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

In this episode you will hear:   (06:02) In this week’s “In the news segment”, a January 19th, 2021 article from Jon Marcus of the Hechinger Report entitled, The pandemic is speeding up the mass disappearance of men from college.   ” The article includes statistics that show the huge gender disparity between the number of men and the number of women who are going to college. The article examines the reason for this gender gap. Mark and Dave discuss the reasons listed in the article. Mark and Dave say this discussion is so important that they promise to return to this topic again for a Part 2 within the next 10 weeks. Mark would like to thank Khristie, a College and Career counselor in Virginia who is so concerned that we are losing our young men. Khristie asked us to please discuss this on our podcast.     (23:58) Question from the listener and College Spotlight 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 I decided to take this episode to do a deep diver into this unique program. This will also serve as our College Spotlight for the week. Next week we will talk about what other programs out there are similar to this. This program is one every college counselor should be familiar with. It is a program that could be an excellent option for  someone who wants an International experience that goes beyond Study Abroad.   College Spotlight: Trinity College and Columbia dual degree program. https://tcd.gs.columbia.edu/   (01:08:57) 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. Christina’s topic is, should a student discuss their mental health challenges in their admission application. In Part 2 of 2, we discuss the following: Christina answers the question, how is a student to know whether they should share a mental health struggle or whether it will sabotage their admission chances Christina talks about how the essay differs from what a student would say with the therapist Christina talks about how the resources to support mental health vary drastically from one school to another Christina reflects on the admission profession and she gives an honest assessment on where things are when it comes to understanding and accepting student’s mental health Christina talks about ones of the tests they use to discern if a student is admissible when they have had mental health challenges Christina talks about some of the missteps that students make in their essays Christina closes with a profound statement about what she looks for and likes to see in an essay. I thought it was so profound that I ask her Christina to repeat it     (01:18:00) Recommended resource: Loren Pope’s classic book, “Colleges that Change Lives” looks at several dozen small transformational colleges that welcome many B students.   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:   (12:58) In this week’s “In the news segment”, a June 1st, 2021 article from Scott Jaschik of  Inside Higher Ed. The article is entitled, “Legacy Admissions Banned in Colorado”   ” The article looks at the research that led to the decision by the governor of Colorado to become the first state to ban legacy admissions. Dave and Mark present the argument for and against legacy admissions. Mark and Dave share their view on this topic and it is a view that may surprise our listeners. Mark draws heavily off a 2019 article in the New York Times entitled, “End Legacy College Admissions”     (35:20) This week is bonus content week. In episode 175 Lisa and Mark discussed what a student and parent should do in elementary and middle school. In today’s episode, Mark and Lisa discuss what a student should do in the 9th and 10th grade. Mark shares 10 things he believes students should do and Lisa comments on the three or four that really resonated with her. Dr. Lisa Rouff draws off over 25 years as clinical psychologist to provide some prescient insights based on her practice. Mark turns to parents and shares four things parents can do and once again, Lisa has some sage advice.     (01:09:42) 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. Christina’s topic is, should a student discuss their mental health challenges in their admission application: Christina shares her backstory She shares how her theater background helps her in admissions I introduce the topic of whether a student should communicate their mental health challenges in their admission application Christina candidly shares her own challenge with depression and anxiety; how it impacts her on her job and how she has learned to still excel on her job. Christina relates her own struggles to the struggle’s students are facing with the stress of the college process and the challenges of doing well in school and applying to college in the middle of covid-19 Christina explains how she got so comfortable sharing her own struggles publicly   (01:19:12) Recommended resource: The Facebook private group College Admissions Counselors. The group brings admissions counselors and college counselors together in one place. The group has almost 18000 members. It is a private group that is only for who can prove they are in the profession.   College Spotlight: returns next week with the Trinity College-Dublin 2 plus 2 program with Columbia   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:   (20:10) In this week’s “In the news segment”, an article from Arvind Ashok of the New York Times. The article is entitled, “The Persistent Grip of Social Class on College Admissions” ” The article looks at the research that was based on studying 60,000 essays from authors affiliated with the Student Narrative Lab at Stanford shows that essay content. The research shows essays are more highly correlated with household income than SAT scores are. We talk about the other ways social class impacts admissions. We discuss whether the SAT/ACT is unfairly taking criticism when it comes to the frequent criticisms these tests receive about social class.   https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/26/upshot/college-admissions-essay-sat.html   (45:10) This week’s question is from Rob in Texas. Rob has a daughter who is very talented at drawing but she doesn’t particularly enjoy drawing. He wants to know whether her talent should outweigh her interests; should she participate in drawing to showcase her talents and will that help her in the college admissions process.   (01:02:24) This week’s interview is the VP of Enrollment at Babson college, Courtney Minden. We do a 40-minute-deep dive on Babson College. The interview will also serve as our College Spotlight for Babson College. Courtney addresses the following topics: Courtney gives her 3-5-minute elevator speech of who Babson College is? Courtney tells us what a deliberate dreamer is? Courtney talks about the BOW consortium, what is this? Courtney tells us what the Weissman Foundry is Courtney talks about how Babson utilizes Boston in their education Courtney explains What a MCFE is? Courtney talks about why their entrepreneurship is consistently seen as the top program for entrepreneurship program in the country Courtney talks about how every student starts a business at Babson but she really stresses entrepreneurial leadership Courtney shares why students pick Babson over other business schools and why Babson loses out on great kids Courtney shares what Babson needs to do improve Courtney shares who some of Babson’s famous alumni are Courtney tells us what she looks for in the admissions process to identify a good potential Babson student Of course, we close with me putting Courtney on the hotseat   College Spotlight: Babson College   (01:25:05) Recommended resource: The Facebook private group Grown and Flown. The group has almost 200,000 members. It is private but most people who apply for membership will be approved.   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:   (09:35) In this week’s “In the news segment”, an article from Scot Jaschik of Inside Higher Ed. The article is entitled, “Where do Public Research Universities Recruit Students” The article looks at the research that was based on studying 15 universities websites that reveal the high schools they will be visiting for the school year. The article reveals some surprising results about which schools are being prioritized and which schools are being overlooked and neglected. Mark and Dave explain what they believe Is the rational that explains why these public universities recruit where they do. Mark and Dave have an opinion that differs with the implications of the article.     (27:52) This week’s question is from Yvette in California. Yvette’s child had outstanding academic success in high school but she was left really disappointed and even astonished with the bad news she received when admissions decisions were released. Yvette has a series of questions about “what happened” and what should she do next. Mark and Lisa will answer Yvette’s questions in episode 177 and in 178 in the question segment. Part 2 of 2   (47:22) This week’s interview is the VP of Enrollment at Babson college, Courtney Minden. We look at ‘The new ways colleges recruit’. In Part 3 of 3, Courtney addresses the following topics: Courtney talks about the staggering number of virtual events they did last year, what were the different types of events they did with these events. Courtney explains why she knows that these virtual events were effective? Get ready to laugh when you hear her answer Courtney and Mark have a very candid conversation about how schools can track demonstrated interest through a student’s online engagement, and how students need to be aware that their engagement or lack of engagement often impacts an admission decision. You are not going to want to miss Courtney’s answer.   (56:11) Recommended resource: The Facebook private group Paying For College 101. The group has almost 105,000 members. It is private but most people who apply for membership will be approved.   (01:03:16) College Spotlight: Colorado University at Boulder (https://www.colorado.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:   (07:08) In this week’s “In the news segment”, an article from Ron Lieber of The New York Times. The article is entitled, “High Schools Are Producing Their College Lists. Don’t be misled.” The article talks about how in some high schools, there is so much buzz and emphasis on the list of where kids go to college. Mark and Dave talks about why this is an unreliable way to evaluate a high school.  Mark has a confession of how he used these lists for pure marketing reasons when he was doing boarding school admissions. Mark and Dave return to their discussion of those who are “Just folks” vs “those who have built in lobbyists”.     (28:33) This week’s question is from Yvette in California. Yvette’s child had outstanding academic success in high school but she was left really disappointed and even astonished with the bad news she received when admissions decisions were released. Yvette has a series of questions about “what happened” and what should she do next. Mark and Lisa will answer Yvette’s questions in episode 177 and in 178 in the question segment. Part 1 of 2   (46:43) This week’s interview is the VP of Enrollment at Babson college, Courtney Minden. We look at ‘The new ways colleges recruit’. In Part 2 of 3, Courtney addresses the following topics: Courtney discusses Babson’s senior fellow interview program, what is it and is it informational only or are these interviews evaluative? Courtney tells us what Platform Q is, why Babson uses them and how they used platform Q? Courtney talks about virtual high school visits and virtual college fairs and we have a candid discussion about how effective virtual college fairs are.    (58:33) Recommended resource: The website, https://www.collegewebld.com/ is a great source to see how well various colleges serve students with learning differences.   (01:07:13) College Spotlight: Lawrence University, () Appleton, Wisconsin   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:   (07:37) In this week’s “In the news segment”, an article from Karen Fischer from the Chronicle Higher Education. The article is entitled, “The employer mismatch”. The article looks at study done in partnership with The Chronicle and America’s Public Media marketplace that looks at the disconnect between what employers look for when they hire college grads and what students and parents think they look for. Mark and Dave the findings from their study of over 700 employers. Mark and Dave consider this one of the most important “in the news” segments they have discussed, and it will almost assuredly cause the listeners to put more emphasis on what these employers are looking for.     (30:12) This week’s question from our own, Dr. Dave Williams and he wants to know, why would Tulane waitlist over 12800 students and take no one in 2020. Mark explains the multiple reasons why a college goes to its waitlist and he explains why a college needs to have a larger waitlist than the public thinks. Mark also explains how different schools use waitlists differently.   (01:00:04) This week’s interview is the VP of Enrollment at Babson college, Courtney Minden. We look at ‘The new ways colleges recruit’. In Part 1 of 3, Courtney addresses the following topics: Preview of Part 1 Courtney gives her backstory, including various admission roles she has had Courtney explains the difference between a VP of Enrollment and a Dean or Director of admission Courtney explains what the Virtual Renaissance is, and how she came to realize, this is what Babson needed to do   (01:10:09) Recommended resource: The book, “Now You Tell Me: 12 college students give the best advice they never got”   (01:20:18) College Spotlight: University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (https://twin-cities.umn.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:   (07:02) In this week’s “In the news segment”, an article from Scott Jaschik of Inside Higher Ed. The article is entitled, “Test-optional admissions yields benefits.” The article looks at  on the topic was published in the American Educational Research Journal. The paper, by Christopher T. Bennett, who is finishing up his doctorate at Vanderbilt where he is studying this issue. The article examines the impact of test-optional admissions on nearly 100 private colleges that adopted their policies between 2005-06 and 2015-16. Mark and Dave discuss the results of Bennett’s research and Dave asks a lot of pertinent questions about how this relates to the recent wave of schools that have chosen to go “test-optional”.    (29:02) This week’s question is Bonus content. Every 5th episode Mark shares something that is burning on his heart. This week, we look at what you should be doing if you have a parent in elementary or middle school. The focus is not on how to get your kid in a selective college, although the advice Mark and Lisa give would help with this, but more as a by-product. Mark and Lisa draw on their own experience having had kids go through both of these phases.   (56:14) Mark interviews Vince Garcia and they look at why the University of California colleges were so difficult to get in this year. Mark and Vince draw a lot of their commentary from the following article which ran in the LA Times: In this final segment Mark and Vince discuss: which UC’s students have the best chance of being admitted at The yield of the UC’s and how this impacts the wait list We turn to the CSU’s and we talk about why their admission experience was so different from the CU’s Vince shares some the fields where the CSU’s have great programs Vince shares some of the underrated CSU’s and UC’s  (3 of 3)   (01:05:06) Recommended resource: The book, I’m going to college-Not You and the subtitle is, “Surviving the college search with your child”. Jennifer delanty is the former dean of admissions at Kenyon College   (01:15:53) College Spotlight: Trinity University ()   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:   (15:18) In this week’s “In the news segment”, an article from Jon Marcus of The Hechinger Report. The article entitled, “Urgency of getting people back to work gives new momentum to micro credentials. The article looks at how organizations like Western Governor’s, edX and BYU Pathway worldwide are offering two to three month online courses in areas that make employees and students more marketable. The article talks about how edX pioneered a stackable degree that allows students to have these micro credentials build on each other toward earning a degree. These courses are surging in popularity. They are very affordable. Mark and Dave discuss the value of these courses and Mark makes a prediction of how where these courses may lead 50 years from now. Dave talks about the group he feels can benefit the most from this new approach to gaining formal education.      (35:19) This week’s question is from a mom named Elizabeth who lives in California. She wants to know how west coast liberal arts and science colleges that offer merit money like Williamette,  Whitman, Occidental and Puget Sound compared to east coast colleges. Mark and Lisa continue their conversation they started last week. (Part 2 of 2)   (48:35) Mark interviews Vince Garcia and they look at why the University of California colleges were so difficult to get in this year. In this segment Mark and Vince discuss whether the major you select matters at the UC’s. They discuss the community college partnerships that exist and they discuss whether there is any geographic preferences at any of the UC’s (2 of 3)   (57:38) Recommended resource: The book, Robot-Proof: Higher Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence by Joseph Aoun. Aoun covers the three skillsets that are essential if you want to robot-proof yourself from the changes created by AI   (01:07:55) College Spotlight: Wake Forest University (https://www.wfu.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:   (13:24) In this week’s news segment, an article from Brennan Barnard of Forbes. The article entitled, “College Admissions: Do you belong”. The article looks at the ways in which the pandemic is creating widespread problems like loneliness,anxiety and depression. Mark and Dave discuss the social impact of the pandemic on students but they spend most of their time talking about what can be done about this?   (38:06) This week’s question is from a mom named Elizabeth who lives in California. She  wants to know how west coast liberal arts and science colleges that offer merit money like Williamette,  Occidental and Puget Sound compared to east coast colleges. (Part 1 of 2)   (54:20) Mark interviews Vince Garcia and they look at why the University of California colleges were so difficult to get in this year. (1 of 3)   (01:05:40) Recommended resource: The Character Collaborative. An attempt by an almost 300-member organizations to change how admissions is done. They want to see character count more in admissions (https://character-admission.org/)   (01:17:43) College Spotlight: North Carolina A & T, (https://www.ncat.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:   (12:10) In this week’s news segment, an article from Scott Jaschik of Inside Higher Ed. The article looks at the ways in which former Temple business school dean, , manipulated the data in order to help Temple climb up in the rankings. Mark and Dave have a conversation about what students and parents can learn from this debacle.      (29:20) This week’s question is from a dad in Georgia and he wants to know how easy will it be for his daughter to switch majors if she gets to college and realizes that English or Journalism is no longer what she wants to study. YCBK is blessed to have Dr. Lisa Rouff take over for Anika as a regular to have a conversation with Mark in the question from a listener. Shout out to Lisa as this is her inaugural episode.   (41:49) Mark continues his interview with Mark Kantrowitz -The New Simplified FAFSA – Part 4 of 4 Mark Kantrowitz can be reached on Twitter @mkant and Mark’s website is StudentAidpolicy.com   (48:56) Recommended resource: unigo.com. A great source for college reviews, college scholarships, college data and answers to challenging questions.    (59:26) College spotlight: Clemson University,   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