YCBK 411: Tips to Get the Most out of a College Fair

In this episode you will hear:   (04:52) Matt Bonser, the Director of Admissions at Colorado College and a Gap year expert answers 20 questions about Gap Years in this 75-minute discussion. (Part 3 of 3) ²  Should a student reapply to the selective school they didn’t get in the next year, after taking a Gap year? Matt tells us when this can work. ²  Matt gives his thoughts of a student who takes a gap year in high school ²  Matt talks about Verto, a third-party provider of study abroad experiences and he tells us what he likes about Verto, and why CC is now a partner with Verto ²  I ask Matt to give his feedback on two concerns that I frequently hear from parents about Gap Years. ²  Matt shares what he learned about the college process by going through it as a parent this year     (25:48) Mark answers a Speakpipe question from Laura from DC where he shares tips for college fairs.    (46:25) Mark interviews Nora and Hannah, two college coaches with ScholarMatch, the CBO that matches college coaches with First Gen, under-resourced students. . They explain who ScholarMatch is and how YCBK listeners can become a volunteer college coach with ScholarMatch, even if they do not have any college counseling experience. Part 3 of 3 §  Hannah discusses how a coach builds rapport with a student virtually. §  Hannah lets us know if there is any specialized training to help coaches understand the unique challenges First-Gen and under-resourced families face. §  Hannah and Nora go into more depth about the demographics of the ScholarMatch students from a racial, ethnic and geographic background §  Nora and Hannah talk about whether college coaches get training on the University of California application. §  Hannah shares what are the frustrating parts of the coaching work §  Nora talks about what ScholarMatch recommends when a student is non-responsive to outreach from the college coach §  Nora talks about where an interested potential coach can go to get more information if this interview didn’t answer all of their questions. §  Nora shares, when will someone who applies to be a coach, will find out they are accepted as a college coach §  I make a personal commitment to ScholarMatch §  Nora and Hannah go on the hotseat in the lightning round     (01:15:20) College Spotlight, Saint Andrews University, Scotland, with International Specialist, Kevin Newton Part 2/2   (01:01:15) Recommended Resource- T  Do it yourself college rankings and and here are the dates for ScholarMatch information sessions:  (PST)  (PST) Here is a link to the ScholarMatch volunteer form:   6 areas to think through when you have quality college pptions but you do not know which college to enroll in     Brennan Barnard article about Susan Tree:   Speakpipe.com/YCBK is our method if you want to ask a question and we will be prioritizing all questions sent in via Speakpipe.   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. If you have a question for one of our upcoming interviews with admissions professionals, here is a list of admissions professionals who we will interview in 2023 or 2024.   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.   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. 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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/