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

In this episode you will hear: (16:05) In this week's "In the news" segment, a November 22nd, 2021 article in the Hechinger Report, by jill Barshay "The number of college graduates in the humanities drops for the eighth consecutive year" Mark and Dave discuss why this is happening and what are the implications of this. https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-the-number-of-college-graduates-in-the-humanities-drops-for-the-eighth-consecutive-year/ (38:56) Mark and Lisa discuss a question that three listeners sent in to us: Why would Connecticut College tell a student with a 1320 on the SAT, that they will admit the student if they withdraw their test score. Mark and Lisa debate whether Conn College crossed an inappropriate line by doing this. Mark and Lisa got really immersed in this debate, with each side having points they wanted to make, so they turned this into a multiple part answer. This is part 1. (01:00:26) Mark interviews Lynda Doepker, a parent and podcast listener about how she strategically used parent college Facebook groups to learn more about the colleges her daughter is applying to. (Part 1 of 2) (01:11:26) Our recommended resource for episode 207 is the book: "The Debt Trap: How Student Loans Became a National Catastrophe" by Josh Mitchell. The book traces the 70 year history of how student debt is now at 1.6 trillion dollars. (01:21:54) The college Spotlight is: Sewanee: The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee (https://new.sewanee.edu/) 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: 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 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: 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: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-books/ Check out the college websites Mark recommends: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-websites/ If you want a college consultation with Mark or Lisa, just text Mark at 404-664-4340. All they ask is that you review the services on their website before the complimentary session. Their counseling website is: https://schoolmatch4u.com/

In this episode you will hear: (12:28) In this week's "In the news" segment, a blog article from the Josiah Barlett center of Public Policy entitled, by Andrew Cline "Is College Worth Is: Usually but not always" Dave and Mark discuss the statistics the blog article shares as they debate if college is worth it. https://jbartlett.org/2021/10/is-college-worth-it-usually-but-not-always-new-study-finds/#:~:text=A%20college%20degree%20is%20a,school%20students%20are%20constantly%20told.&text=Cooper's%20study%20adds%20real%20value,investment%2C%20not%20just%20lifetime%20earnings. (32:30) Mark and Lisa discuss two questions, one from a dad from Colorado and one from a high school student. Here are the two questions: First question- How can you evaluate whether a school does better than its peers at looking after First year students-Dave from Colorado Second question-I attend a small school and two of my peers committed to Duke as athletic recruits, will Duke consider taking 3 students from my small school or will their commitments hurt my chance of admission? Anonymous female student (58:30) Mark interviews two financial aid experts: Michael Ireland, Associate Director of Financial Aid and Courtney Hatch Blauvett, the Director of College Counseling at Miss Hall's school and the former financial aid officer at four different colleges. Michael and Courtney answer 13 questions that listeners to YCBK sent in over the last three months on all topics related to paying for college, financial aid, scholarships, etc. This is part 5 of 5. Preview-Part 5 Courtney and Michael continue their discussion about common mistakes they see a lot on the FAFSA and the PROFILE. Michael finishes up with the FAFSA and then he transitions to the PROFILE Courtney shares the most common mistakes she experiences both when she did financial aid and now that she is a Director of College Counseling Courtney and Michael answer the question, "Are you experiencing more schools requiring the FAFSA for merit aid"? Courtney-If my student will be starting college in the fall of 2022. I have heard that we should pay as we go for the first two years and use very little of our 529. The reason for this is that the colleges use your prior prior year taxes for FAFSA. Because if we wait for the last two years to use the money for the 529 it will not have any tax impact because he will be completed by then. So basically what I'm saying is we can use a lump sum toward his college and it not be held against us Mark puts Courtney and Michael on the hot seat with some lighthearted non financial aid questions Courtney returns for a 15 minute addendum to really emphasize some things about federal loans, student loans, parent loans and graduate student loans. (01:12:14) Our recommended resource for episode 206 is a great source for understanding how Federal legislation will impact what students have to pay for college. If you like following the technical aspects of student aid, the NASFAA Off the Cuff podcast may be for you. No college spotlight this week. Next week we will discuss, Sewanee: The University of the South Follow Mark Stucker on Twitter to get breaking college admission news, and updates about the podcast before they go live: 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 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: 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: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-books/ Check out the college websites Mark recommends: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-websites/ If you want a college consultation with Mark or Lisa, just text Mark at 404-664-4340. All they ask is that you review the services on their website before the complimentary session. Their counseling website is: https://schoolmatch4u.com/

In this episode you will hear: (12:25) In this week's "In the news" segment, a November 9th, 2021 article by Emma Whitford of "Inside Higher Ed", "A New push to create a 3-year degree option". Mark and Dave discuss a new 3-year degree. Is this a good idea or not? Which students are likely to take advantage of this? Mark and Dave discuss this and so much more. Part 2 of 2 https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/11/09/colleges-explore-new-three-year-bachelor%E2%80%99s-degree-program (20:18) Mark was asked in our questionnaire what trends he is observing for the future concerning college admissions, Mark and Lisa discuss 15 different observations Mark has made about where he sees admissions trending over the next 5-10 years. In Part 4 of 4 Mark and Lisa discuss the final four trends. (01:00:35) Mark interviews two financial aid experts: Michael Ireland, Associate Director of Financial Aid and Courtney Hatch Blauvett, the Director of College Counseling at Miss Hall's school and the former financial aid officer at four different colleges. Michael and Courtney answer 13 questions that listeners to YCBK sent in over the last three months on all topics related to paying for college, financial aid, scholarships, etc. This is part 4 of 5. Preview Part 4-preview Courtney takes the lead on the following question: Some schools like Franklin and Marshall offer an Early Estimate to students who apply Early Decision, is this different from a Net Price Calculator? https://www.fandm.edu/financial-aid/early-financial-aid-estimate Will a school stand by their Early Estimate and is this something other schools my child is considering will do if we ask them for an Early Estimate. Courtney explains how the Early estimate is different from the net price calculators and she shares two other schools that do this Michael answers the question, how would you respond if someone said, Smith, other schools are doing an Early Estimate, will you do an Early Estimate? Michael takes the lead on the following question: My child is applying to colleges that require the CSS PROFILE. I am divorced and the CSS PROFILE is asking for my ex to complete a non-custodial parent profile, but he has never been reliable, I know he just will not complete this, is there any option for my child or does she need to apply to schools that do not require this? Michael talks about the process they take at Smith when these dilemmas arise to try to work it out so the student isn't hurt Courtney speaks up about her experience Courtney answers the following question: My child was approved for Work-Study? How does she actually get a work-study job and can she get a job that is related to her major? She plans on majoring in Biology Courtney shares how work-study has worked at the schools she has worked and and Michael chimes in and shares how work-study has worked at the schools he has worked at Michael takes the lead on the following question-What are some common mistakes you see students and parents make on either the FAFSA or the CSS PROFILE? Michael and Courtney start this question on part four and finish up answering it on our final segment next week (01:11:55) Our recommended resource for episode 205 is a great source for understanding how colleges look at and interpret an application. It is a case Study that two experienced Rice admission officers lead. If you want to know how the sausage is made: watch this 46 minute video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P99ERmU5EoU&list=PLM3RTC0IjLJ3RACrqo7tRgpNY30hGFaiY&index=10 (01:25:37) Our College Spotlight is University College London (UCL) and Kevin Newton (our international university specialist) delivers the Spotlight. Part 2 of 2 Follow Mark Stucker on Twitter to get breaking college admission news, and updates about the podcast before they go live: 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 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: 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: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-books/ Check out the college websites Mark recommends: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-websites/ If you want a college consultation with Mark or Lisa, just text Mark at 404-664-4340. All Mark asks is that you review the services on their website before the complimentary session. Their counseling website is: https://schoolmatch4u.com/

In this episode you will hear: (32:03) In this week's "In the news" segment, a November 9th, 2021 article by Emma Whitford of "Inside Higher Ed", "A New push to create a 3-year degree option". Mark and Dave discuss a new 3-year degree. Is this a good idea or not? Which students are likely to take advantage of this? Mark and Dave discuss this and so much more. Part 1 of 2 https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/11/09/colleges-explore-new-three-year-bachelor%E2%80%99s-degree-program (41:25) Mark was asked in our questionnaire what trends he is observing for the future concerning college admissions, Mark and Lisa discuss 15 different observations Mark has made about where he sees admissions trending over the next 5-10 years. In Part 3 of 4 Mark and Lisa discuss four more trends. (01:03:46) Mark interviews two financial aid experts: Michael Ireland, Associate Director of Financial Aid and Courtney Hatch Blauvett, the Director of College Counseling at Miss Hall's school and the former financial aid officer at four different colleges. Michael and Courtney answer 13 questions that listeners to YCBK sent in over the last three months on all topics related to paying for college, financial aid, scholarships, etc. This is part 3 of 5. Preview Part 3-preview Courtney has a great idea that will help families and will be appreciated by some financial aid officers that she shares Courtney takes the lead on the following question: I've had schools tell me that Net Price Calculators tend to be inaccurate when someone owns their own business or if a student is coming from a family where the parents are divorced, separated or were never married, do you agree with this? Also, are there any other times that Net Price Calculators are not that reliable? Courtney answers this and she shares another group for whom the net price calculators are useless, and Michael adds a fourth category where calculators may not always be accurate. Michael takes the lead on the following question: Our child intentionally applied to colleges that say they meet full demonstrated need, we completed seven net price calculators and a few schools were more than double the best offer. I double checked my work so I know we never made a mistake, how can financial offers vary so much for schools that claim they meet full demonstrated need? Courtney adds some great tidbits to Michael's answer (01:09:40) Our recommended resource for episode 204 is a great source for research on Canadian universities and it is Macleans annual college edition: https://www.macleans.ca/hub/education-rankings/ (01:21:28) Our College Spotlight is University College London (UCL) and Kevin Newton (our international university specialist) delivers the Spotlight. Part 1 of 2 Follow Mark Stucker on Twitter to get breaking college admission news, and updates about the podcast before they go live: 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 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: 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: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-books/ Check out the college websites Mark recommends: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-websites/ If you want a college consultation with Mark or Lisa, just text Mark at 404-664-4340. All Mark asks is that you review the services on their website before the complimentary session. Their counseling website is: https://schoolmatch4u.com/

In this episode you will hear: (14:14) In this week's "In the news segment, an October 3rd, 2021 article by Ron Daniels of "The Atlantic", "Universities are Shunning Their Responsibility to Democracy" This scholarly article is written by the current president of Johns Hopkins university. Mark and Dave take this esoteric article and discuss how can our listeners apply the truths Daniels articulates to their own lives. Part 2 of 2 https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/10/universities-cant-dodge-civics/620261/ (20:40) Mark was asked in our questionnaire what trends he is observing for the future concerning college admissions, Mark and Lisa discuss 15 different observations Mark has made about where he sees admissions trending over the next 5-10 years; in Part 2 of 4. They discuss trends 4-7 in Part 2 (44:12) Mark interviews two financial aid experts: Michael Ireland, Associate Director of Financial Aid and Courtney Hatch Blauvett, the Director of College Counseling at Miss Hall's school and the former financial aid officer at four different colleges. Michael and Courtney answer 13 questions that listeners to YCBK sent in over the last three months on all topics related to paying for college, financial aid, scholarships, etc. This is part 2 of 5. Preview Part 2-preview Courtney takes the lead on this question but we have a great back and forth and exchange of ideas)-When do you have a good case to appeal the aid award your child received, and how should you appeal? Also, does the student have to do the appeal or should the parent do it? Courtney shares the various terms that different schools use for these appeals Courtney also shares seven areas where people frequently attempt to appeal an aid award that will not be deemed as a legitimate case for an aid evaluation. Michael takes the lead on this thorny question-"We completed a net price calculator for our oldest child and then the aid award came in and it was almost $4000 more than the net price calculator. We requested a meeting and met with the director of financial aid, and he told us that we had not made any mistakes on the Net Price Calculator, but their estimate is the accurate one and their award was final; he said, the net price calculator is only an estimate. Is this an exception, do college's stand behind their net price calculators, and if they don't, how can we trust Net Price Calculators?" (51:26) Our recommended resource for episode 203 is Tom Krieglstein's 2020 book, entitled "Perfect Quotes for College Success: Inspiration, advice, and tips for anyone going to college Paperback by Tom Krieglstein This book has over 300 quotes on 34 topics related to excelling while in college. (01:03:15) Our College Spotlight is Appalachian State in Boone, NC. Lisa just spend three days in Boone and she gives us a breakdown on App State. Part 2 of 2 Follow Mark Stucker on Twitter to get breaking college admission news, and updates about the podcast before they go live: 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 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: 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! Check out the college admissions books Mark recommends: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-books/ Check out the college websites Mark recommends: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-websites/ If you want a college consultation with Mark or Lisa, just text Mark at 404-664-4340. All he asks is that you review the services on their website first. Their counseling website is: https://schoolmatch4u.com/

In this episode you will hear: (13:18) In this week's "In the news segment, an October 3rd, 2021 article by Ron Daniels of "The Atlantic", "Universities are Shunning Their Responsibility to Democracy" This scholarly article is written by the current president of Johns Hopkins university. Mark and Dave discuss the salient points from this article in what will be part 1 of 2 https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/10/universities-cant-dodge-civics/620261/ (29:26) Mark was asked in our questionnaire what trends he is observing for the future concerning college admissions, Mark and Lisa discuss 14 different observations Mark has made in Part 1 of 4. They discuss the first three trends in Part 1 (01:01:10) Mark interviews two financial aid experts: Michael Ireland, Associate Director of Financial Aid and Courtney Hatch Blauvett, the Director of College Counseling at Miss Hall's school and the former financial aid officer at four different colleges. Michael and Courtney answer 13 questions that listeners to YCBK sent in over the last three months on all topics related to paying for college, financial aid, scholarships, etc. This is part 1 of 5. Preview Part 1 Courtney Hatch and Michael Ireland both give us their backstory and they share what they enjoy about financial aid and counseling Question 1-My son is interested in out of state public schools but it is going to be expensive for us to pay for out of state tuition for all four years, how can I find out exactly what we have to do to pay "in-state" tuition at his "out of state" school? I have heard it varies from one school to another Question 2-How can we tell if a private college has decent financial health? Where do we do our digging to get info on this? (01:14:00) Our recommended resource for episode 202 is Ron Lieber's book, "The Freshman Survival Guide: Soulful Advice for Studying, Socializing, and Everything In Between by Nora Bradbury-Haehl and Bill McGarvey This book provides sage advice about how to successfully transfer from high school to college. It covers topics like: academics, roommates, mental health, money, social life, etc. (01:26:23) Our College Spotlight is Appalachian State in Boone, NC. Lisa just spend three days in Boone and she gives us a breakdown on App State. Part 1 of 2 Follow Mark Stucker on Twitter to get breaking college admission news, and updates about the podcast before they go live: 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 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: 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! Check out the college admissions books Mark recommends: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-books/ Check out the college websites Mark recommends: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-websites/ If you want a college consultation with Mark or Lisa, just text Mark at 404-664-4340. All he asks is that you review the services on their website first. Their counseling website is: https://schoolmatch4u.com/

In this episode you will hear: (07:36) In this week's "In the news segment, an October 25th, 2021 article by Scott Jaschik of "Inside Higher Ed", "Do applicants lie about their race?" The website intelligent asked 1250 white adults whether they lied about their race when they applied to college. Mark and Dave discuss the results of the survey. Dave and Mark also give their opinion on the content and substance of the article. https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2021/10/25/survey-asks-if-applicants-are-truthful-about-race (29:46) Dr. Lisa Rouff takes the lead in her discussion with Mark about the pitfalls of perfectionism and how it impacts students. Part 2 of 2 (46:51) Mark interviews Matt McGann, the Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Amherst College. Matt helps us to understand, "Amherst College" This is part 2 of 2: Preview of Part 2 Matt tells us what the 5 College Consortium is and he gives a very brief overview of each of the 5 colleges in the consortium Matt shares the benefits of being at a school that gives you access to the 5 College Consortium Matt tells us what Amherst admissions officers are looking for beyond the three basic things every college wants: Is this a good student, is this a good citizen and will this student plug in and contribute. You don't want to miss his insightful answer I put Matt on the hot seat and you will learn about a side of Matt that didn't come out in the formal part of the interview Matt's discussion of Amherst will serve as our College Spotlight. (54:46) Our recommended resource for episode 201 is Ron Lieber's book, "The Price You Pay for College: An Entirely New Roadmap for the Biggest Financial Decision Your Family Will Ever Make" The book does a pretty good job at removing the shroud of secrecy about how decisions about what you will be asked to pay actually works, so you and your child are not blindsided by an unaffordable offer from a college. Follow Mark Stucker on Twitter to get breaking college admission news, and updates about the podcast before they go live: 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 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: 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! Check out the college admissions books Mark recommends: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-books/ Check out the college websites Mark recommends: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-websites/ If you want a college consultation with Mark or Lisa, just text Mark at 404-664-4340. All he asks is that you review the services on their website first. Their counseling website is: https://schoolmatch4u.com/

In this episode you will hear: (12:32) In this week's "In the news segment, an October 4th, 2021 article by Scott Jaschik of "Inside Higher Ed", "Can young alumni get colleges to drop legacy admissions" Dave and Mark and a very special first time guest join them for this discussion. To celebrate episode 200 this special guest also joins Mark and Dave for a second article by Melissa Korn of the Wall Street Journal entitled: "Amherst Drops admissions advantage for children of alumni" https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2021/10/04/can-young-alumni-get-colleges-drop-legacy-admissions https://www.wsj.com/articles/amherst-college-drops-admissions-advantage-for-children-of-alumni-11634731200 We previously discussed legacy admissions on episodes 121 and 180. Here is the article I referenced in the podcast that appeared in the Atlantic by the President of Johns Hopkins: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/01/why-we-ended-legacy-admissions-johns-hopkins/605131/ (40:00) Dr. Lisa Rouff takes the lead in her discussion with Mark about the pitfalls of perfectionism and how it impacts students. Part 1 of 2 (58:03) Mark interviews Matt McGann, the Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Amherst College. Matt helps us to understand, "Amherst College" This is part 1 of 2: Part 1-Preview Preview of Part 1 Matt gives us an overview of Amherst college Matt explains what the Liberal Arts actually are and he explains why the term, "Liberal Arts" is such poor marketing Matt tells us what he thinks Amherst does very well compared to other schools that students look at, and of course, Amherst has done research on this and he shares that research with us. Matt highlights two things in particular that Amherst does very well, based on their research Matt talks about the percentage of students on campus at Amherst Matt shares the things that Amherst needs to do to be an even better college. Matt's discussion of Amherst will serve as our College Spotlight. (01:05:50) Our recommended resource is the podcast, "Motley Fool Answers". The podcast does one or two episodes a year on college money but the monthly Mailbag episodes are chalked full of great financial advice to help every family with their finances. Follow Mark Stucker on Twitter to get breaking college admission news, and updates about the podcast before they go live: 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 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: 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! Check out the college admissions books Mark recommends: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-books/ Check out the college websites Mark recommends: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-websites/ If you want a college consultation with Mark or Lisa, just text Mark at 404-664-4340. All he asks is that you review the services on their website first. Their counseling website is: https://schoolmatch4u.com/

In this episode you will hear: (07:52) In this week's "In the news segment, an October 4th, 2021 article by Allison Tate of "USA Today", "How important is it to take AP Classes for College Admissions" Dave and Mark answer several questions including: 1) What are AP classes? 2) How important are AP test scores? 3) How many AP courses should a student take? 4) Are all AP classes equal? 5) Do colleges see AP courses and dual enrollment courses as being equal? Plus more https://www.today.com/parents/how-important-are-ap-classes-college-admissions-t232574 (31:36) Mark and Lisa answer the following three questions from listeners: Question 1) Why does the Common App ask what is the occupation of the parents? If my husband has an executive management position are colleges going to discriminate against our son? (Kim from Illinois) Question 2) I see a lot of colleges we are looking at talk about the QuestBridge college application, what is the QuestBridge college application? Anonymous Question 3) What is the maximum amount of loan debt a student should take out for an undergraduate degree? (01:12:15) Mark interviews Matt McGann, the Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Amherst College. Matt will be discussing How to get a research opportunity with a college professor. This is part 2 of 2: Part 2-Preview Matt talks about some other people besides the professors themselves who are great people to reach out to if you want to do research Matt goes into more depth on the difference between doing research at undergraduate only college versus doing research at a place that has doctoral degrees. Matt talks about how the approach, who your mentor is and how the feel will be different Matt ends our interview by giving advice to a high student, what they can do to get an opportunity to start doing research while in high school with a college professor (01:23:02) Our recommended resource is The American Council of Higher Education (ACE) website. We particularly want to draw attention to their top stories in Higher Education. This is a great way to stay current on the hot topics in the news beyond the one that Mark and Dave discuss every week on the podcast. https://www.acenet.edu/News-Room/Pages/Todays-Top-Higher-Education-News.aspx (01:28:46) Our College Spotlight for episode 198 is Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, better known as "RPI". This 36 minute college spotlight will be split over episode 198 and 199. This is Part 2/2 Follow Mark Stucker on Twitter to get breaking college admission news, and updates about the podcast before they go live: 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 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: 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! Check out the college admissions books Mark recommends: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-books/ Check out the college websites Mark recommends: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-websites/ If you want a college consultation with Mark or Lisa, just text Mark 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: (09:54) In this week's "In the news segment, a September 20th article by Patrick O'Connor of the Counselors' Corner blog, "The media is not a college applicant's best friend" This blog article looks at how what stories the media focuses on out of touch with where most college applicants are at. Mark and Dave discuss why the media focuses on the wrong stories and how their fixation is not in the best interest of college applicants. https://hscw-counselorscorner.blogspot.com/2021/09/the-media-is-not-college-applicants.html (26:09) Mark and Lisa answer the following two questions from listeners: Question 1) My son has lost interest in a specific college because he thinks the acceptance rate is too high; what can you tell him? Ann from Illinois Question 2) If the school meets a full financial need, how can they prevent having too many "needy" students accepted in a given class and still remain need-blind? Tazin from California (56:06) Mark interviews Matt McGann, the Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Amherst College. Matt will be our interview for the next four weeks. The first two weeks he discusses, how to get a research opportunity with a college professor. The following two weeks he will help us to understand Amherst College. Here is an outline of the interview: Part 1-Preview Matt gives his backstory including his admission experience Matt tells us what he majored in when in college, and how he applied his major in the real world Matt tells us what research actually is, and you will love his definition of research! Matt tells us about his own research that he has done Matt lets us know how doing research at an undergraduate college differs from doing research at a university that offers doctoral degrees Matt tells us where a student should start when they want to do undergraduate research (01:04:03) Our recommended resource is to look at the college career centers for any school on your student's list. We feature RPI's Center for Career and Professional Development as an example of this treasure trove of a resource that you want to check out for the college's on our student's list: https://ccpd.rpi.edu/ (01:18:30) Our College Spotlight for episode 198 is Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, better known as "RPI". This 36 minute college spotlight will be split over episode 198 and 199. Follow Mark Stucker on Twitter to get breaking college admission news, and updates about the podcast before they go live: 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 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: 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! Check out the college admissions books Mark recommends: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-books/ Check out the college websites Mark recommends: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-websites/ If you want a college consultation with Mark or Lisa, just text Mark at 404-664-4340. All he asks is that you review the services on his website first. His website is: https://schoolmatch4u.com/