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I wonder what I can call other students, if I am also a student?

For example, if I am talking to a professor, and want to mention other students just like me. I know I can use "classmates" if we are in the same class, but how about if we are not in the same class? Can I say "fellow students", or is there anything better?

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6 Answers 6

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A schoolmate:

A person who attended school with the subject.

Fellow students is also correct and grammatical.

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    Worth mentioning that "schoolmate" implies they attend the same school, while "fellow student" includes those who attend a different school. Also, while "classmate" is a fairly common word (EN US, anyway), "schoolmate" is less common, although anyone familiar with the first word should deduce the meaning of the second.
    – Blazemonger
    Oct 3, 2011 at 15:36
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You could use peers. This is potentially ambiguous, but depending on the context, it may be obvious to the listener who you mean by peers.

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  • Thanks! Does peer sound like we are giving pressure on each other?
    – Tim
    Sep 19, 2011 at 1:10
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    Not at all. 'Peer pressure' is definitely a well-known phenomenon, however that phrase is far from the only use of the word 'peer'. Your peers are basically just the people who are at the same level as you in one way or another. It is quite a context sensitive word. At a school, peers might mean fellow students (or teachers, if you're a teacher). In an academic setting, peers might mean people with the same level of qualification as you (eg Masters, PhD etc). You get the idea. Usually the situation should make it apparent exactly whom you are referring to.
    – Cam Jackson
    Sep 19, 2011 at 1:16
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At my university, professors usually refer to other students as our colleagues and encourage us to do so during presentations and talks.

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    'colleague' sounds more like for coworkers rather than in a study situation.
    – Mitch
    Sep 18, 2011 at 22:54
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    @Mitch: As I said, this choice is highly encouraged by my professors. Note that the OP didn't mention which kind of student he is (high school, university..). I too would probably use "fellow student", but since the OP asked for a word to use when talking to professors I posted what my professors want me to use.
    – Gurzo
    Sep 19, 2011 at 9:24
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You might consider cohort:

An assistant, colleague, accomplice.

or

A company, band; esp. of persons united in defence of a common cause.

If you wanted a word that expresses solidarity as students, this might be a good choice. When I was in grad school, we used it to refer to those of us who matriculated the same year; it provided a nice sense of unity in the face of adversity (a heavy workload!).

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    +1, though keep in mind cohort tends to imply not only same generation but same year
    – Joseph Weissman
    Oct 3, 2011 at 18:09
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    This is true. One might argue (although this one is not going to) that cohort frequently refers to year of birth, and in the context of school, the year of birth might be like the year of matriculation.
    – ect
    Oct 3, 2011 at 18:14
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Fellow students sound okay and matured. So to my own knowledge of understanding, I will advise students to use fellow students instead of my colleagues, because colleagues is more to working class.

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I will regard them as studentmates. My electronic dictionary fails me on this, but perhaps time to add it to the computer memory.

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    Don't add it to the computer memory until/unless other people start using it. The word studentmates sounds most unnatural to this native speaker.
    – tunny
    Nov 4, 2014 at 9:47

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