From the "informal research" department.

[jferg]

On the behalf of my mom:

I am trying to assemble ... a list of words that college undergrads might need to know during the first couple of years of school

Comments

[shawna_sue]

But technical terms are good. A lot of university education is theory, not practical application. Words that involve thinking about thinking. Oooh...

meta-cognition.
or just regular cognition is hard for some freshmen. (include cognitive, too)
schema.
paradigm.
scaffolding-- not the metal stuff, but building thought-upon-thought.

[jferg]

And so I don't forget them since you just said them:

* moot
* epiphany

[shawna_sue]

and the other words I've rattled off:

epitome
misogyny
sadist
masochist
pedagogy
hegemony
colloquial

[rendertarget]

symposium
colloquium
Pabst

[arensb]

"Symposium" and "colloquium" are synonyms for "free food", right?

[arensb]

alumnus: male former student
alumna: female former student
alumni: male or mixed former students
alumnae: female former students
aluminius: Canadian former student :-)

But I'd really like college students to know the difference between "there", "they're", and "their", and that "a lot" and "never mind" are two words each.

[melstav]

and that "a lot" [is] ... two words each.

... Unless there are two "l"s, in which case it's a completely different word, entirely.

[shawna_sue]

Mother-lode and bald-faced (lie). Since I didn't know until last month that those aren't mother-load and bold-faced :)

[laurabee]