Admission Keywords

Assistantship: financial assistance offered to graduate students in return for certain services: teaching undergraduate level courses or laboratory supervision in their area of expertise (teaching assistant) or working on research projects (research assistant)

Campus support system: a network of free, comprehensive student services on campus, including writing centers, international student advisers, career centers, computer help desks, on- and offline libraries, academic advisers etc.

Class rank: a number/ratio indicating a student's academic standing in their graduating class. A student who ranks first in a class of 100 students would report their class rank as 1/100, while a student ranking last would report 100/100. Class rank may also be expressed in percentiles (for example, the top 25 percent, the lower 50 percent etc.)

Dean: highest authority within a professional school at a U.S. university

Dissertation: thesis written on an original topic of research, usually presented as one of the final requirements for earning a doctoral degree

Doctoral degree (PhD): a graduate program that offers training to research scholars and, in many cases, to people who want to pursue a career as university faculty

Faculty: members of the teaching and administrative staff of an educational institution. Faculty design the plans of study offered by their institution

Fellowship; grant: forms of financial assistance usually awarded to a graduate student for remarkable academic performance. Generally, no service is required of the student in return

Grade Point Average (GPA): a system of recording achievement on a 1-4 scale based on the numerical average of the grades received in each course/subject. Romanian “media generală”. When applying to a U.S. school, it is best if students send in their official transcript (which records their grades on the 1-10 scale) and allow the U.S. university to interpret them accordingly

Master’s degree: a graduate program ideal for students wishing to acquire additional education or training in their specialized field of knowledge. Academic Master’s (MA and MSc) emphasize original research, field investigation, and research methodologies. Professional Master’s (MBA, MPA, MSW etc.) are usually terminal degrees that offer preparation for a particular profession

Official transcript: a certified copy of a student’s educational record issued by the university.
Romanian “foaie matricolă”

Statement of purpose: a subjective element of the application package that often details the applicant’s interest in a U.S. graduate education and in a particular program/area of study & clarifies the student’s academic/research interests and prospective contribution to the field  

Specialized professional degree (law, medical, dentistry, and business studies): admission to this type of program requires previous completion of a Bachelor’s degree (Romanian “studii de licenţă”)

Thesis: written work prepared by a candidate for a Master's degree presenting the results of research on a specific topic