Our Glossary of Confusing Words is really growing, thanks to your suggestions and submissions!

The latest words you asked us to define are: freshman, sophomore, junior and senior - the words to describe what year of school someone is in.

It took me a little while to learn that when I first got here. I knew "freshman"; that makes sense, as does "senior", but I didn't know why a "sophomore" should come before a "junior". The word comes from the ancient Greek and combines the roots for "wise" and "fool". Being a "wise fool" definitely reflects the kind of self-confidence that characterises second-year college students.

Let's clear up the confusion. The four years of undergraduate education are called:

(1) freshman year, and someone in their first year is a freshman. You might sometimes hear this shortened to "frosh."

(2) sophomore year, and someone in their second year is a sophomore. Sometimes sophomore is shortened to "soph."

As a side note, the word "sophomoric," means juvenile or, as Merriam-Webster's dictionary puts it, "conceited and overconfident of knowledge but poorly informed and immature." Not that that describes college sophomores, right?

(3) junior year, and someone in their third year is a junior. Junior can be abbreviated as "jr." in writing.

(4) senior year, and someone in their fourth year is a senior. Senior can be abbreviated as "sr." in writing.

These same terms apply in the same way to the four years of a standard high school: 9^th grade is freshman year, 10^th grade sophomore year, 11^th grade junior year, and 12^th grade senior year.

But these same words are not used to describe the years of graduate school. Years of graduate school are often just referred to by number; for example, "I'm in my first year" or "I'm a first-year." Some types of graduate school may have other ways of delineating years as well. The three years of law school can be referred to as 1L, 2L and 3L. And medical school is often broken up into preclinical (the first two years) and clinical (the second two years), which are followed by an internship and residency - it takes a long time to become a doctor!).

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It’s tough to gain admission to Yale University, and it’s getting even tougher for international students as standout students from around the world set their sights on Yale.

The Yale Dale News, the campus newspaper, takes a look at the situation here.

Read the full story here.

Ruth Chane, a computer science major from Ethiopia, writes about her experiences settling into student life at Whitman College in the U.S. state of Washington.

"The community at Whitman College made sure I felt welcomed even before I stepped foot on campus," she says.

Read her essay here.

In The Student Life, the student newspaper for the Claremont Colleges, a consortium of five liberal art colleges and two graduate schools in Claremont, California, student Rochelle Lu writes about readjusting to her Shanghai home after spending a semester in the United States.

Read the full story here.

Cedarville University in the U.S. state of Ohio says it’s got more than 140 international students representing 44 countries.

Here, the school interviews Jonathan Sutton, director of international student services. He talks about his job and the opportunities for international students on campus.

Read the full article here.

Morehouse College, a private, historically Black liberal arts college in the U.S. state of Georgia, offers a guide for international students interested in attending the school.

Among the tips to apply and thrive at Morehouse:

• Take advantage of the school’s orientation program
• Turn to the school’s Center for Academic Success for tutoring, support and more
• Immerse yourself in campus life via clubs and societies

Read the full article here.