In this episode you will hear: (03:21) In The News Hilliary shares some observations from things that stood out while reading applications this year (20:02) Question from a listener: A mom asks a very important question, How can I know if a college is genuinely caring about all kids but especially about an unorganized student? Lisa Rouff and Lynda Doepker answer this question. (37:11) Interview: Frequently Asked Questions about 529 Plans, Julie Shields-Rutyna and Jonathan Hughes from MEFA, Part 1 of 4 Preview of Part 1 · Friends, even if you have had a 529 plan for a decade, I am convinced you are going to learn some things that you didn’t know about 529 Plans in my interview with Jonathan Hughes and Julie Shields-Rutyna · Jonathan and Julie share their backstory · Jonathan tells us who MEFA is · Jonathan tells us what a 529 Plan is · Julie tells us who the beneficiary and successors are and whether it is easy to transfer beneficiaries · Jonathan tells us how to open a 529 account, including what you will need, and he tells us about how long it takes to open an account · Julie tells us how you can contribute to a 529 · Julie tells us what your investment options and the resources that are available to help you with your investment options · Julie talks about whether others beside the owner can contribute. (56:22) Second Question from a listener Hilliary Dickman joins Mark to answer a question about how colleges use the Future Plans” Speakpipe.com/YCBK is our method if you want to ask a question and we will be prioritizing all questions sent in via Speakpipe. Unfortunately, we will NOT answer questions on the podcast anymore that are emailed in. If you want us to answer a question on the podcast, please use speakpipe.com/YCBK. We feel hearing from our listeners in their own voices adds to the community feel of our podcast. You can also use this for many other purposes: 1) Send us constructive criticism about how we can improve our podcast 2) Share an encouraging word about something you like about an episode or the podcast in general 3) Share a topic or an article you would like us to address 4) Share a speaker you want us to interview 5) Leave positive feedback for one of our interviewees. We will send your verbal feedback directly to them and I can almost assure you, your positive feedback will make their day. To sign up to receive Your College-Bound Kid PLUS, our new monthly admissions newsletter, delivered directly to your email once a month, just go to yourcollegeboundkid.com, and you will see the sign-up popup. We will include many of the hot topics being discussed on college campuses. Check out our new blog. We write timely and insightful articles on college admissions: Follow Mark Stucker on Twitter to get breaking college admission news, and updates about the podcast before they go live. You can ask questions on Twitter that he will answer on the podcast. Mark will also share additional hot topics in the news and breaking news on this Twitter feed. Twitter message is also the preferred way to ask questions for our podcast: https://twitter.com/YCBKpodcast 1. To access our transcripts, click: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/category/transcripts/ 2. Find the specific episode transcripts for the one you want to search and click the link 3. Find the magnifying glass icon in blue (search feature) and click it 4. Enter whatever word you want to search. I.e. Loans 5. Every word in that episode when the words loans are used, will be highlighted in yellow with a timestamps 6. Click the word highlighted in yellow and the player will play the episode from that starting point 7. You can also download the entire podcast as a transcript We would be honored if you will pass this podcast episode on to others who you feel will benefit from the content in YCBK. Please subscribe to our podcast. It really helps us move up in Apple’s search feature so others can find our podcast. If you enjoy our podcast, would you please do us a favor and share our podcast both verbally and on social media? We would be most grateful! If you want to help more people find Your College-Bound Kid, please make sure you follow our podcast. You will also get instant notifications as soon as each episode goes live. Check out the college admissions books Mark recommends: Check out the college websites Mark recommends: If you want to have some input about what you like and what you recommend, we change about our podcast, please complete our Podcast survey; here is the link: If you want a college consultation with Mark or Lisa or Lynda, just text Mark at 404-664-4340 or email Lisa at or Lynda at Lynda@schoolmatch4u.com. All we ask is that you review their services and pricing on their website before the complimentary session; here is link to their services with transparent pricing: https://schoolmatch4u.com/services/compare-packages/
