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

In this episode you will hear:     (10:00) In this week’s “In the news segment, an August 19, 2019  USA Today article by Teghan Simonton entitled, “College recruiters aggressively go after out of state students”. The article looks at which colleges are taking the most out of state students. It also looks at the reasons why this is happening. Mark and Dave discuss all the points in the article and they tackle the topic, Is this advisable or disgraceful. They also talk about what colleges are doing to keep their competitors from raiding their own state for talent.     (33:01) Mark and Lisa tackle two questions this week. Look for Mark and Lisa to do this more often as they are trying to get caught up when there are at least 30 questions that have been submitted that they have yet to answer.   Question 1 is from Ryan from Arizona: Should my child submit his COGAT results from middle school to college?   Question 2 is from Lori from New York: What is the difference between Early Decision 1 and Early Decision 2?   (50:41) Mark interviews Lisa Keegan, the VP of Enrollment at Bucknell University. The topic of the interview is: The priority of fit when building a college list. This is part 1 of a two-part interview.      Preview for Part 1 Lisa gives her backstory, where she grew up, how she got into admissions and various jobs that she has had Lisa answers the question, “what does a student need to know about themself before embarking on their college search?” Lisa shares some of the common places where students start their search that are often ill-advised. I ask Lisa, how can a student focus on fit when there is so much pressure on them to focus on prestige and she gives us some sage advice   (59:26) Recommended resource: A great source for curated lists on a number of very relevant topics: https://www.collegetransitions.com/   (01:08:25) College Spotlight: University at Buffalo (UB)-http://www.buffalo.edu/     Follow Mark Stucker on Twitter to get breaking college admission news,  and updates about the podcast before they go live:   To access our transcripts, click: 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 is 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   Feel free to pass this podcast on to others who you feel will benefit, even if they are not a YCBK listener.   Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: . 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 a college consultation with Mark, just text him at 404-664-4340. All he asks is that you review the services on his website first. His website is: https://schoolmatch4u.com/

In this episode you will hear:   (13:45) In this week’s “In the news segment, a September 6th, 2021 Wall Street Journal article by Douglas Belkin looks at the data indisputably proving that colleges are increasingly becoming more female and less male. The article also explores some of the reasons why this is happening. Mark and Dave began this conversation about six weeks ago and they promised a part 2 within eight weeks. Mark and Dave discuss nine reasons why colleges are not appealing to men these days. Mark and Dave had planned on discussing an article by Phillip Cook and Glenn Sacks, entitled, “Mysterious Decline-Where are the Men on Campus” before the WSJ article broke, so Dave and Mark also discuss this article. In fact, they pushed back their college spotlight so they could do a 45 minute deep dive into this topic. For this article, Mark and Dave focus on what happens in the elementary school years.     (49:15) Every fifth week YCBK has bonus content; this is a passion that Mark and/or Lisa just feel they need to share. In this edition, Mark and Lisa are discussing what students should do now if they are in the 12th grade. This is the fourth part of a sequel that began on #175 when they looked at what to do in the elementary and middle school years, #180, what to do in the 9th and 10th grade, 185, what to do in the 11th grade. Mark and Lisa will return to the final episode of this sequel in May of 2022 to look at what to do in the summer between graduating from high school and starting in college.   (01:24:04) Mark interviews Eric Furda,  who spent over 25 years in high level leadership at both Columbia and Penn. This is the final segment of a three-part interview. In Part 3 of 3, Mark asks Eric the following questions:    Preview for Part 3 Eric talks about how colleges use college-specific questions to learn important things about the applicants Eric answers Mark’s question, what are the things that are misunderstood about selective institutions? Eric pulls no punches when Mark asks him, how is U Penn different from Columbia and he is answering so I ask him several more follow up questions on the comparison of the two schools. I close by putting Eric on the hot seat and we get to learn a lot about the lighter side of Eric   (01:31:38) Recommended resource: A sensational resource for anyone who wants to know which colleges serve Jewish students well: https://hillel.org/college-guide   Follow Mark Stucker on Twitter to get breaking college admission news,  and updates about the podcast before they go live:   To access our transcripts, click: 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 is 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   Feel free to pass this podcast on to others who you feel will benefit, even if they are not a YCBK listener.   Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: . 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!

In this episode you will hear:   (13:45) In this week’s “In the news segment, a June 29th, 2021 Harvard Crimson article by Nate Herpich looks at why 2U bought Edx for 800 million dollars, what changes does 2U plan on making,  and how will the money from the sale be used. Mark and Dave explain who Edx and 2U are.  They discuss many of the frequently asked questions that this article tackles. Online courses are growing and this purchase of Edx by 2U will not only help bridge the gap between well-resourced and under-resourced students but it will allow Edx to stay cutting edge with their offerings for all students. Edx has been around since 2012 when MOOC (Massive Open-Online courses) really took off but in recent years it has fallen behind Coursera. This purchase by 2U is going to help learners from all income brackets.     (24:14) Mark and Lisa answer the following question:    Our son loves computer science and programming but also is a voracious reader of literature, history and pretty much everything.  We’ve only recently learned about 3+2 programs where a student could do a few years at a liberal arts college and then finish up at a university for CS. Have you done an episode on this topic?  If not, we’d be interested in hearing more! If you can couple that with a discussion of the schools that participate (seems like Dartmouth and Columbia team up a lot), that would be great.  Also, I can't tell if students apply as incoming freshmen or have to apply once they get to the liberal arts school?  For example, if a student gets into say USC for CS as well as a great liberal arts college but won't know if they can get into a companion engineering program if they are supposed to apply as a rising Sophomore, then it seems really risky to go to the liberal arts college   Mark and Lisa discuss the pros and cons of 3/2 engineering programs.   (45:00) Mark interviews Eric Furda,  who spent over 25 years in high level leadership at both Columbia and Penn. This will be a three-part interview. In Part 2 of 3, Mark asks Eric the following questions:    Preview for Part 2   Eric answers several questions about institutional priorities and he gives an ingenious way for our listeners to know what a school’s institutional priorities are Eric gives advice to any teacher listening about what to focus on when you write a teacher recommendation What is a good AP score? What AP score should a student not submit versus submit? We stay on the topic of test scores and I ask Eric when should a student submit their ACT or SAT scores, and when should they choose to apply test optional?   (56:54) Recommended resource: Dr. Lisa Rouff shares another great resource she introduced Mark to named, Corsava. It is a card sort online test that helps identify the qualities in a college each student will thrive at. Mark and Lisa have Corsava subscriptions and we use this test with all of the students that we counsel. Students enjoy this and it takes only about 12 minutes. https://corsava.com/   (01:10:37) Our college Spotlight goes to Spokane Washington to do a deep dive on Gonzaga University   Follow Mark Stucker on Twitter to get breaking college admission news,  and updates about the podcast before they go live:   Feel free to pass this podcast on to others who you feel will benefit, even if they are not a YCBK listener.   Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: . 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!   Music is by SENA HERO/Victor-Alan Weeks.

In this episode you will hear:   (09:58) In this week’s “In the news segment, a Feb 2nd, 2021 Inside Higher Ed article by Greta Anderson looks at a research study that explains why so many students are applying to HBCU’s these days.  Mark discusses this article with someone very special to the YCBK podcast family. Dave is off this week as he takes his daughter back to Yale. Dave had gone 82 weeks in a row without missing an episode. Mark and our surprise co-host discuss whether they agree with the findings in this article.     (33:42) Mark and Lisa answer the following question from a mom from Wisconsin:  Not sure if this is a topic for you or not, but I have heard every episode and I do not believe you have talked about the emotional side of kids leaving college, or leaving the parents, and since Moms are a big part of your audience and you have Lisa now, maybe she could say a few words about it. I am just really struggling with having my daughter go so far away. I know she is so ready to spread her wings, but I am going to miss being so connected to her. Around my area, it is so not the norm to go far away where we live, so I don't have a lot of mom friends who can relate. Most kids go close to home, and the high achievers just go to UW Madison which is close! If it's not admissions-related enough, no problem, I understand - I just was thinking of it since it would be a"new" topic that I don’t believe you addressed.   Mark and Lisa each give their best advice for parents who are struggling with being separated from their child as they go off to college.    (01:03:35) Mark interviews Eric Furda,  who spent over 25 years in high level leadership at both Columbia and Penn. This will be a three-part interview. In Part 1, Mark asks Eric the following questions:    Preview for Part 1   Eric shares what he has learned from going from an admission Dean to a college counselor Eric answers Mark’s question about how colleges are handling challenges like: increased costs, the demographic cliff and the birth dearth that threaten to decrease the pool of applicants Eric answers the question, how do colleges project their yield (the percentage of accepted students who enroll)   (01:12:48) Recommended resource: Dr. Lisa Rouff prepared for our question this week by reading the book: The Naked Roommate: For Parents only. We recommended the student edition around two years ago but now Lisa shares what she learned from reading Harlan Cohen’s book: The Naked Roommate: For Parents Only: Calling, Not Calling, Roommates, Relationships, Friends, Finances, and Everything Else That Really Matters when ... Goes to College (Student Parenting Book)   (01:25:30) Our college Spotlight goes to Temple University in Philadelphia, PA (https://www.temple.edu/)   Great news! Even if your child didn’t sign up for the SAT or ACT, Jed Applerouth and Ginger Fay are inviting all YCBK listeners and those who you refer to attend their one hour question and answer session about anything and everything about the ACT, the SAT or applying to college. Ginger Fay worked in admissions at Emory and Duke and Phillips Andover, and she was also an independent college counselor;  she will join Jed. Jed will do a 15 minute overview of how the ACT is different from the SAT and then they will take your questions for 45 minutes. Just type your questions in the chat box. Now if you want to attend this you need to sign up. Here is a link to sign up: https://www.applerouth.com/signup/?scheduleid=457794   Go to September 8th at 8:30pm and you will see our event. Enter the following code to reserve your spot: M457794.   Follow Mark Stucker on Twitter to get breaking college admission news,  and updates about the podcast before they go live:   Feel free to pass this on to others who you feel will benefit, even if they are not a YCBK listener.   Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: . Music is by SENA HERO/Victor-Alan Weeks. 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!

In this episode you will hear:   (17:23) In this week’s “In the news segment, a July 21st, 2021 Inside Higher Ed article by Scott Jaschik about how colleges tours have changed in the age of covid. The article looks at six colleges in different regions of the country and it looks at how they have made significant changes to how they do tours. Dave and Mark discuss these changes and they chime in with their thoughts.     (37:05) Mark and Lisa answer the following question:   Where do late bloomers go to college? When I read about college admissions and listen to your podcast, the featured examples are usually solid high school students with good GPAs and test scores. What about amazing kids who bloom later and perhaps don't show as well in high school?   (57:13) This is the first time we ever have a double interview on the podcast. We start with Eric Furda who spent over 25 years in high-level leadership at both Columbia and Penn, but this week I ask Eric a series of questions about his recently released book that he co-authored with Jacques Steinberg entitled, “A College conversation: A Practical Companion for Parents to Guide Their Children Along the Path to Higher Education” (01:31:26) Our second interview is an update from Kristen Mosley about how her scholarship search is going now that she is at Spelman. Kristen has a big announcement for all of us.   (01:27:28) Recommended resource: Look at the poll results at niche.com to their question, what one word best describes your school.     Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: . Music is by SENA HERO/Victor-Alan Weeks. 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!

In this episode you will hear:   (13:50) In this week’s “In the news segment, a June, 2021 Washington Post article by Daniel Douglas Gabriel about how the Simplified FAFSA will no longer be implemented in 2023. Mark and Dave discuss what the Simplified FAFSA is and they have a dialogue about what the implications of this change will be.     (25:56) Mark and Lisa discuss a question from Michele in Michigan who wants to know whether colleges will take into consideration a few lower than average grades that were caused because of the disruptions that covid brought on.     (48:30) This week’s interview is with a student, Kristen Mosley, a student at Spelman College. Student worked diligently to win 10 outside scholarships. In Part 3 Kristen discusses the following topics:   Kristen talks about what she is doing to win scholarships while she is in college We discuss sweepstake scholarships Kristen talks about her experience targeting scholarships from places of worship Kristen breaks down all of her scholarships that she won Kristen talks about something so important that my interview would not have been complete if this topic didn’t come up Kristen tells us about what makes Spelman special to her I put Kristen on the ‘hot seat” and we get to know Kristen outside of the college search. I close by asking Kristen if her GPA was a 2.8 would she have still won scholarships   (58:02) Recommended resource: https://www.collegevine.com, a tremendous free resource for many things including   (01:11:23) College Spotlight: College of Charleston https://cofc.edu/   Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: . Music is by SENA HERO/Victor-Alan Weeks. 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!

In this episode you will hear:   (16:40) In this week’s “In the news segment”, a June 21st, 2021 article in the Washington Post by five authors entitled, “Colleges want students to get a coronavirus vaccine. But they’re split on requiring the shots” Dave and Mark discuss which schools are requiring vaccines and which ones are not. They discuss the pressure colleges feel when they are at odds with their governor and they discuss some creative work-a rounds some schools are using. Dave presents a powerful medical case for why there is no justification for vaccine resistance.   (42:15) It is bonus content week, every fifth episode Mark uses the question time to share something on his heart. This week continues a series that Mark and Lisa began on episode 175 when they discussed, what to do if your child is in elementary or middle school. In episode 180 they looked at what your child should do if they are in the 9th or 10th grade and this week they took 40 minutes to discuss what you should be doing now if you are in the 11th grade.    (01:22:52) This week’s interview is with a student, Kristen Mosley, a student at Spelman College. Student worked diligently to win 10 outside scholarships. In Part 2 of 3, Kristen discusses the following topics: Kristen shares some other scholarships that she won and she shares why she feel that she won these scholarships We talk about looking at other high schools for scholarships We talk about whether Kristen used book and websites in her search We talk about workplace scholarships Kristen has a lot to say about deadlines Next we talk about the importance of recommenders, how to get them and how to be efficient with them Kristen tells us how many scholarships she applies to in total and every week. Then we talk about whether Kristen used an accountability partner to help her with her search. Finally, we talk about what Kristen is doing to win scholarships now that she is a student at Spelman     (01:33:30) Recommended resource: Hear from Eric Furda (former Dean of Admissions at U Penn) in his own words about his SiriusXM’s show,The Process, the monthly program serving students and families with valuable insight into the college search, can be heard on  on Saturdays and Sundays, as well as    Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: . Music is by SENA HERO/Victor-Alan Weeks. 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!

In this episode you will hear:   (11:00) In this week’s “In the news segment”, a June 17th, 2021 article from Jon Marcus of the Hechinger report entitled, “Colleges fight attempts to stop them from withholding transcripts over unpaid bills” Dave and Mark discuss whether it is appropriate for colleges to withhold transcripts from colleges graduates because they have a financial balance. Mark and Dave agree about 75% but the more they talked the more it became apparent that their perspective slightly differs. Mark and Dave discuss how politicians are getting involved and weighing in on the legitimacy of this practice. They also talk about which students are the ones that this practice impacts the most.     (27:00) Tony from Illinois has a great question about how his junior son who has POTS should communicate this to colleges. Lisa explains what POTS is, and then Mark shares four options that Tony’s son has in how to communicate his POTS. Mark says all four ways make sense in different situations but Mark shares his two favorite ways of the four.   (50:08) This week’s interview is with a student, Kristen Mosley, a student at Spelman College. Student worked diligently to win 10 outside scholarships. In Part 1 of 3, Kristen discusses the following topics:   Kristen gives her backstory, including what she was involved in during high school She tells us what it is like being a student during the pandemic Kristen talks about how important her relationship was with school counselor when it came to winning scholarships Kristen talks about some of the scholarships her school counselor told her about and she shares the details of these scholarships. Kristen talks about how she floundered when she first started applying scholarships and she explains why she struggled so much Next she shares a few changes she made and how she starting experiencing success Finally, Kristen discusses Sorority scholarships   (01:01:09) Recommended resource: Get Real and Get In: How to Get Into the College of Your Dreams by Being Your Authentic Self by     (01:14:55) Our college Spotlight is Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (https://www1.lehigh.edu/)   Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: . Music is by SENA HERO/Victor-Alan Weeks. 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! EXCITING OPPORTUNITY We are excited to announce that Your College-Bound Kid and School Match 4U are putting together panels of current undergraduates, so parents, students and college counselors can ask the students about their college experiences. This is an excellent way to get beyond the marketing from the colleges and to learn what the student experience is really like. This survey will help us to know which colleges you are interested in meeting students from; it will also let us know what are the best days for us to host these panels.  https://tinyurl.com/preferences4studentpanels

In this episode you will hear:   (18:18) In this week’s “In the news segment”, a June 19th, 2021 article from Melissa Korn of the Wall Street Journal entitled, “Hunt is on for high school students who left the college path“ The article shares the stats about how many kids veered away from college since graduating from high school. The article shows some of the very creative ways colleges are attempting to lure them back. Dave and Mark discuss how the actions these colleges are taking and they do some forecasting as to whether this is atypical of what we can expect in the future.   “https://www.wsj.com/articles/hunt-is-on-for-high-school-graduates-who-left-the-college-path-11624095000.”   (34:34) Kim from Illinois wants to know when her son should start applying and complete his applications. Mark five of the most common college applications in the country and Mark and Lisa discuss when you should start and finish your application for these schools.   (01:10:29) This week’s interview is with Christina Lopez, the Dean of Admission at Barnard college, the highly selective women’s college that is one of the undergraduate colleges of Columbia University. This week Christina continues to answer questions that students, parents and college counselors who are listeners to our podcast submitted to us.   The Barnard interview with Christina went almost an hour, so we divided this into Part 1 and Part 2.   (01:23:08) Recommended resource: Malcolm Gladwell’s Revisionist History podcast did two episodes on the college rankings. The first is called Lord and the Rankings and the second is called Project Dilliard.   Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: . Music is by SENA HERO/Victor-Alan Weeks. 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! EXCITING OPPORTUNITY We are excited to announce that Your College-Bound Kid and School Match 4U are putting together panels of current undergraduates, so parents, students and college counselors can ask the students about their college experiences. This is an excellent way to get beyond the marketing from the colleges and to learn what the student experience is really like. This survey will help us to know which colleges you are interested in meeting students from; it will also let us know what are the best days for us to host these panels.  https://tinyurl.com/preferences4studentpanels

In this episode you will hear:   (20:41) In this week’s “In the news segment”, a May 22nd, 2021 article from Jon Marcus of the Hechinger Report entitled, “Colleges face a reckoning as plummeting birthrate worsens enrollment declines.”   ” The article includes statistics that show the indisputable proof that colleges are experiencing an enrollment decline. Dave gives us an accurate and insightful overview of the article, and then Mark and Dave share the five things colleges are doing to combat this enrollment decline.     (46:39) Rob from Texas wrote in and asked us whether there are other programs out there like the dual degree program between Trinity College in Dublin and Columbia University. Lisa and Mark decided last week to take this episode to do a deep diver into this unique program.  This week Lisa and Mark talk about what other programs out there are similar to Trinity College and Columbia University dual degree program.   (01:07:05) This week’s interview is with Christina Lopez, the Dean of Admission at Barnard college, the highly selective women’s college that is one of the undergraduate colleges of Columbia University. This week Christina gives us a detailed overview of Barnard College. Christina also answers a few of the nine questions that we selected that you are our listeners sent in.   The Barnard interview with Christina went almost an hour, so we divided this into Part 1 and Part 2.   (01:21:10) Recommended resource: https://poetsandquants.com/  This website is an excellent source of information for anything related to the best business schools in the US and abroad. It covers undergrad business programs and MBA programs.   Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: . Music is by SENA HERO/Victor-Alan Weeks. 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! EXCITING OPPORTUNITY We are excited to announce that Your College-Bound Kid and School Match 4U are putting together panels of current undergraduates, so parents, students and college counselors can ask the students about their college experiences. This is an excellent way to get beyond the marketing from the colleges and to learn what the student experience is really like. This survey will help us to know which colleges you are interested in meeting students from; it will also let us know what are the best days for us to host these panels.  https://tinyurl.com/preferences4studentpanels