You may be surprised by the number of unfamiliar terms associated with college and college life. Undergraduate, TA, accreditation, Greek life, the FAFSA—high school counselors and college admissions officers use these terms every day. Unfortunately, they don’t always stop to explain what each term means.
The “College Speak” series explains the college-oriented vocab that you need to be in the know and focus on the more important questions, such as “which school would be the best fit for me?”
Today’s term is . . .
Alumni: The graduates of a particular college or university.
Most alumni maintain a lifelong interest in their school. Many institutions send their alumni a quarterly magazine with recent developments on campus. These magazines typically contain a “notes” section where alumni can write in and tell other alumni what they’ve been up to.
Colleges and universities will frequently ask alumni to donate money to the school for its various efforts, such as providing scholarships to students and renovating buildings on campus.
Note that the grads of an all-women’s school are its alumnae. The terms alumnus and alumna refer to an individual male grad and an individual female grad, respectively.
Click here to see the previous entry in the College Speak series.
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