The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service is a private limited company based in Gloucestershire, England, which provides educational support services. Incorporated on 27 July 1993, the company's main role is to operate the application process for British universities and colleges. The company is funded by fees charged to applicants and universities as well as advertising income; it was formed by the merger of the former university admissions system Universities Central Council on Admissions and the former polytechnics admissions system Polytechnics Central Admissions System.
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is a form completed by current and prospective college students in the United States to determine their eligibility for student financial aid.
Early decision (ED) or early acceptance is a type of early admission used in college admissions in the United States for admitting freshmen to undergraduate programs. It is used to indicate to the university or college that the candidate considers that institution to be their top choice through a binding commitment to enroll. Applying early decision brings a greater statistical chance of being accepted.
University admission or college admission is the process through which students enter tertiary education at universities and colleges. Systems vary widely from country to country, and sometimes from institution to institution.
Legacy preference or legacy admission is a preference given by an institution or organization to certain applicants on the basis of their familial relationship to alumni of that institution. It is most controversial in college admissions, where students so admitted are referred to as legacies or legacy students. The practice is particularly widespread in the college admissions in the United States; almost three-quarters of research universities and nearly all liberal arts colleges grant legacy preferences in admissions.
Pre-medical is an educational track that undergraduate students in the United States pursue prior to becoming medical students. It involves activities that prepare a student for medical school, such as pre-med coursework, volunteer activities, clinical experience, research, and the application process. Some pre-med programs providing broad preparation are referred to as “pre-professional” and may simultaneously prepare students for entry into a variety of first professional degree or graduate school programs that require similar prerequisites.
Early action (EA) is a type of early admission process offered by some institutions for admission to colleges and universities in the United States. Unlike the regular admissions process, EA usually requires students to submit an application by mid-October or early November of their senior year of high school instead of January 1. Students are notified of the school's decision by early January instead of mid-March or May 1.
College application is the process by which individuals apply to gain entry into a college or university. Although specific details vary by country and institution, applications generally require basic background information of the applicant, such as family background, and academic or qualifying exam details such as grade point average in secondary school and standardized testing scores.
Need-blind admission in the United States refers to a college admission policy that does not take into account an applicant's financial status when deciding whether to accept them. This approach typically results in a higher percentage of accepted students who require financial assistance and often necessitates that the institution has a substantial endowment or other funding sources to support the policy. Institutions which participated in an antitrust exemption granted by Congress were required by law to be need-blind, a requirement which remained in effect until September 30, 2022. An institution may be need-blind in any given year by policy or by circumstances.
College admissions in the United States refers to the process of applying for entrance to institutions of higher education for undergraduate study at one of the nation's colleges or universities. For those who intend to attend college immediately after high school, the college search usually begins in the eleventh grade with most activity taking place during the twelfth grade. Applications to many schools are due in October of senior year for Early Decision or Early Action or in December of their senior year for Regular Decision, though the timeline may vary depending on the universities, some having an earlier deadline due to the fact that the admissions process may weigh in more on transcripts. Students at top high schools may often begin the process during their tenth grade or earlier. There are considerable numbers of students who transfer from one college to another, as well as adults older than high school age who apply to college.
The Veterinary Medical College Application Service (VMCAS) is a centralized application service for students applying to veterinary school. Created by the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) in 1995, VMCAS handles applications for most of the veterinary schools in the United States, as well as several in Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia.
Liberal arts colleges in the United States are undergraduate institutions of higher education in the United States that focus on a liberal arts education. The Encyclopædia Britannica Concise defines liberal arts as a "college or university curriculum aimed at imparting general knowledge and developing general intellectual capacities, in contrast to a professional, vocational, or technical curriculum". Generally, a full-time, four-year course of study at a liberal arts college leads students to earning the Bachelor of Arts or the Bachelor of Science.
The Common Data Set (CDS) is a product of the Common Data Set Initiative, "a collaborative effort among data providers in the higher education community and publishers as represented by the College Board, Peterson's, and U.S. News & World Report." The stated goal is to provide accurate and timely data to students and their families while decreasing the workload of administrators. In producing their popular publications and rankings, these publishers "ask the same core questions" of institutions using the Common Data Set to define those questions and their responses. These data are also used in public accountability efforts such as the Voluntary System of Accountability's College Portrait.
Wait list, in university and college admissions, is a term used in the United States and other countries to describe a situation in which a college or university has not formally accepted a particular student for admission, but at the same time may offer admission in the next few months if spaces become available. It is a contingent offer only, and may mean an offer of admission in the future, or it may not, depending on circumstances. It has been described as a type of college admissions "purgatory", or being held in "the higher-ed equivalent of limbo". The percent of applicants offered admission, who decide to accept, is known as the admissions yield, and this proportion varies somewhat from year to year, and reflects economic conditions as well as interest in a given university.
The North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) is the governing body for North Carolina's 58 public community colleges and has been empowered by the state of North Carolina to "adopt all policies, regulations and standards it may deem necessary for operation of the System" by the North Carolina General Assembly. On March 19, 2010, the State Board of Community Colleges approved policy 23 N.C.A.C. 02C .0301 entitled "Admission to Colleges". The State Board has been researching and amending the policy for a decade now and it was implemented on July 10, 2010 after completing the full amendment process. The Admission to Colleges policy states "undocumented immigrants can enter the system's 58 community colleges if they are a graduate of a United States high school, pay out-of-state tuition, and do not displace a North Carolina or United States citizen"
Transfer admissions in the United States refers to college students changing universities during their college years. While estimates of transfer activity vary considerably, the consensus view is that it is substantial and increasing, although media coverage of student transfers is generally less than coverage of the high school to college transition. A common transfer path is students moving from two-year community colleges to four-year institutions, although there is also considerable movement between four-year institutions. Reasons for transferring include unhappiness with campus life, cost, and course and degree selection. There are no standardized rules nationwide for transfers, and requirements vary by college. However, many states have taken steps to make the transition easier and less problematic, particularly from community colleges to four-year schools within the state, by various methods including school-to-school credit arrangements called articulation agreements. While many state universities are constrained by budget cuts which have sometimes lessened the number of spots open to transfer students, there are reports that many private colleges are becoming more assertive in seeking transfer applicants. Nevertheless, the transfer process can be difficult, such that transfer applicants have been described as collegiate "academic nomads" who face various obstacles trying to make sure their credits transfer properly to their new school. Unlike admission from high school directly to college, there is less data nationwide about transfer admissions, although there are signs that this is changing.
Y Tu Tambien is a project ran in New York City to aid low-income students through the college admission process. It is coordinated by members of the Inter-Ivy Latino Alumni Council (IILAC), which was developed in early 2012 as a result of an All-Ivy Latino Alumni Mixer held at the University of Pennsylvania. Y Tu Tambien regularly holds workshops helping high school students format their college essays, prepare for college interviews, and even select which colleges to apply to. The organization has just recently began its IILAC Fellowship Program, under which it selects a few number of high school under class-men to provide individualized mentorship throughout their high school careers. Although it is run by the Ivy League, its mission statement clearly states it helps all students applying to any college institution.
Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, 600 U.S. ___ (2023), is a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the court held that race-based affirmative action programs in college admissions processes violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. With its companion case, Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina, the Supreme Court effectively overruled Grutter v. Bollinger (2003) and Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978) which validated some affirmative action in college admissions provided that race had a limited role in decisions.
The South Korean college entrance system requires all graduating high school students to take an entrance exam called the College Scholastic Ability Test which takes place once every year. Admission to universities in South Korea is heavily dependent on applicants' test scores and grades.
Coalition for TJ v. Fairfax County School Board is a United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit case about the changes to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology's admissions policy which were made in 2020. The Coalition for TJ, a local single-issue advocacy group, alleges that the changes that Fairfax County Public Schools made to the school's admission policy unfairly discriminate against Asian Americans. After the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled in favor of the Coalition for TJ in February 2022, FCPS appealed the ruling to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which reversed the district court in May 2023.
