The Truth about College Admission

This week, Rick and Brennan discuss their goals and priorities for the year, as well recent pieces on priorities juniors might have as they prepare for their admission experience ahead.College Admission Year In Preview: A PlaylistJuniors, College Admission Is A Stereogramemail your questions: holisticadmission@gmail.com

Happy Festivus 2022! In our final episode of 2022, we walk through a few of the issue as we see them in college admission, including:College SearchGrade InflationSelf- Reported GradesMore on our two different perspectives on a variety of issues:Forbes 2022HuffPost 2017

Co-authors Tim Fields (Senior Associate Dean, Emory University) and Shereem Herndon-Brown (CEO and Founder, Strategic Admissions Advice)join the podcast to discuss their new book: The Black Family's Guide to College Admission: A Conversation about Education, Parenting, and Race.  Shereem and Tim have extensive experience working with families on the high school side, and making admission decisions in colleges and universities. In this conversation, they do a phenomenal job laying out good questions for families to ask, practical insight about the admission process, as well as tips for students and parents on essays, making the college choice, and much more. 

This week University of Pennsylvania's Vice Provost and Dean of Admissions, Whitney Soule shares insights on the intentions behind schools' carefully crafted essay prompts, and how students can approach those essays as a way to introduce their character. She discusses Penn's new short answer prompt that invites students to express gratitude to someone that they haven't thanked, an exercise intended to provide Penn a glimpse of how the student relates to others, and to provide students a feel-good reflection on the impact of others in their lives.  The Daily Pennsylvanian article featuring Whitney Soul. More on the University of Pennsylvania here.

This week, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's Director of Admissions, Andy Borst shares insights on how academic major plays into the review of an application,  the shaping of an incoming class, and a Kung Fu Panda spoiler. He points students to the importance of asking their questions of the schools they are considering- and encourages colleges to display more detailed and differentiated data. One of the best in the business, we hope you will enjoy this one. Inside Higher Ed article featuring Andy BorstMore on the University of Illinois here.

This week, Agnes Scott College's Director of Admissions, Miya Walker shares insights on how students can think about not only where they will succeed, but more importantly where they will thrive. She helps students and families focus on getting a sense of belonging by pausing to ask what is most important to them-- and looking for a true community, i.e. a place where they will find clubs, organizations, faculty, and other support. And some truly phenomenal advice for parents and supporting adults on how to support and advocate for their students without driving the process. Inside Higher Ed article featuring Miya Walker. More on Agnes Scott College here.

Rachelle Hernandez, vice provost for student affairs at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, joins the podcast to discuss helping students think about colleges where they will be "excited to go." In addition to her work in higher education over the last 25 years, Rachelle's own son is currently a senior in high school, so this conversation, and the terms often used in college admission, are personal. Rachelle discusses the concept belonging, and focuses on the importance of choices and options for students in their search.  Additionally, she talks about the term "safety" schools and why that label is not accurate, or helpful. She suggests great questions for students and families to ask as they look for good matches in their  college search and selection experience. Rachelle's professional accomplishments are too extensive to capture here, but suffice it to say she brings a wealth of experience, including prior roles at University of Minnesota and University of Texas. She is committed to and focused on student success and access as well as "fostering and supporting an engaged student educational experience and cultivating student connection and belonging in co-curricular and academic spaces." It's always a pleasure to spend time with the inimitable Rachelle Hernandez, so we hope you'll enjoy this one.

In our kickoff episode, Brennan and Rick discuss the annual college rankings. What factors go into creating them? What do they and do they not indicate about the quality of a college? To what extent should students and families consider rankings in their admission experience? They also provide a few resources for further consideration:Listen: Revisionist History, "Lord of the Rankings" Malcolm GladwellCollege Guidance Network, Best Rankings Webinar EVER!Read: Top Three Reasons NOT to Trust Rankings, 5 Best Tips For Responsibly Using College RankingsTry This: Create Your Own Rankings SystemMore about your co-hosts: Brennan Barnard, Director of College Counseling, Khan Lab SchoolRick Clark, AVP and Executive Director of Undergraduate Admission- Georgia Tech

We are excited to launch our new podcast, which will air every other week.In each episode, along with national experts in the field of college admission and enrollment, we'll bring you insight from working directly with high school students, an understanding of what is happening in colleges around the country as they recruit students, make admission decisions, and build their new class, as well as timely advice for your family so you can have healthy conversations about searching for, applying to, and ultimately making a college choice.The Truth about College Admission is exclusively sponsored by Johns Hopkins Press.