Tufts Blogs

 

Ah yes. Acronyms. When you scroll through any college website, any "how to apply to college" guide, or seemingly "helpful" advice on how to navigate finding colleges that are good fits for you...walls of jumbled letters seem to appear before you. 

DI. EFC. ED. EA. REA. R1. FAFSA.

The list goes on and on and on. So I've compiled a list of some of the acronyms you'll come across most as you begin (or continue!) your college search and application journey. And for some detailed descriptions of some of the most important terminology you'll find, I'd recommend these two posts: An Admissions Officer's Guide to Financial Aid and Admissions Dictionary 101: Terms You Need to Know.

ADCOM: Admissions Committee (ie the admissions folks who read your application!)

CBO: Community-Based Organization

DI: Demonstrated Interest

EA: Early Action 

ED: Early Decision (A binding admissions round - if you get into a school through an early decision round...congrats! You're attending that college.)

EFC: Expected Family Contribution

FGLI: First-Generation, Low-Income (Did you know that Tufts has a fully staffed and resourced center specifically dedicated to our first-gen, low-income, and undocumented students? It's called the FIRST Resource Center!)

FAFSA: Free Application for Federal Student Aid

NPC: Net Price Calculator

RD: Regular Decision

REA: Restrictive Early Action

R1 (also referred to as "tier one research university"): Refers to doctoral-granting universities with the highest output of research nationally. Tufts is an R1 institution along with 145 others in the US! This classification system is produced by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

TO: Test-Optional (Tufts is test-optional for students applying for entry in Fall 2023.)

QB: QuestBridge (A non-profit organization connecting high school students from low-income backgrounds to 48 selective institutions with strong commitments to financial aid and resources for low-income students. QuestBridge has its own application, and some students match to colleges through its National College Match (sometimes referred to as just "the Match"). Tufts is a QB partner, and we welcomed 24 students to our Class of 2026 through the Match and admitted another 200+ QB Scholars through our early decision and regular admissions rounds!)

And for some *bonus Tufts-specific content* (because, and I cannot underscore this enough, when we say colleges LOVE acronyms...we really mean it), I've pulled together a few acronyms you might stumble across when learning more about the Tufts community.

A&S: School of Arts and Sciences

CEEO: Center for Engineering Education and Outreach

CMHS: Counseling and Mental Health Services

CSD: Center for STEM Diversity

LC: Latinx Center

SEC: Science and Engineering Complex

SMFA: School of the Museum of Fine Arts

SOE: School of Engineering

SPIRIT Fund: Society for the Propagation of Internal Rejoicing at Tufts OR Students and Professors Integrating Recreation, Intellect, and Teaching (Yes, we love acronyms so much, that this one can stand for TWO different things despite referring to the same fund at Tufts.)

StAAR Center: Student Accessibility and Academic Resources Center

And quite literally any one of our pre-orientation programs: BEAST (Building Engagement and Access for Students at Tufts), CAFE (Conversation Action Faith and Education), CREATE (Cultivate Relationships by Engaging with Arts at Tufts Experiences), FIT (Fitness and Individual Development at Tufts), FOCUS (First-Year Orientation CommUnity Service), GO (Global Orientation), SQUAD (Students' Quest for Unity in the African Diaspora), TWO (Tufts Wilderness Orientation)

Whew! That is quite a bit. And while neither list is exhaustive, I hope it gives you some extra insight into the new words and acronyms you'll be adding to your vocabulary as you navigate your college search process. 

 

 

 

Photo: letters by limbte under Creative Commons 2.0