Applying to Schools: Glossary of Admission Terms

Applicant Pool
The total number of students who are applying to a particular school in a particular year.

Aptitude Test
A test designed to measure a student‘s academic capabilities. The SSAT is an aptitude test.

Candidate Notification Date
The notification date used by institutions to announce application decisions. Many schools share a March 10 notification date.

Candidate’s Reply Date
The notification date by which a student must tell a school his/her plans for attendance.Many schools share an April 10 reply date.

Class Rank
Based upon the particular school, the approximate standing of the student based on a ranking of percentiles (e.g., top 5 percent) or rank order (e.g., 21st in a class of 120 students).

Conditional Acceptance
Acceptance to a particular school with certain conditions, such as attendance at summer school, repeating a course or receiving tutoring in a certain subject.

Deferred Decision
A decision that the student has qualified for admission but will be wait-listed until space is available or additional information has been received.

Family Contribution
An estimated amount of funds from the family resources to be contributed to the expenses for attendance at an independent school. Determining factors include income, assets and debts.

Gifted And Talented Programs
Programs of special courses and enrichment activities for superior children. For additional information, visit the National Association for Gifted Children website at www.nagc.org.

Independent Study
Programs offered by some independent schools to allow students to participate in a creative project with minimal supervision.

Schools and Student Service For Financial Aid (SSS)
A service provided to participating schools designed to calculate the need projections for financial aid assistance.

Secondary School Admission Test (SSAT)
The test required for admission by most of the independent schools used as a standard comparison for rating a student’s academic aptitude.

Semester
The equivalent of seventeen or eighteen weeks or half of the academic year.

TOEFL
Test of English as a Foreign Language for non-native speakers of English to determine their ability to deal with English. English as a foreign language courses are offered as special programs at many independent schools.

Waiting List
A list of students who are not initially accepted by an institution but will be accepted at a later date if space becomes available.

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