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Common Acronyms and Abbreviations Used in the College Confidential Forums

Written by Torrey Kim | Oct. 3, 2017

The College Confidential discussion forums use many acronyms and abbreviations. What do they all mean?

Here is a list of the most widely used phrases that have been aggregated by our users. If you have something that needs to be added that is college related, please add it here.

pithy remark	narrative voice, usually sarcastic
^_^	Smiley Face
^^^	Refer to post above
10 char	Used to fill out minimum character requirement to post
AA	Affirmative Action
ABET	Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc.
ABLE	Achieving a Better Life Experience
Academic Index	Ivy League colleges use a tool called the Academic Index to summarize the academic performance of applicants. Originally developed as a means of establishing common standards for student-athlete applicants, the Academic Index (AI) has become a sort of shorthand for ranking students. Other colleges, elite and otherwise, may also use variants of the Academic in their admission process.
ACM	Associated Colleges of the Midwest
ACT	A national college admissions examination
ADCOM	Admissions Committee
AI	Admissions Index
AI	Artifical Intelligence
AICE	Advance International Certificate of Education
AIME	American Invitational Mathematics Examination
AKA	Also know as
AMC	American Mathematics Competitions
APR	Annual percentage rate
APUSH	Advanced Placement United States History
AR	Academic Renewal
ARWU	Academic Ranking of World Universities
AWS	Amherst/Williams/Swarthmore
BF	boyfriend
BGO	Blue and Gold Officer (USNA Admissions Representative)
BIL	Brother in Law
BME	Biomedical Engineering
BNP	Brand Name Paralysis
BRB	Be Right Back
BTW	By the way
BTW	Between
BUMP	Bring Up My Post
Bump # XX	Read post # XX
BWRK	Bright Well-Rounded Kid
CAS	College of Arts and Sciences
CBB	Colby, Bates, Bowdoin
CC	College Confidential
CC	Community College
CCC	California Community College
CDS	Common Data Set
CMU	Carnegie Mellon U
COA	Cost of Attendenance
CROP	Carleton, Reed, Oberlin, Pomona (top LACs, outside of the northeast)
CSS Profile	Form needed to apply for aid at some colleges (often in addition to FAFSA)
CSU	California State University system
CTCL	Colleges That Change Lives
CUNY	City University of New York System
D	Daughter
D1	Daughter #1, Daughter #2, etc.
D12	Daughter graduated in 2012
dart	Dartmouth
DD	Dear, Darling or Darn Daughter
DE	Dual enrollment
DGD	Dear, Darling or Darn Grandaughter
DGS	Dear, Darling or Darn Grandson
DH	Dear, Darling or Darn Husband
DI	Drill Instructor
DND	Do not disturb
DODMERB	Department of Defense Medical Examination Review Board (the physical exam all service academy and ROTC scholarship applicants need to take)
DP	Dear Parents
DS	Dear, Darling or Darn Son
DW	Dear, Darling or Darn Wife
EA	Early Action (non-binding)
EC	Extra Credit
ECs	Extra Curriculars
ED	Eary decision (binding)
ED1	Deadlines for schools; usually around Nov 1
ED2	Deadlines for schools; usually around January
EFC	Estimated Family Contribution
ELC	Eligibility in the Local Context: Related to University of California admissions, where the top 4% of the graduating class at your local California high school receive special undergraduate admissions consideration
ETA	Edited to add
FA	Financial Aid
FAFSA	Free Application for Federal Student Aid
FAO	Financial Aid Office or Officer
FM	Federal Methodology
FSFAA	Foreign Financial Aid Application
FTW	For the win
FU	Furman University
FWIW	For What It's Worth
FYSA	For Your Situational Awareness
GC	Guidance Counselor
GD	Granddaughter
GF	Girlfriend
GS	Grandson
GTO	Guaranteed Transfer Option
Gtown	Georgetown
HAmLit	Honors American Lit
HBCU	Historically Black Colleges and University
HEDS	Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium
HMFR	Huge Mother F#*!&ing Reach
Hook	Something that can move an app up a notch or two; hooks vary at different schools
HPME	Honors Program in Medical Education
HYP	Harvard/Yale/Princeton
HYPD	Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth
HYPS	Harvard/Yale/Princeton/Stanford
HYPSM	Harvard/Yale/Princeton/Stanford/MIT
HYPSMC	Harvard/Yale/Princeton/Stanford/MIT/Caltech-Columbia-Cornell
IANAAO	I am not an admissions officer
IB	International Baccalaureate
ID	Interim decision (term used by some schools instead of Early Action)
IDK	I don't know
IGETC	Intersegmental General Education Transfer Credit: the set of courses and agreements that the Ucs and select CCCs have which means that if you complete the prescried set of courses, you will have satisfied that UC's general education reaquirements.
IIRC	If I recall correctly
IM	Institutional Methododology (varies with each school using IM)
IMHO	In My Humble Opinion
Iming	Instant Messaging
IMNSHO	In My Not So Humble Opinion
IMO	In My Opinion
IRL	In Real Life
ISFAA	International Student Financial Aid Application
IUPUI	Indiana University-Purdue University - Indianapolis
IWSFT	I was surprised to find that
JK	Just Kidding
KU	Kansas University
KU	Kentucky University
KWIM	Know what I mean
LAC	Liberal Arts College
little ivies	Top Liberal Arts Colleges
little ivies	Williams, Amherst, Trinity, Wesleyan, Hamilton, Hobart, Union, Colgate
Little Three	Amherst, Wesleyan, Williams
LOCI	Letter of continued interest
LOL	Laugh Out Loud
MEHAP	Honors American Lit
Merit Scholarships
Mods	Forum Moderators
MOOC	Massive open online course
NCAA	National Collegiate Athletic Association
NCP	Non-custodial parent
NE	New England
NESCAC	New England Small College Athletic Conference
NEU	Northeastern University
NHS	National Honors Society
NMF	National Meri Finalist
NMSF	National Merit Semifinalist
NOVA	Northern Virginia
NPC	Net price calculator
NRC	National Research Council
NSE	National Student Exchange
NTTAWWT	Not that there's anything wrong with that
NU	Northwestern University
NVM	Nevermind
NYU	New York U
OE	Overseas experience
OMG	Oh my God or Gosh
OOS	Out of state
OP	Original Post(er)
OSU	Ohio State University
OT	Off Topic
OTOH	On the other hand
OU	Ohio University
OU	Oklahoma State and Oklahoma University
p-ton or pton	Princeton
PA	Peer Assessment
PENN	University of Pennsylvania or Penn State
PG	Postgraduate year
PLME	Program in Liberal Medical Education (Brown's special medical program)
PLOS	Parent Looking Over Shoulder
PLTW	Project Lead The Way
PM	Personal Messages
PSU	Penn State
PWN	Someone who dominates
R+B	Room and Board
RA	Rolling Admissions
RAR	Regional Admissions Representive
RD	Regular Decision
RIT	Rochester Institute of Technology (NY)
ROFL	Rolling on the floor
ROFLMAOPMP	Rolling on the floor laughing my ass off peeing my pants
ROFLOL	Rolling on the floor/laughing out loud
ROI	Return on Investment
RPI	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, NY)
RSI	Research Science Institute at MIT
S	Son
S1	Son # 1, Son #2, etc.
S12	Son graduated in 2012
SA	Situational Awareness
SAT	A national college admissions examination.
SCEA	Single Choice Early Action (non-binding but can apply to only one early school)
SDSU	San Diego State University
SEAS	Science, Engineering and Applied Sciences aka FU Foundation
SEC	South East (athletic) Conference
SES	Socio-Economic Status
SIL	Sister in Law
SIR	Statement of Intent to register
SMH	Shaking my head
SMU	Southern Methodist U
SN	Screen Name
SO	Significant Other
Stats	A student's GPA, test scores, curriculum and extracurriculars
STEM	Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics
SU	Syracuse University
SU	Seattle U
SUNY	State University of New York System
SWAP	Swarthmore, Williams, Amherst & Pomona (Top LACs)
T1	Twin 1, Twin 2
TAP	Transfer Agreement: The form/agreement you sign that allows you automatic acceptance from CCC to UC provided you finish a certain set of classes with a certain level of achievement.
TASP	Telluride Association Summer Program (6 week summer program for juniors)
TASS	Telluride Association Summer Program (6 week summer program for sophomores)
TCE	Total College Experience
THE	Times Higher Education
The Ivies	Eight members of the Ivy League: Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, UPenn, Princeton, Yale
The Public Ivys	University of California - at Berkeley, at Davis, at Irvine, at Los Angeles, at Riverside, at San Diego, at Santa Barbara, at Santa Cruz; Miami University of Ohio; University of Michigan at Ann Arbor; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; University of Texas at Austin; University of Vermont at Burlington; University of Virginia at Charlottesville; William and Mary College of Virginia
The Seven Sisters	Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Mt. Holyoke, Radcliffe, Smith, Vassar, Wellesley
TIA	Thanks in advance
Tip	Something that can tip a candidates app one way or another
TJHSST	Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
TO	Thematic Option at Univ of Southern California
TOEFL	Test of English as a foreign language
TOK	Theory of Knowledge IB course
TTFM	Too tough for me
TTFN	TaTa for Now
UAA	University Athletic Association
UC	University of California Schools
UC	University of Chicago
UCB	University of California, Berkeley
UCB	Cal
UCD	University of California, Davis
UCI	University of California, Irvine
UCLA	University of California, Los Angeles
UCM	University of California, Merced
UCR	University of California, Riverside
UCSB	University of California, Santa Barbara
UCSC	University of California, Santa Cruz
UCSD	University of California, San Diego
UCSF	University of California, San Francisco (has no undergrad programs)
UDub	University of Washington
UIUC	University of Illinois
UK	University of Kentucky
UM	University of Maryland
UM	University of Michigan
UM	University of Miami
UM	University of Minnesota
UM	University of Montana
UM	University of Memphis
UM	University of Mississippi (Ole Miss)
Umass	University of Massachusetts
UMD	University of Maryland
UMSL	University of Missouri St. Louis
UNC	University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
UofC	University of Chicago
UPENN	University of Pennsylvania
URM	Under Represented Minority
USABO	United States of America Biology Olympiad
USAFA	United States Air Force academy
USAMO	United States of America Mathematics Olympiad
USC	University of Southern California
USC	University of South Carolina
USCGA	United States Coast Guard Academy
USD	University of San Diego
USD	University of South Dakota
USHAP	Advanced Placement United States History
USMA	United States Military Academy
USMMA	United States Merchant Marine Academy
USNA	United States Naval Academy
USNWR	US News World Report
UW	University of Washington
VC	Vassar
W+J	Washington and Jefferson
W+L	Washing and Lee
WASP	Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Pomona
WASP	White Anglo Saxon Protestant
WL	Wait List
WOW	Walks on water
WPI	Worcester Polytechnic Institute (MA)
WUE	Western Undergraduate Exchange
WUSTL	Washington U - St. Louis
Yale-NUS	Residential LAC in Singapore: collaboration between Yale University and the National University of Singapore
YMMV	Your mileage may vary