Your College Bound Kid | Admission Tips, Admission Trends & Admission Interviews

In this episode you will hear:   (05:30) Julia Esquivel makes her debut as one of our co-hosts in our monthly rotation for our “In the News” segment. Mark and Julia discuss a Washington Post article by Valerie Strauss entitled, “Advice from College Admissions Deans”. We discussed this article on #194 but we said we would return to it. Julia picked out three quotes from the article from admissions deans that resonated with her and Mark and Julia discuss them.         (37:56) Diana from Wisconsin sent us an outstanding list of questions that are all designed to get some guidance about the transition to college. Mark and Lisa acknowledge that the transition to college is an area that we haven’t adequately covered. Mark and Lisa answered half of Diana’s questions in episode and they answer the other half here in episode 231.   1) Thanksgiving break- we found that plane tickets for Thanksgiving break were sky-high in price and the remaining school year after break was so short, it was almost not worth it to have her come home for break. In retrospect, we kind of wish we had not set the expectation to have her come home for Thanksgiving, as it was short and stressful.    2) Safety and crime on campus - does the campus have an emergency alert system that students can sign up for text alerts for? Can parents sign up also?   3) how often should we talk on the phone together? Should we have a weekly call? How often will we be in touch with each other?     (01:01:10) Our interview is with Karen Kristof, a 30+ year admission veteran who has worked at five colleges. Karen is the Dean of admissions at Colorado College. Karen addresses three different topics over for three consecutive Thursdays. In last week’s episode Karen answered the question, how do colleges evaluate a transcript. This week she answers the question:   Preview-How admissions officers evaluate a high school   Karen shares how a college uses the School Profile to understand each high school Karen talks about how they evaluate a student who is at a poor high school How do you evaluate a student who is at a school with a lot of really high achievers Can they tell if a school has grade inflation or grade deflation We discuss reading by school group   (01:13:42) The recommended resource is the website: Explore Canadian universities and programs of study. Recommended first place to start for researching Canadian universities.   (01:30:30) Our College Spotlight is The University of Michigan, Part 2 of 2 with Lisa     Please send in your questions either on Twitter at @YCBKpodcast using the Messages tab (this is our preference) or via email at for the 26 admissions interviews we are doing in the summer and fall. Our interviews are with the following people at the following schools: Confirmed interviews Bard-Mackie Siebens Mercer-Kelly Holloway Oregon State-Jon Boeckenstadt (Interview about a range of admission topics)-July 19th Reed-Milyon Truelove- Rice University-Tamara Siler St Johns College-Benjamin Baum-This interview is on June 8th University Pittsburgh-Tom Becker- American University-Andrea Felder Texas Christian University (TCU)-Heath Einstein-This interview is on July 6th Michigan State University-John Ambrose-This interview is on June 10th Pitzer College-Yvonne Berumen Chapman University-Marcela Meija-Martinez Connecticut College-Andy Strickler* Trinity College-Anthony Berry* Trinity University-Justin Doty-(interview about athletic recruitment process for DIII schools)-July 15th College of the Atlantic-Heather Albert* Spelman College-Chelsea Holley* Scripps College-Victoria Romero* Saint Louis University-Daniel Wood-(Interview is about transfer admissions, Daniel is a transfer counselor) University of Connecticut-Vern Granger* Colby College-Randi Arsenault* Hamilton College-Peaches Valdes* University of Georgia-David Graves* Washington University St Louis-Ronne Turner University of Rochester-Robert Alexander* University of Delaware-Darrell Edmonds     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 them 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   To access our transcripts, click: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/category/transcripts/ Find the specific episode transcripts for the one you want to search and click the link Find the magnifying glass icon in blue (search feature) and click it Enter whatever word you want to search. I.e. Loans Every word in that episode when the words loans are used, will be highlighted in yellow with a timestamps Click the word highlighted in yellow and the player will play the episode from that starting point 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.   Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: questions@yourcollegeboundkid.com.   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, just text Mark at 404-664-4340 or email Lisa at lisa@schoolmatch4u.com. All they ask is that you review their services on their website before the complimentary session. Their counseling website is: https://schoolmatch4u.com/

In this episode you will hear:   Mark shares several announcements about major developments in Higher Education   Interview David Vise, Executive Director of Modernstates.org Part 1 Preview   David gives his backstory Dave tells us what a CLEP exam is He tells us who CLEP courses are for Dave explains how CLEP is different from AP Dave shares how high schools and colleges and HBCUs are using Modern States Dave explains what the difference is between Modern States and CLEP     Please send in your questions either on Twitter at @YCBKpodcast using the Messages tab (this is our preference) or via email at for the 25 admissions interviews we are doing in the summer and fall. Our interviews are with the following people at the following schools: Confirmed interviews Bard-Mackie Siebens Mercer-Kelly Holloway Oregon State-Jon Boeckenstadt (Interview about a range of admission topics)-July 19th Reed-Milyon Truelove- Rice University-Tamara Siler St Johns College-Benjamin Baum-This interview is on June 8th University Pittsburgh-Tom Becker- American University-Andrea Felder Texas Christian University (TCU)-Heath Einstein-This interview is on July 6th Michigan State University-John Ambrose-This interview is on June 10th Pitzer College-Yvonne Berumen Chapman University-Marcela Meija-Martinez Connecticut College-Andy Strickler* Trinity College-Anthony Berry* Trinity University-Justin Doty-(interview about athletic recruitment process for DIII schools)-July 15th College of the Atlantic-Heather Albert* Spelman College-Chelsea Holley* Scripps College-Victoria Romero* Saint Louis University-Daniel Wood-(Interview is about transfer admissions, Daniel is a transfer counselor) University of Connecticut-Vern Granger* Colby College-Randi Arsenault* Hamilton College-Peaches Valdes* University of Georgia-David Graves* Washington University St Louis-Ronne Turner University of Rochester-Robert Alexander* University of Delaware-Darrell Edmonds       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 them 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   To access our transcripts, click: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/category/transcripts/ Find the specific episode transcripts for the one you want to search and click the link Find the magnifying glass icon in blue (search feature) and click it Enter whatever word you want to search. I.e. Loans Every word in that episode when the words loans are used, will be highlighted in yellow with a timestamps Click the word highlighted in yellow and the player will play the episode from that starting point 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.   Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: questions@yourcollegeboundkid.com.   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, just text Mark at 404-664-4340 or email Lisa at lisa@schoolmatch4u.com. All they ask is that you review their services on their website before the complimentary session. Their counseling website is: https://schoolmatch4u.com/

In this episode you will hear:   (18:05) Vince Garcia makes his debut as one of our co-hosts in our monthly rotation for our “In the News” segment. Mark and Vince discuss an Inside Higher Ed article by Scott Jaschik entitled, “How Stevens Tech attracts applicants and students”. The 4/25/2022 article looks at some of the strategic decisions one NJ school did to upgrade the academic caliber of their student body while expanded their diversity.     (32:58) Diana from Wisconsin sent us an outstanding list of questions that are all designed to get some guidance about the transition to college. Mark and Lisa acknowledge that the transition to college is an area that we haven’t adequately covered. Mark and Lisa answer half of Diana’s questions in this episode and the other half next Thursday in episode 231. how much spending money should we give our student each month should we tie spending money to grades or offer any incentive related to grades. Conversely, if grades are poor, should we take away spending money. mid-term grades - and any type of progress grades - how should we as parents be involved in progress grades so we can try to be helpful if any advocacy or tutoring needs to happen before it's too late at the end of the semester? end of semester grades - will these be shared with us as parents? If they are not good, will there be any consequences, or what would happen?   (01:01:30) Our interview is with Karen Kristof, a 30+ year admission veteran who has worked at five colleges. Karen is the Dean of admissions at Colorado College. Karen will address three different topics over for three consecutive Thursdays. In this week’s episode Karen answers the question, how do colleges evaluate a transcript. Preview-How admission officers evaluate a transcript   Karen gives her backstory Karen tells us what selective schools look for when they evaluate a transcript Karen shares some of the mistakes students make with their course selection   (01:13:22) The Recommended Resource is one of the best books I have ever read about college admissions. I have listened to it three times in the last three months. I strongly recommend the audiobook which is informative and entertaining: The name of the book is, "Valedictorians at the Gate: Standing Out, Getting In, and Staying Sane While Applying to College" by Rebecca Munsterer Sabky, Eliza Foss. Sabky did admissions at Dartmouth for 13 years. Her honesty about the business side of admissions is refreshing and enlightening.   (01:34:44) Our College Spotlight is The University of Michigan, Part 1 of 2     Please send in your questions either on Twitter at @YCBKpodcast using the Messages tab (this is our preference) or via email at for the 25 admissions interviews we are doing in the summer and fall. Our interviews are with the following people at the following schools: Confirmed interviews Bard-Mackie Siebens Mercer-Kelly Holloway Oregon State-Jon Boeckenstadt (Interview about a range of admission topics)-July 19th Reed-Milyon Truelove- Rice University-Tamara Siler St Johns College-Benjamin Baum-This interview is on June 8th University Pittsburgh-Tom Becker- American University-Andrea Felder Texas Christian University (TCU)-Heath Einstein-This interview is on July 6th Michigan State University-John Ambrose-This interview is on June 10th Pitzer College-Yvonne Berumen Chapman University-Marcela Meija-Martinez Connecticut College-Andy Strickler* Trinity College-Anthony Berry* Trinity University-Justin Doty-(interview about athletic recruitment process for DIII schools)-July 15th College of the Atlantic-Heather Albert* Spelman College-Chelsea Holley* Scripps College-Victoria Romero* Saint Louis University-Daniel Wood-(Interview is about transfer admissions, Daniel is a transfer counselor) University of Connecticut-Vern Granger* Colby College-Randi Arsenault* Hamilton College-Peaches Valdes* University of Georgia-David Graves* Washington University St Louis-Ronne Turner University of Rochester-Robert Alexander* University of Delaware-Darrell Edmonds     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 them 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   To access our transcripts, click: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/category/transcripts/ Find the specific episode transcripts for the one you want to search and click the link Find the magnifying glass icon in blue (search feature) and click it Enter whatever word you want to search. I.e. Loans Every word in that episode when the words loans are used, will be highlighted in yellow with a timestamps Click the word highlighted in yellow and the player will play the episode from that starting point 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.   Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: questions@yourcollegeboundkid.com.   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, just text Mark at 404-664-4340 or email Lisa at lisa@schoolmatch4u.com. All they ask is that you review their services on their website before the complimentary session. Their counseling website is: https://schoolmatch4u.com/

In this episode you will hear:   Preview Scott works at the National Humanities Alliance, a member-supported coalition dedicated to advocating for the value of the humanities in communities and on campuses. He leads "Study the Humanities", a Mellon Foundation-funded initiative that provides humanities faculty, administrators, and advocates with evidence-based resources and strategies to make the case for studying the humanities as an undergraduate   Interview Preview   What does the National Humanities Alliance do What college majors are considered Humanites majors What does studythehumanities.org do and what is the toolkit How do Humanities majors do financially? What is the job satisfaction like for those with humanities degrees How does Study the Humanities work with faculty members What are the benefits to studying the humanities Why is the public perception of the humanities so different from the reality Scott talks about how the transition from college to your career path is more tricky for humanities majors Scott talks about the importance of your network and how this often really helps graduates with humanities degrees Scott talks about how humanities majors forces you to understand people who are different than yourself Scott talks about the ACMU and NACE do studies every year about what employers most value and he talks about how the humanities prepares people with those skills. Scott goes on the hot seat. Scott shares his podcast, “What are you going to do with that”     Please send in your questions either on Twitter at @YCBKpodcast using the Messages tab (this is our preference) or via email at for the 25 admissions interviews we are doing in the summer and fall. Our interviews are with the following people at the following schools: Confirmed interviews Bard-Mackie Siebens Mercer-Kelly Holloway Oregon State-Jon Boeckenstadt (Interview about a range of admission topics)-July 19th Reed-Milyon Truelove- Rice University-Tamara Siler St Johns College-Benjamin Baum-This interview is on June 8th University Pittsburgh-Tom Becker- American University-Andrea Felder Texas Christian University (TCU)-Heath Einstein-This interview is on July 6th Michigan State University-John Ambrose-This interview is on June 10th Pitzer College-Yvonne Berumen Chapman University-Marcela Meija-Martinez Connecticut College-Andy Strickler* Trinity College-Anthony Berry* Trinity University-Justin Doty-(interview about athletic recruitment process for DIII schools)-July 15th College of the Atlantic-Heather Albert* Spelman College-Chelsea Holley* Scripps College-Victoria Romero* Saint Louis University-Daniel Wood-(Interview is about transfer admissions, Daniel is a transfer counselor) University of Connecticut-Vern Granger* Colby College-Randi Arsenault* Hamilton College-Peaches Valdes* University of Georgia-David Graves* Washington University St Louis-Ronne Turner University of Rochester-Robert Alexander*     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 them 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   To access our transcripts, click: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/category/transcripts/ Find the specific episode transcripts for the one you want to search and click the link Find the magnifying glass icon in blue (search feature) and click it Enter whatever word you want to search. I.e. Loans Every word in that episode when the words loans are used, will be highlighted in yellow with a timestamps Click the word highlighted in yellow and the player will play the episode from that starting point 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.   Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: questions@yourcollegeboundkid.com.   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, just text Mark at 404-664-4340 or email Lisa at lisa@schoolmatch4u.com. All they ask is that you review their services on their website before the complimentary session. Their counseling website is: https://schoolmatch4u.com/

In this episode you will hear:   Susan Tree, Mark’s former colleague and friend for over 20 years makes her debut as an official co-host.   (15:45) Susan and Mark discuss a GrownandFlown.com article entitled, “We need to rethink encouraging our teens to follow your passions”. The article was written  by  on April 13, 2021   Susan shares the history over the last 40 years of how several books have attempted to address the issue of whether a student should follow their passions. Mark and Susan give their take on the article.   (55:56) Questions from a listener-I have a college sophomore and a high school senior so I have gone through the process twice - it is exhausting!     I have two questions: 1) In searching for colleges, we looked at rankings depending on what the student's area of study was  (business, film, animation, international relations, etc.) The rankings we found were Poets & Quants Undergrad, Hollywood Reporter,  Animation Review, and Foreign Policy.   I had heard about US News, but not the other rankings - how can we determine if they are truly industry valid rankings? I know rankings don't dictate success, but the search has to start somewhere, and it is just one more data point.   2) It was very difficult and at times impossible to find acceptance rates for a specific school within a university.  For example - NYU Tisch, LMU Film & TV, Villanova undergrad business, and Georgetown SFS. Is there a way to find out? The acceptance rate for each school/program can vary greatly from the whole of the university.  Thank you so much!!      Maria from Pennsylvania   (01:17:17) Interview-Rod Skinner, the Dean of College Counseling at Milton Academy-Topic "Why is it so much harder to get into a selective college these days"- (Part 3 of 3)   Preview-Part 3/3   One means of getting people off a fixation with one school What parent can do to help their kids have positive mental health while going through the college process The importance of parents having this one skill when working with their kids More great advice for parents is shared Rod recommends a book and shares an amazing quote The importance of relationships with parents The lightning round, Rod goes on the hotseat Sage wisdom for college counselors, students and parents     (01:27:37) Our recommended resource for episode 227 is the website ctas.substack.com. The website tracks trends in applications and the cost of college. They have cutting edge data here that is rarely found anywhere else.   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 them on the podcast. Mark will also share additional hot topics in the news and breaking news on this Twitter feed:     To access our transcripts, click: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/category/transcripts/ Find the specific episode transcripts for the one you want to search and click the link Find the magnifying glass icon in blue (search feature) and click it Enter whatever word you want to search. I.e. Loans Every word in that episode when the words loans are used, will be highlighted in yellow with a timestamps Click the word highlighted in yellow and the player will play the episode from that starting point 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.   Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: questions@yourcollegeboundkid.com.   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 subscribe to 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, just text Mark at 404-664-4340 or email Lisa at lisa@schoolmatch4u.com. All they ask is that you review their services on their website before the complimentary session. Their counseling website is: https://schoolmatch4u.com/

In this episode you will hear:   Before beginning the podcast Mark announces a blockbuster change that will change the nature of the YCBK podcast in a major way and the announcement is effective on June 1st.   Dave answers a question from a listener, why is okay for you (Dave) to go to elite schools like Harvard and Princeton and for your daughter to go to Yale, but you tell me that it doesn’t matter where my kid goes to college.    (27:12) In this segment of “In the News” Mark and Dave discuss an March 17th, 2022 article by Juliana Kaplan  and Madison Hoff of Business Insider entitled, “Maryland is hiring workers without four-year college degrees to curtail its labor shortage” Mark and Dave discuss what are the implications of this change and policy and they debate, is this a good or bad thing.     (48:15)Question from a listener   I heard Rick Clark and Christoph Gutenberg talk allude to it on some podcasts but we are not getting real cut-off info. The schools want thousands of applications but also want to sort some out. I want to understand how many are 'real" applications. How many are actually making it through the AI. I think that is very important data for candidates that jumped through all the hoops for highly selective colleges   Jillion from California   Question 2   Another question, what defines rigor for AI? Is it if they take calculus and physics? If so, does it have to be AP Calc and AP Physics or are any level of those courses considered rigorous?   Jillion from California   (01:21:45) Interview-Rod Skinner, the Dean of College Counseling at Milton Academy-Topic "Why is it so much harder to get into a selective college these days"- (Part 2 of 3)   Preview-Part 2   Rod continues with his answer is to the person who says, colleges are accepting, “black and brown kids” with weaker credentials than my kid, and it isn’t fair An exercise he has families to do show how hard it is for a college to select students The role athletics plays in admissions The public vs private school debate, which is better for college admissions? Rod talks about what going to college will not do for you The difference between a transactional vs development mindset What can be done to make the admissions process more accessible? The difference between the access paradigm to the selectivity paradigm The role bond ratings plays in creating the frenzy The importance of starting with “why” How a rising tide lift all boats applies to college admissions Rod talks about how to push back on a family that is focused on prestige Rod tells a powerful story from his 45th college reunion that you don’t want to miss   (01:34:30) Our recommended resource for episode 226 are the four episodes the “Hold Me Back” podcast. Episodes 16-19 are all interviews with admissions leaders that I thought were excellent. The interviews are with Christof Guttentag of Duke, Rick Clark of Georgia Tech, Johnathan Burdick of Cornell and Heath Einstein of TCU.   (01:49:04) Our College Spotlight is the University of San Diego with college counselor, Sylvia Borgo  Part 2 of 2   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 them on the podcast. Mark will also share additional hot topics in the news and breaking news on this Twitter feed:   https://twitter.com/YCBKpodcast   To access our transcripts, click: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/category/transcripts/ Find the specific episode transcripts for the one you want to search and click the link Find the magnifying glass icon in blue (search feature) and click it Enter whatever word you want to search. I.e. Loans Every word in that episode when the words loans are used, will be highlighted in yellow with a timestamps Click the word highlighted in yellow and the player will play the episode from that starting point 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.   Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: questions@yourcollegeboundkid.com.   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 subscribe to 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, just text Mark at 404-664-4340 or email Lisa at lisa@schoolmatch4u.com. All they ask is that you review their services on their website before the complimentary session. Their counseling website is: https://schoolmatch4u.com/

In this episode you will hear:   (30:20) In this segment of “In the News” Mark and Dave discuss an April 4th, 2022 article by Jim Jump that appeared in “Inside Higher Ed” entitled, “Is it ethical to withhold the data (admit rates)”. Dave does a great summary of the article and Mark points out his five take-aways from the article and then Mark and Dave have a spirited discussion about the article.     (48:32) Question from a listener-   Mark starts out by sharing another thing he thinks would surprise you if you were to be an admissions officer. It is bonus content week for Mark and he shares 20 things to consider when trying to select who to ask to write your recommendation letters. Mark encourages students to not be anal and create some 20 point check list, but to use these pointers to think through the process. Mark does not list these in order, but he does mention that the most important ones he listed first. Lisa very effectively pushes back on a few points Mark makes which enhanced the quality of the conversation.     (01:27:30) Interview-Rod Skinner, the Dean of College Counseling at Milton Academy-Topic "Why is it so much harder to get into a selective college these days"- (Part 1 of 3) Preview-Part 1   Rod shares his backstory How Mark met Rod Introduction of our topic, “why have some colleges gotten so hard to get into” What role has the Common App has played The role anxiety has played The role “test-optional” has played The role International students have played The role high-yield has played The role institutional priorities has played The role increased use of ED has played The role your declared major plays Rod tells us more about Milton Academy What his answer is to the person who says, colleges are taking students of color with weaker credentials than my kid and it isn’t fair   (01:40:25) Our recommended resource for episode 225 are the three episodes the Freakonomics podcast did on college admissions related topics. The episodes are 500, 501 and 502   (01:57:44) Our College Spotlight is the University of San Diego with college counselor, Sylvia Borgo   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 them on the podcast. Mark will also share additional hot topics in the news and breaking news on this Twitter feed:   https://twitter.com/YCBKpodcast   To access our transcripts, click: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/category/transcripts/ Find the specific episode transcripts for the one you want to search and click the link Find the magnifying glass icon in blue (search feature) and click it Enter whatever word you want to search. I.e. Loans Every word in that episode when the words loans are used, will be highlighted in yellow with a timestamps Click the word highlighted in yellow and the player will play the episode from that starting point 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.   Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: questions@yourcollegeboundkid.com.   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 subscribe to 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, just text Mark at 404-664-4340 or email Lisa at lisa@schoolmatch4u.com. All they ask is that you review their services on their website before the complimentary session. Their counseling website is: https://schoolmatch4u.com/

In this episode you will hear:   (16:05) In this segment of “In the News” Mark and Dave discuss a March 23rd, 2022 article by that appeared in “Inside Higher Ed” entitled, “How Amherst College Became a Champion for Community College Transfer Students”. Dave does a great summary of the article and Mark points out his seven take-aways from the article and then Mark and Dave have a spirited discussion about the article.     (39:45) Question from a listener-   Mark starts out by sharing another thing he thinks would surprise you if you were to be an admissions officer. Next he asks Lisa a follow up question from her two part series on why are teen so sad; it is a question Mark wished he had asked last week.   Question about hooks for the podcast: Do schools view Leadership as a hook? My daughter is a participant in a regional youth leadership program that is selective and well-regarded. She will have 3 years of escalating experience in Leadership activities by the time she graduates. We are not aiming for an exclusive school, but rather are hoping for significant merit aid.  Bobbi from Ohio       (01:01:10) Our Interview is with Dr. Roger Parrott, the President of Belhaven University in Jackson, Mississippi   Topic "Understanding Belhaven University" Part 1 of 1   Roger shares the 4 C’s that Belhaven prioritizes Roger shares what their unique curriculum offers Roger talks about the chapel experience at Belhaven Roger talks about the capstone course experience at Belhaven Roger talks about Belhaven’s exceptional arts programs in all four areas of the arts Roger describes the campus and the faculty Roger answers the question, does someone need to be a professing Christian to attend Belhaven Roger discusses experiential education opportunities Roger talks about the exceptional creative writing program and the film program Roger makes a passionate case for parents letting students pursue their passion. Roger shares the incredible programs that Belhaven offers freshman students that Mark has never seen any other college offer to their freshman Of course, Mark puts Roger on the hot seat   Our Belhaven interview is our College Spotlight   (01:27:28) Our recommended resource for episode 224 is a really second interview with Tim Fields, the Senior Associate Dean of undergraduate admissons at Emory University and Shereem Herndon Brown of Strategic Admissions Advice, two people Mark has known for some time. Tim and Shereem discuss their new book and their new podcast that are targeting black families. The book is called, “The Black Family’s Guide to Colleg Admissions: A Conversation about Education, Parenting, and Race” and their new podcast is called, “Application to Admission”   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 them on the podcast. Mark will also share additional hot topics in the news and breaking news on this Twitter feed:   https://twitter.com/YCBKpodcast   To access our transcripts, click: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/category/transcripts/ Find the specific episode transcripts for the one you want to search and click the link Find the magnifying glass icon in blue (search feature) and click it Enter whatever word you want to search. I.e. Loans Every word in that episode when the words loans are used, will be highlighted in yellow with a timestamps Click the word highlighted in yellow and the player will play the episode from that starting point 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.   Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: questions@yourcollegeboundkid.com.   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 subscribe to 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, just text Mark at 404-664-4340 or email Lisa at lisa@schoolmatch4u.com. All they ask is that you review their services on their website before the complimentary session. Their counseling website is: https://schoolmatch4u.com/

In this episode you will hear:   (15:14) In this segment of “In the News” Mark and Dave discuss a March 23rd, 2022 article by Jeffrey Selingo that appeared in “The Atlantic” entitled, “The College Admissions Process is Completely Broken”. Mark points out what he believes are the most insightful points Selingo makes and he also points out some areas where he thinks Selingo didn’t mention some other important points that are contributing to a broken college admission system.       (47:00) Question from a listener-   If you like our article discussions, you will get a double dose in episode 222. Our question from a listener asks Lisa what she thinks of Derek Thompson, article in the Atlantic entitled, “Why American teens are so sad”. Mark and Lisa comment on the last two points in this article in the Atlantic. This is part 2 of a two part answer, so if you missed last week, we encourage you to go back and listen.     (01:08:02) Our Interview is with Dr. Roger Parrott, the President of Belhaven University in Jackson, Mississippi   Topic "What are the Major Trends Impacting Higher Education" Part 2 of 2   Roger picks up our conversation and makes a third point to the question, “What keeps presidents up at night” Roger gives an answer that is profound when it comes to how to evaluate the financial health of private colleges Roger gives his perspective on whether looking at enrollment trends is an important way to evaluate the financial health of the school Roger gives her perspective of looking at endowment as an indication of financial health Roger talks about the financial and educational value of online programs Roger talks about why so many colleges struggle to implement successful online degree programs Roger shares his biggest concern about online education Roger honestly answers the question, how much pressure to your fellow Presidents feel to climb the rankings Roger gives his opinion of what US News measures Roger gives his opinion on how demographics impacts enrollment Roger shares the things he feels parents should be looking for that often go overlooked? Roger gives some fantastic advice for what you should do on a campus visit     (01:20:20) Our recommended resource for episode 223 is the YouTube channel “Med Scool Insiders” They have over 300 videos that answer some of the most frequent questions that a student or parent have about med school. These animated videos are subscribed to by over 1.44 million people.   (01:34:10) Our College Spotlight looks at, “Understanding The University of Illinois Chicago, aka UIC. This is part 2 of 2.   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 them on the podcast. Mark will also share additional hot topics in the news and breaking news on this Twitter feed:     To access our transcripts, click: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/category/transcripts/ Find the specific episode transcripts for the one you want to search and click the link Find the magnifying glass icon in blue (search feature) and click it Enter whatever word you want to search. I.e. Loans Every word in that episode when the words loans are used, will be highlighted in yellow with a timestamps Click the word highlighted in yellow and the player will play the episode from that starting point 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.   Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: questions@yourcollegeboundkid.com.   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 subscribe to 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, just text Mark at 404-664-4340 or email Lisa at lisa@schoolmatch4u.com. All they ask is that you review their services on their website before the complimentary session. Their counseling website is:

In this episode you will hear:   (15:20) Mark and Dave discuss a Washington Post March 23rd, 2022 article by Wisconsin math professor Jordan Ellenberg, entitled, “Did Columbia game US News college rankings”. The article describes the research math professor at Columbia, Michael Thaddeus has done to expose how the data Columbia presented to US News was erroneous to such a level that it cannot be seen as an innocent mistake. He describes how Columbia moved from 18th to 2nd in the USNWR rankings. Mark and Dave discuss why this data fabrication happens all too often but they save most of their fire for exposing how preposterous the rankings are.     (40:12) Question from a listener-   If you like our article discussions, you will get a double dose in episode 222. Our question from a listener asks Lisa what she thinks of Derek Thompson, article in the Atlantic entitled, “Why American teens are so sad”. Mark describes the introductory content of the article and then he asks Lisa for feedback point by point. This is such an important topic that Lisa will take 25 minutes this week and 25 minutes next week to go into details about the four main points that the article makes. If you want to read the article, here is the link:     (01:11:10) Our Interview is with Dr. Roger Parrott, the President of Belhaven University in Jackson, Mississippi   Topic "What are the Major Trends Impacting Higher Education" Part 1 of 2   (01:25:50) Our recommended resource for episode 222 is the “Go to College Learning Differences college fair that occurs on Wednesday, May 4th from 11-1 pm and again on May 4th from 6:30-8:30. Here is a link to register:   (01:38:05) Our College Spotlight looks at, “Understanding The University of Illinois Chicago, aka UIC. This is part 1 of 2.       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 them on the podcast. Mark will also share additional hot topics in the news and breaking news on this Twitter feed:   https://twitter.com/YCBKpodcast   To access our transcripts, click: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/category/transcripts/ Find the specific episode transcripts for the one you want to search and click the link Find the magnifying glass icon in blue (search feature) and click it Enter whatever word you want to search. I.e. Loans Every word in that episode when the words loans are used, will be highlighted in yellow with a timestamps Click the word highlighted in yellow and the player will play the episode from that starting point 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.   Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: questions@yourcollegeboundkid.com.   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 subscribe to 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, just text Mark at 404-664-4340 or email Lisa at lisa@schoolmatch4u.com. All they ask is that you review their services on their website before the complimentary session. Their counseling website is: https://schoolmatch4u.com/