Understanding College Lingo For Beginners

So if you are sitting there attempting to start college, but quickly find yourself “lost in the sauce” of lingo.. THIS IS FOR YOU! Looking back to when I first started, I felt so clueless on where to begin or what courses were needed to achieve the end goal.

Sometimes you get lucky and have an awesome advisor who is really good at breaking everything down #winning! Others….not so much. Not even gonna lie, there have been times where I have met up with academic advisors who were less prepared than me and the entire meeting left me walking out thinking “bruh do I need to do your job for you”. It is important for you to understand terminology and how to decipher what you actually need (this depends a lot on what you are attempting to pursue long term). This reduces the chances of taking unnecessary/non beneficial courses…saving both time and money.

Semesters– just like prior to college, school is divided into two semester. One is usually the Fall semester (Aug-Dec) and then Spring (Jan-May). Quarters are within semesters (think of it like progress report periods in high school). One typical college year has three quarters, fall, winter, and spring. Yes, colleges offer summer terms as well…just like high school.

A term and B term Okay so a lot of colleges offer “A term” and “B term courses” within a semester. What the eff does that mean you ask?? Bare with me here…remember how we discussed semesters? Well, let’s pretend you want to start college in the Fall semester…aka beginning in August and ending in December. Let’s also say you missed the registration deadline for the August math class and now it is full. A lot of times colleges will offer an initial start date and then a “late start date” so to speak.

That’s right. Now make no mistake, these classes are still covering the exact same amount of material. It is just done in a smaller amount of time. For example, say that initial math course you wanted to take was a full term class (meaning it went from August to December) that met up twice a week for two hours each time. Well, the A term or B term alternative would be the same class, but instead of meeting twice a week they would meet up either more often or for a longer duration. Sometimes they will be offered as Saturday classes for eight weeks straight for eight hours each Saturday. Other times they will offer the course as a three times a week class for four hours each day. It all really depends on the class and college. The takeaway here is fret not, you have plenty of options!

Credit hours/semester hours– these are the amount of hours you take per semester. The number of credit hours will vary depending on what class you are taking. For example, entry level college courses can be 1-2 credit hours. Your more common courses (math, English, and so on) are typically 3 credit hours per every one class. The classes with labs (chemistry with lab, anatomy with lab, microbiology with lab, and so on) are usually worth 4 credit hours.

Part time is usually at least 6 credit hours per semester

Full time is considered 12 credit hours per semester

Let’s say you wanted to start out part time to get the feel for it….this does NOT mean you would take 6 classes in the fall semester (Aug-Dec). Instead, it means you would take however many courses you needed to have six credit hours. So, a math (3 credit hours) and an Enlgish (3 credit hours) class would fulfill the requirements to be considered part time.

Community college/ University a community college and university both offer college courses geared toward a degree path. Community colleges are going to be cheaper, but are for associate degrees and certificate programs. Whereas universities offer higher ed programs like bachelor degrees and master programs.

In-state tuition/ out-of-state tuition this one is quite self explanatory….tuition fees can vary depending on many factors. Your state residency will impact the costs associated with your desired program. Obviously, if you are a resident of the state you are attending college in, it is going to be exponentially cheaper. On the flip side, if you are a resident of one state and go to college in another you will be charged more. However, there are exceptions to this, for example, I am a spouse of an active duty service member. Therefore, my permanent residence is going to be different than wherever his orders take us. So tuition costs are adjusted for individuals who meet criteria s for such.

Transfer credits– I like to think of transfer credits are “money savin credits” and I will elaborate on this in a post on its own. What you need to know here is college credits are usually always transferable from one educational facility to the next, so long as the college is reputable, your grades are good, and the course description fulfills the requirements. Reputable college does not mean it has to be some high dollar school, just make sure it is accredited. Each school differs as what they consider a “good grade” to meet the criteria for transfers, but in my experience it has been a “C” or above. This can vary from school-to-school though so just check the policies.

Elective credits/ Major/ Gen Ed- In order to fulfill a degree or certificate you must meet a minimum of a specific number of credits. Majority of these credits are a combination of major specific (a major is the area of study you are pursing) classes and your general education courses (“gen ed” which are your Math, English, Chemistry and just general courses required). Again, the combination of major and gen ed courses will fulfill MOST of your credits, but not all. This leaves room for you elective credits which can be just about anything. If you have other areas of interests, the elective credits can be fulfilled by taking those courses. However, I was wanting to get into dental hygiene so I took elective credits that would be beneficial for that program opposed to taking classes that seemed “fun” or interesting.

I think that pretty much sums up the important terms to understand. For more tips check out my https://lifewithleni.com/why-you-should-go-to-community-college-first/ post on how to be financially smart when choosing a degree program.