Meaning & use
prospective student
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
Someone who may enroll at a school or university in the future and is thinking about applying or has applied but not yet joined.
Grammar: Prospective is always before the noun: a prospective student, never a student prospective.
Patterns
- a prospective student at somewhere
- prospective students and their families
Prospective students toured the campus on Saturday.
The admissions office answers questions from prospective students every day.
A prospective student asked about scholarships for transfer applicants.
Word forms
| plural | prospective students |
|---|
Common combinations
- prospective students and parents
- The open day welcomed prospective students and parents.
- attract prospective students
- The college hopes to attract prospective students with new labs.
- tour for prospective students
- A tour for prospective students begins at ten.
- advise prospective students
- Counselors advise prospective students on their choice of course.
- information for prospective students
- The website has information for prospective students.
Synonyms and how they differ
- applicant
- An applicant has formally applied, while a prospective student may only be considering it.
- candidate
- Candidate stresses being considered for admission, and is less common than applicant in this setting.
- future student
- Future student is plainer, but it sounds as if enrollment is certain, unlike prospective student.
- newcomer
- A newcomer has already arrived, whereas a prospective student has not yet joined.
Opposites
Word family
- prospect noun
- a possibility, or a person who may become a customer or member
- prospective adjective
- likely or expected to be in the future
- prospectus noun
- a booklet describing a school, or a business offering
- student noun
- a person who studies at a school or university
Commonly confused: prospective student or perspective? prospective student or prospectus?
prospective student vs perspective
Perspective is a point of view, or the way things look in space. Prospective means likely to be in the future. The two are often swapped in spelling.
prospective student vs prospectus
A prospectus is a booklet about a school or business, not a person.
Practice
A university website has a page for _____ who are choosing where to apply.
Choose one answer.
Prospective means likely to become a student. Perspective is a viewpoint, protective means shielding, and prospect student is ungrammatical.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “prospective student”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.