College Application Vocabulary

Early Action

A prospective student applies for admission by early deadline (before regular admission deadline) and receives notice of acceptance, denial, or deferment with no obligation to the university to enroll if accepted for admission

Rolling Admissions

Practice used by some institutions to review and complete applications as they arrive, rather than according to set deadline

Wait List

An applicant is put on this when an admissions office decides to offer the applicant the opportunity to enroll in the institution only if there is space available in the incoming class after fully admitted students have responded to their offers to enroll. Reserved for students whose profiles are strong, but who are marginally qualified in comparison to the overall strength of others in the pool of applicants.

Common Application

Makes it possible for students to use on admissions application to apply to any of the 456 member colleges and universities

Early Decision

Students willing to commit to a school if accepted submit their application by a date well before the general admission deadline. If accepted, the student must enroll in that school