In this episode you will hear:   o        Mark and Julia discuss colleges that offer a binding early program months before their competitors, listen to learn about this unique way to apply to Wake Forest and to the University of Chicago. The two programs are similar in some ways but very different in other ways. o        After 5 years, Colonel Robert Kirkland is back, Lynda interviews Rob on the Service Academies of West Point, the Naval Academy and the Air Force-Part 4 of 4 o            Part 4-Preview §  Rob answers the question, are the Service Academies really a full ride or are there hidden costs §  Rob explains the length of commitment each student is committing to after graduation, and he explains when this length of service is even longer for some students §  Rob whether cadets get any choice in their job after they graduate from the Service Academies §  Rob explains how the order of merit works for the Service Academies §  Rob shares whether he thinks a student should also apply for a ROTC application while they are applying for Service Academies §  Rob explains what the Service Academies are looking for and he even says the SAT and ACT score a student should have §  Rob shares his advice for students’ parents and college counselors §  Rob shares the last date when the Academies will take the SAT score §  Rob talks about the transfer pathway that is available for the Service Academies §  Rob talks about what a college student can do to increase his or her chances of getting in as a transfer applicant §  Rob answers the question, if a student does transfer in to a Service Academy after their freshman year of college, do they come in as a second year student into their Service Academy §  Rob explains whether a student who was not admitted can re-apply. §  Rob shares a wealth of resources that are available to anyone who wants to learn more about the Service Academies     Sign up for our Q & A webinar with Holly Ramsey, Dr. Michele Evard and Liam Dailey, three homeschooling experts. They will discuss how colleges admissions experts evaluate homeschooled students   Sign up for our Q & A webinar with Matt Carpenter, he will discuss “Paying for College” and he will answer your questions about paying for college, as well as how using College Aid Pro can help you with the cost of college   You can also send in questions for our interviews by using speakpipe.com/YCBK. Our interviews are confirmed for 2024 with the following leaders at the following schools:     To sign up to receive Your College-Bound Kid PLUS, our free quarterly admissions deep-dive, delivered directly to your email four times a year, just go to yourcollegeboundkid.com, and you will see the sign up on the right side of the page under “the Listen to our podcast icons”   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. 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