
SCEA-Single Choice Early Action (non-binding but can apply to only one early school)
FAFSA-Free Application for Federal Student Aid (I think) - the form you need to fill out for aid at very many colleges/univs
CSS Profile - the form you need to fill out for aid at some colleges/univs (often in addition to FAFSA)
URM-under-represented minority
ADCOM- Admissions Committee
BWRK - Bright, well-rounded kid
NMF- National Merit Finalist
NMSF -National Merit Semifinalist
IMO- In my opinion
BTW - by the way
BUMP - bring up my post
D - Daughter
S - Son
DD / DS - Dear or Darling Daughter/Son
DH or DW (darling husband/wife)
ID - Interim decision (term used by some schools instead of Early Action)
SIL/BIL - Sister/Brother in Law
EFC - Estimated Family Contribution
FM Federal Methodology
IM Institutional Methododology (varies with each school using IM)
CSU- California State university system
CUNY- City University of New York system
SUNY- State University of New York system
UNC - University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
U of C - University of Chicago
SU - Syracuse University (but also Seattle U)
USD - University of San Diego (but also University of South Dakota)
CMU - Carnegie Mellon U
NYU - New York U
SMU - Southern Methodist U
UCB - University of California, Berkleley, also known as "Cal"
UCLA - University of Calif, Los Angeles
UCR - University of Calif, Riverside
UCSD - University of Calif. San Diego
UCSB - University of Calif, Santa Barbara
UCSC - University of California, Santa Cruz
UCD - University of California, Davis
UCI -- University of California, Irvine
UCSF -- University of California, San Francisco (has no undergrad programs)
UCM - University of California Merced (opening next year)
SDSU - San Diego State University

Admissions related terms:
Stats - a student's GPA, test scores, curriculum and extracurriculars
ACT - Popular standardized test that correlates with the average high school curriculum in junior year. A few colleges will accept scores of 31 plus in lieu of SAT II's (subject tests).
SAT - Reasoning Test developed by College Board
GC - guidance counselor
RD - Regular decision
Board related Abbreviations
CC College Confidential
OP - original post(er)
OT = off topic
AA = Affirmative Action
ECs = extracurricular activities
LOL= Laugh out loud
Mod or Mods -- the forum moderators. AKA "Big Brother."
AKA -- also known as
CAS = college of arts and sciences
SN= screen name
WUSTL - Washington U - St. Louis
The Seven Sisters(all girls schools):
(most of the co ed now) were the female equivalent: Smith, Mt. Holyoke, Wellesley, Sarah Lawrence, Bryn Mawr, Vassar, and Connecticut College.
RSI = Research Science Institute at MIT
DD- dear daughter
DS- Dear Son

[linfort]

Thank you for keeping this updated. Invaluable for me. I can't keep them all straight.

[ingoburry]

Does anyone know what (10char) means? I've seen it in a couple of other threads. Thanks.

[ruskie]

^ you need 10 characters to post something

what does WASP mean?

[ShesOnHerWay]

White Anglo Saxon Protestant

[gary45]

The seven sisters are actually Barnard College, Bryn Mawr College, Mount Holyoke College, Radcliffe College, Smith College, Vassar College, and Wellesley College, so named because they are the female Ivy equivalents. Connecticut College and Sarah Lawrence are not seven sisters...

Vassar is no longer all women and Radcliffe has been absorbed by Harvard.

[benny1]

CROP = Carleton, Reed, Oberlin, Pomona
top liberal arts colleges outside of the northeast

[LFWB dad]

SA = Situational Awareness

FYSA = For Your Situational Awareness

[callmemom]

The Guaranteed Transfer Option was dropped from the CC's about 3 years ago as they can no longer "guarantee" a transfer, altho the program is SO good its pretty close to guaranteed. Problem is SO many students are opting for the CC route (can't beat the price) that there are too many students to guarantee!

[WordSpinner]

I have a funny story about abbreviations. A friend of mine--full IB, debate team, no problems that I knew about--came in to school very depressed. He related being waitlisted at PSU. Now, to kids in a Portland, OR suburb, PSU means Portland State University, which is a unselective state u that would probably snatch this friend right up. So were kind of shocked and worried about what was going on. Turns out that he was waitlisted at Penn State University, which, while not good, at least makes a little sense. I do hope he gets off the waitlist, though I don't know if he already has other plans.