Admissions has its own vocabulary. Here is what the terms mean in plain language, in the order you will meet them.
Your list
Likely
A college that admits most students with your profile. Some people say safety. Likely is not guaranteed, so still apply with care.
Target
A college where your profile sits in the middle of who they admit. It could go either way. The rest of your application decides it.
Reach
A college where your profile is below the middle of who they admit. Or a college so selective that everyone is a reach. Apply if you want it. Do not build a list of only reaches.
Hard reach
A reach where the odds are very long even for strong profiles. Colleges admitting under about 10% are hard reaches for almost everyone.
Balanced list
A list with a mix of all four. A few likelies, several targets, a few reaches. That way you have real options in April.
Admit ratealso acceptance rate
The share of applicants a college admits. A 5% admit rate means 5 of every 100 got in. It is an average, not your odds.
Yield
The share of admitted students who choose to enroll. Colleges care about it, which is why showing you actually want to attend can matter.
Demonstrated interest
Signs that you want to attend, such as visiting, opening emails, going to info sessions and applying early. Some colleges track it and many do not.
Rounds and deadlines
Round
A deadline group. Most colleges have an early round in the fall and a regular round in winter. Which round you apply in can change your odds.
Early DecisionED
Apply early, usually by November 1, and promise to attend if admitted. It is binding. You can only ED to one college. ED admit rates are often higher. You give up comparing offers.
Early Decision IIED II
A second binding round with a January deadline, for students who were not admitted ED elsewhere or decided later.
Early ActionEA
Apply early, hear back early, no promise to attend. You can EA to several colleges unless a college restricts it.
Restrictive or Single-Choice Early ActionREA, SCEA
Early action with rules about where else you can apply early. Read each college's rules; they differ.
Regular DecisionRD
The standard round. Deadlines usually in January, decisions by early April.
Rolling admission
The college reviews applications as they arrive and decides on a running basis. Earlier is better.
Deferred
You applied early and the college moved your application to the regular round instead of deciding. Not a no.
Waitlisted
The college did not admit you but may offer a spot if others decline. Some waitlists move a lot, some not at all.
Your profile
GPAweighted vs. unweighted
Your grade average. Unweighted is on a 4.0 scale. Weighted adds points for harder classes, so it can go above 4.0. Many colleges recalculate it their own way.
Rigor
How hard your classes were. Honors, AP, IB, dual enrollment. Colleges read rigor next to GPA. A 3.8 in hard classes can read stronger than a 4.0 in easy ones.
AP, IB, dual enrollment
Advanced classes. AP and IB are standardized programs with exams; dual enrollment is a real college class taken in high school.
Test-optional
The college will look at your SAT or ACT if you send it. It does not require it. Send it if your score is above their middle range.
Test-blind
The college will not look at test scores at all, even if you send them.
Superscore
Combining your best section scores from different test dates into one score. Some colleges do this, some do not.
Middle 50%
The score range between the 25th and 75th percentile of admitted students. If you are above it, your score helps; below it, other parts of your application need to carry more.
ExtracurricularsECs, activities
What you do outside class. Depth and leadership in a few things usually reads better than a long list.
Hook
Something that can shift a decision on its own, such as being a recruited athlete, legacy status at some colleges, first-generation status or a rare talent. Most applicants do not have one, and that is normal.
Legacy
Having a parent or close relative who attended the college. Some colleges consider it, and the number is shrinking.
First-generationfirst-gen
Neither parent completed a four-year college degree. Many colleges consider this context.
Context
What was available to you, including your school's courses, your family situation and your responsibilities. Colleges read your record in that context.
Applications and essays
Common App
One online application accepted by over a thousand colleges. You fill in your profile once and add college-specific parts.
Coalition App, UC application, ApplyTexas
Other application systems some colleges use instead of, or alongside, the Common App.
Personal statementthe main essay
The one essay that goes to every college on the Common App. About you, not about a college.
Supplementsupplemental essays
Extra essays a specific college asks for. This is where "Why us" lives.
Prompt
The question an essay asks you to answer. Answer the actual prompt; readers notice when you do not.
Why Us essay
A supplement asking why this college specifically. Generic answers hurt. Specific programs, people, and reasons help.
Letters of recommendationLORs, recs
Letters from teachers and your counselor. Ask early, and ask people who know your work.
Counselor
The person at your high school who supports college applications and writes your school report. Your first resource. A Chance-Me read goes alongside them, not instead of them.
Admissions officerAO, reader
The person at the college who reads your file. Often reads hundreds of applications from your region.
Holistic review
The college reads the whole file, not just the numbers. Almost every selective college says this. What each one weighs is what differs.
Interviewalumni interview
A conversation, often with a graduate of the college. It is rarely decisive, and it mostly gives you a chance to be a person rather than a file.
Money
Sticker price
The full published cost before any aid. Few families pay it at selective private colleges.
Net price
What your family actually pays after grants and scholarships. Every college has a net price calculator; use it.
Need-based aid
Money based on what your family can afford, from the college or the government.
Merit aid
Money based on your record, not your finances. Common at many colleges, rare at the most selective ones.
Need-blind
The college decides admission without looking at whether you need aid.
FAFSA and CSS Profile
The two forms for aid. FAFSA is federal and free. CSS Profile is used by many private colleges and asks for more detail.
Chance-Me terms
Read
What Chance-Me.ai gives you for one college. It shows how that college sees your profile, what it values, and what you have and do not have yet.
Free read
The free starting point. It covers two colleges, with the full read for your first college and a preview of your second. It takes about two minutes and needs no account.
Profile Audit
A full read of your profile at each college you choose, with the gaps and what to do first. $1.99 per college.
Application Playbook
College-by-college guidance on positioning your whole application, essays included. For when you have a draft. $30 per college.
Admit-Me
The membership. You track your list, see your gaps and get a prompt every week from AIM™. It includes a free 6-college Profile Audit each month and costs $12 a month after a free first month.
AIM™Admissions Intelligence Mentor
The mentor inside Admit-Me. Every week AIM™ looks at your list and your profile and tells you the next thing worth doing.
Make My List
Tell us your stats and interests and get a balanced list of 15 colleges, each with the reason it is there. It is always free. Make my list
Confidence
How sure the read is, given what you told us. Thin inputs mean lower confidence. We say so instead of guessing.
Missing a term? Email support@chance-me.ai and we will add it.