1. A qualifying round, contest, examination, etc., that determined whether one will advance to the next level or round of a competition. Typically used in plural constructions. The former champion didn't even make it through the quals this season. The quals of that university are harder than the actual coursework.

2. A qualitative analysis. I tend to prefer using quals to when determining our marketing strategies.

3. Someone who prefers to make qualitative analyses (as opposed to quantitative ones). Most people tend to be quals when they make purchasing decisions, but about one in seven are quants.