About 11 years ago, my wife and I were driving home after picking up
our six year old son at my in-laws house, with him firmly strapped into
his car seat in the back. As six year olds are prone to do, his
discussion turned to bodily functions and a wonderful discussion about
gas. My wife, raised as a proper southern woman, re-enforced the notion
that one should not use the word “fart”, even going as far as to say
“remember, we do not use the F word”. Of course, this turned into a
wonderfully painful discussion about what other words he should not say,
from the S word, the H word, and the other, dreaded “F word”.
We
finally made it through the “words that should never be said” talk, and
focused on the drive home from Greensboro, GA to Athens. We had just
reached the bridge crossing I-20, when from the back of the car we heard
the statement “Where is the effin Waffle House?” My wife jerked her
head around in horror and asked “What did you just say?” in a tone only a
mother knows. My son grinned back at her and said “Where is the effin
Waffle House?” She sat stunned, unable to speak, when he once more
repeated “Where is the effin Waffle House?”, only this time pointing
forward and up in the sky. My wife turned to look, and saw the Waffle
House sign up ahead in the dark sky, with one of the F’s dark from a
burned out light bulb. In other words, “Where is the F in WAFFLE HOUSE?”
Luckily, I was able to keep the car on the road through all the
laughter, but it was not easy.
Why do I tell you this story?
Just like with any other community, college admissions has their own vocabulary, and applicants need to make sure they understand what these words (such as Early Action, FAFSA, superscoring, etc.) mean. You don’t want to think that you are hearing one thing, but in reality an admissions office is talking about something else.You want to make sure you know what is needed for each admissions office in order for the applicant’s file to be complete, how to apply for financial aid, and what the steps are from considering a college all the way through enrolling there. I even have a page on this blog called Admission Speak to help understand admissions terms.
So
when you work with any admissions office, make sure you are asking
specific questions, make sure to submit things early in the process in
case there is a problem, and make sure to use the sources at hand
(status pages, your counselor, etc.), to insure that your application moves forward smoothly
Go Dawgs!