Admissions Beat

As the 2022-23 college admissions cycle draws to a close, Admissions Beat host Lee Coffin is joined by an audience of parents for the recording of the Season 3 finale. Gathered together on the campus of Dartmouth College for an admitted student open house, the parents of current high school seniors share perspectives on this year’s process. They also draw on their first-hand experience to provide advice to the parents of high school juniors as they guide their children into admissions prime time. Moderating the discussion is Jacques Steinberg, co-author of “The College Conversation: A Practical Companion for Parents to Guide Their Children along the Path to Higher Education.”

In this week’s episode of Admissions Beat, Dartmouth Dean of Admissions Lee Coffin speaks directly to those high school seniors who still have a college decision to make. “A big decision,” as he puts it. As the May 1 deadline draws near, Dean Coffin offers students (and parents, too) more than a dozen, gut-check questions that, when taken as a whole, comprise a checklist for the final countdown to enrollment. Some of those questions are pragmatic (To what degree will affordability be the deciding factor?) Others are academic (What about the faculty and resources they offer?) Still, others verge on the metaphysical (Can you imagine yourself being happy?) Dean Coffin also seeks to instill confidence. “Whatever sweatshirt you ultimately pull on,’’ he advises, "know that it's your choice, it's a good fit, and embrace it.”

With May 1 looming as the deadline for applicants to make a final decision on where to enroll, three Dartmouth first-year students reflect on their academic transition from high school to college. They provide firsthand perspectives on course selection, time management, and the importance of letting go any lingering belief that the college experience can be perfect. (Spoiler alert: it never is.) Joining Admissions Beat host Lee Coffin are Dartmouth first-years Lexie Gauthier, from Ronan, Montana; Roman Jimenez, from Los Angeles; and Andrew Wilson, from Lincoln, New Hampshire.

Whether you’re a high school senior, a high school junior, or a parent seeking to guide them, the question “So what’s your major?” can seem premature. After all, most colleges and universities don’t require a student to declare a major until the sophomore year. But reflecting on that question while still in high school can serve as a helpful exercise for students to contemplate what subjects they might like to study in college, and the extent to which that programming is offered at schools they are considering. In this encore episode from his previous podcast, The Search, Dartmouth Dean of Admissions Lee Coffin is joined by three members of the Dartmouth faculty — from the departments of engineering, philosophy and government — who provide advice on exploring academic interests at the collegiate level. They are Alexis Abramson, professor of engineering and Dean of the Thayer School of Engineering; Lisa Baldez, Professor of Government and Latin American, Latino and Caribbean Studies; and Sam Levy, Professor of Philosophy and Associate Dean of the Arts and Humanities.

For many high school juniors, the college search and application process is deeply intertwined with an interest in playing a particular sport. For some applicants, that focus may be on an NCAA Division 1 program, where there could be opportunities to recruited and to receive a scholarship. Others may have their sights set on being a scholar-athlete playing at an institution designated as Division 2 or Division 3. For still others, it’s having access to intramural sports that is of appeal. In an encore episode from the first season of Admissions Beat, host Lee Coffin provides students and parents with advice on how to navigate a range of scenarios for would-be collegiate student athletes. He also explains how those aspirations are taken into account in the admissions process. He’s joined by Peter Roby, who has served as the interim director of athletics at Dartmouth, the director of athletics at Northeastern, and the men’s basketball coach at Harvard.

Throughout their senior year of high school, but particularly in recent weeks, applicants for the college Class of 2027 have been receiving admissions decisions. Over the next four weeks, the tables will turn, as those students — in consultation with parents, counselors, and others — weigh a series of decisions of their own, based on the choices now in front of them. “In that time, you’re going to make an informed decision about where you see yourself,’’ says Admissions Beat host Lee Coffin, dean of admissions and financial aid at Dartmouth. “This episode, we’ll help you go from here to there.” Joining Coffin for that discussion are two veteran counselors and returning guests: Darryl Tiggle, director of college counseling at Friends School of Baltimore, and Jennifer Simons, senior manager at Bright Horizons College Coach, a company that offers college guidance to corporate employees as a benefit.

Ever wonder how admissions officers decide which applicants to invite to join the incoming class? Jacques Steinberg, who wrote a New York Times best-seller, “The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College,” based on a year of reporting at Wesleyan two decades ago, recently spent a day behind the closed doors of Dartmouth’s undergraduate admissions selection committee. In this week’s episode, he and host Lee Coffin, Dartmouth’s dean of admissions and financial aid, discuss what Steinberg saw and heard, as Coffin and colleagues considered, debated and voted on the applications of dozens of candidates for the Class of 2027. Among the factors the admissions officers weighed: the narratives, personal as well as academic, that emerged from the various components of the students’ applications.

The thought of pursuing a college or university education in the United States can be particularly daunting to students living in other countries. This week on Admissions Beat, host Lee Coffin interviews three current undergraduates who traveled from Brazil, Sri Lanka, and the United Kingdom to attend Dartmouth. They provide tips on how international students can search for, apply to, and, ultimately, thrive on an American campus. They also describe challenges they’ve overcome, as well as opportunities they’ve seized. Whether prospective applicants are from the U.S. or abroad, Dean Coffin encourages them to point a virtual camera at themselves and snap an “existential selfie.” It’s an exercise, introduced in the second episode of the current season of Admissions Beat, that can reveal values and priorities, as well as guiding questions.

As high school juniors and seniors navigate the college admissions process, they might consider that journey to be proceeding on parallel paths. The first encompasses elements like an institution's programming and sense of place. The second: how to pay for that experience. This week on Admissions Beat, in an encore episode drawn from its predecessor podcast series, The Search, host Lee Coffin of Dartmouth and his guests provide an overview of various financial aid forms and policies, as well as options to defray the cost of college. They do so with the goal of instilling perspective, knowledge, and, ultimately, reassurance. Dean Coffin is joined by Dino Koff, director of financial aid at Dartmouth, and Erica Rosales, executive director of College Match, a nonprofit organization in Los Angeles that works with low-income students.

Whether you’re a student in the midst of the college search, or a supportive parent or guardian, feelings of stress and anxiety can be ever-present. At each stage in the application process, and even after arriving on campus, students are faced with tough decisions and lofty expectations. This week on Admissions Beat, host Lee Coffin, dean of admissions and financial aid at Dartmouth, discusses with his guests steps that applicants and their families can take to acknowledge sources of stress and manage it. They also give advice on how to discover opportunities for exploration—even joy—while being “present” in high school, and simultaneously discovering and pursuing a college where they might build on those experiences. Dean Coffin is joined by Maria Morales-Kent, director of college counseling at the Thacher School in Ojai, California, and Mary Pat McMahon, vice provost and vice president of student affairs at Duke University.