| An airhead | someone who is always clueless or unaware, someone who is lacking knowledge |
| AP test | Advanced Placement test, the standardized test in a specific subject taken by high school student |
| an assembly | an occasion when all the students meet together in a large auditorium to hear a shared message |
| an assistant professor | the third highest rank in the faculty (college or university) |
| an associate professor | the second highest rank in the faculty (college or university) |
| a professor | the highest rank in the faculty (college or university) |
| ASAP | as soon as possible |
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| a bachelor’s degree | a degree earned at four-year college or university (B.A.: Bachelor of Arts,B.S.: Bachelors of Sciences) |
| a buck | a US dollar |
| a big deal | anything important or exciting |
| a break | holiday from school |
| a brew | a beer |
| bright | (adj) clever, smart |
| bummed, bummed out | (adj) depressed, sad, upset |
| a bummer | a misfortune event or circumstance |
| BYOB | Bring your own beer |
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| a cafeteria | a school, college or university |
| a campus | the land and buildings that make a college, school, or university |
| to live on campus | to reside in student housing provided by a college or university |
| to live off campus | to reside in student housing that is not provided by a college or university |
| cheesy | (adj) cheap, in poor taste |
| clueless | (adj): unaware, naïve, lacking knowledge |
| a commencement | a yearly ceremony at which students (new graduates) receive their diplomas |
| a cop (constable on patrol) | a policeman |
| cool | (adj) calm, exciting, fine, interesting, very good |
| credits hours | units of credit earned in a course, number of credit hours for a course |
| a curfew | a time at night a student is required to be back or a guest may stay in a dorm room |
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| a dean | an administrative officer in charge of a college or school within a university |
| a dean’s list | a list of the students with the highest grades in a college or university |
| a dipstick | a stupid person |
| a dog | an unattractive person, a close friend |
| an all-nighter | a student who stayed up all night to finish an essay or study for a test |
| an elective course | a course not taken to fill a requirement for a program of study |
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| FAQs | frequently asked questions |
| a fest | a wild party |
| a final, a final exam | a test taken at the end of an academic term |
| a financial aid | money in the form of scholarships, grants, etc. for a college or university student |
| to flunk | to fail a test |
| to flunk out of the school | to have to leave the school because of poor grades |
| a frat, a fraternity | a male social organization for college or university students |
| a freak | a strange person |
| a freshman | a first-year student |
| the freshman 15 | the idea that a student gains 15 pounds during the first year |
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| a Greek | a member of a college or university fraternity or sorority |
| a graduate student | a student who is studying for a Master’s degree or a Ph.D. (Philosophia Doctor) |
| GRE | a Graduate Record Examination, the standardized test taken by graduates who want to go to graduates school |
| the Greek System | the association of fraternities and sororities |
| gross, sick | (adj) disgusting |
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| a jerk | an annoying person |
| a jive | jokes, lies, words |
| a jock, a dumb jock | an athlete overly concerned with sports and less concerned with academics, usually male student |
| a junior | a third-year student |
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| a handout | a paper with useful formulas, information, notes, etc. |
| a hang out with someone | a place to meet or get together |
| a homecoming | the season of activities at high schools, colleges, and universities to honor students who were students there earlier |
| a homework | an assignment to be done outside of class |
| an honor roll | a list of students with the best grades in a high school |
| a house | a building of a fraternity or sorority |
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| Ivy League | a group of American eight prestigious in the Northeast universities (Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania and Yale) |
| kink | (adj) depraved, lecherous, weird |
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| LSAT | Law School Admissions Test, the test taken by graduates who want to go to law school after earning their bachelor’s degree |
| to luck out | to do well when you did not expect to (avoir de la veine) |
| a major | a primary course of study |
| a make-up, a make-up examen | an exam that you take late to make up for missing it |
| to make up an exam | to retake an exam |
| to make up | to apologize after a disagreement |
| MCAT | Medical College Admissions Test, the test taken by graduates who want to go to medical school after earning their bachelor’s degree |
| a midterm, a midterm exam | an exam that takes place in the middle of an academic year |
| a minor | a secondary course of study |
| a nerd, a geek | a student who studies excessively or who is dull |
| |
| nerdy | (adj) incompetent, awkward |
| No 2 pencil | a type of pencil used for taking standardizes tests |
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| office hours | a time during the day a professor is in his or her office to answer the questions |
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| phat | (adj) cool, huge, nice, very good |
| a pop quiz | an announced quiz |
| a potluck | a dinner party where everyone brings a dish |
| a preppie | a student who went to private preparatory school |
| a prerequisite, a prereq | a course required before another course |
| a punk | a person with green, spiked hair, and body piercings |
| punky out | (adj) dressed in punk clothes |
| |
| a quiz | a very short assignment like an exam |
| a rap | a talk, a statement, a kind of music called hip-hop |
| a registration | a period at the beginning of a college or university when students enroll in and pay for the courses they choose |
| a remedial class | a course that provides extra help to a student who need it |
| a required course | a course taken to fill a requirement for a program of study |
| a roomie | a roommate |
| a rush | a period when fraternities and sororities have a series of events for potential members |
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| SAT | Scholastic Assessment Test, the standardized college or university entrance test |
| a salutatorian | a student with the second-highest academic standing in a graduating class |
| a senior | a fourth-year student |
| a sophomore | a second-year student |
| a student union | a building on a college or university where students can eat, socialize, study, etc. |
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| tacky | (adj) cheap, in poor taste |
| a term paper | a written assignment on a topic related to a course subject |
| a trip | something that is unusual or strange |
| a turkey | someone who is stupid or silly |
| |
| a valedictorian | a student with the highest academic standing in a graduating class |
| wasted | (adj) drunk or tired |
| weird | (adj) strange |
| a weirdo | a strange person |
| wild | (adj) fun, interesting |
| a wimp | a weak or incompetent person |
| wired | (adj) nervous, tense |
| a work-study | a part-time work on campus for students |
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| For real? | Is it true? |
| I am out of here. I am outta here. | I am leaving |
| I gotcha it. I got it | I understand. |
| That’s history. | It is over. It is complete. |
| That would be good. | It is fine with me. I like the idea. |
| What’s up? | Hi. What’s new? How are you? |
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| to ace a test | to do very well on a test |
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| to bag class | to be deliberately absent from class |
| to be burned by something | to be cheated or hurt |
| to be burned-out | to be exhausted |
| to be buzzed | to be mildly drunk |
| to be clueless | to have no idea about something |
| to be dead | to be exhausted |
| to be down | to feel depressed or sad |
| to be psyched | to be very enthusiastic or excited about something |
| to be into something | to be very interested in something |
| to be seeing someone | to be dating someone |
| to be under the weather | to be sick, not to be well |
| to be up for something | to want to do something |
| to blow it off | not to take something seriously or not to do it |
| to blow it | to do something wrong or not very well |
| to blow away | to be really surprised or shocked about something |
| to book, to book it | to run, to hurry |
| to break up with someone | to end a relationship with someone |
| to check it out | to pay attention |
| to chill out | to calm down |
| |
| Attention! | |
| Il est habituellement utilisé à l’impéatif | Chill out! Take it easy! Relax! Calm down! |
| to cool it | to calm down |
| |
| Attention! | |
| Il est habituellement utilisé à l’impératif. | Cool it! Take it easy! Relax! Calm down! |
| to cop-out | not to accept responsibility |
| |
| to be going out with someone | to be dating someone |
| to be grossed out | to be disgusted |
| to be rushing a sorority | to be selected by a sorority |
| to be stressed out | to be very upset or nervous |
| |
| to cram | to study intensively (faire bachoter) |
| I need to cram for my English exam. | Je vais bachoter pour mon examen d’anglais. |
| |
| Attention! | |
| to cram | entasser (gens), fourrer (objects) |
| to cram something into in drawer | fourrer quelque chose dans un tiroir |
| Students are crammed into my office | Les étudiants se sont entassés dans mon bureau. |
| crammed | (adj) fourré, fourrée, bondé, bondée |
| cramming, intensive learning | le balochage |
| cramming, intensive teaching | le bourrage de crâne |
| to be crammed with people | être bondé ou bondée |
| to be crammed with something | être plein ou pleine à craquer, êre bourré ou bourrée de quelque chose |
| to be on the same page | avoir le même niveau de connaissances, avoir la même type de compréhension d’une situation êt re sur la même longueur d’onde |
| to be off the hook | to be extremely good, to be exceptionally good or exciting |
| to binge-watch | to watch several episodes of a television program |
| to crash | to unexpectedly stay overnight at someone’s place |
| |
| Attention! | |
| to crash | to collide |
| to cut class, to cut school | to be deliberately absent from class |
| |
| to dis or diss someon | to disrespect someone |
| to dog | to criticize sharply, to act like a jerk, to tease or put down, to lie, to cheat |
| to drop a course | to officially withdraw from a course |
| to freak out | to go wild, to be very upset by something |
| to get crushed | to fail a test |
| to get rocked | to fail a test |
| to get wasted, trashed, ripped, plastered, hammered, crocked | to get drunk |
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| to hand in a paper or an assignment | to submit a paper or an assignment |
| to hand out | to distribute |
| to hang out | to be at, to be with, to gather |
| to hang out with someone | to spend time with someone |
| to have cold feet | to be anxious, nervous or uncertain |
| to hear through the grapevine or on the grapevine | to hear by informal channel or gossip |
| to hit the books | to study hard |
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| to jam | to leave, to go |
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| to know where someone is coming from | to understand a person |
| |
| to party | to go to parties, bars, etc. often involving beer |
| to pass the bone | to share a knowledge, to drop knowledge |
| to pig out | to eat a lot |
| to play it by ear | to respond to circumstances they arise |
| to pull an all-nighter | to stay up all night, usually studying |
| to pull strings | to use influence with important people to get something |
| to rag | to tease, to put down, to criticize |
| to rap | to talk |
| to register | to sign up for courses to take the next session |
| to review | to go over all the material that will be on an exam |
| to screw up | to do something wrong or not very well |
| to show up | to arrive, to come, to make an appearance at an event |
| to sign up for a course | to register for a course |
| to skip class | to be deliberately absent from class |
| to skip school | to be deliberately absent from school |
| to trip | to act crazy, to act out of character, to act in disagreement, to overreact, to exhibit the characteristics of being intoxicated on drugs or alcohol |
