Getting In: A College Coach Conversation

Your student applied, got in, and made their final decision. Now what? We have everything you need to know from the mother of two college students who has gone through the process herself. In Office Hours, we're answering your college finance and admissions questions.

Today's show is all about attending college in a place other than your home country. We'll be offering admissions and college finance advice for international students who plan to attend college in the US and US students who want to go abroad for their studies.

What does it mean when a college meets financial need? We'll take a closer look at the reality of this policy for families and share some colleges that do this. For those planning college visits this summer, we have advice from a Boston College admissions officer and a tour guide about how to make the most of that time even though students aren't on campus.

While much of the scholarship dollars available to students comes courtesy of merit aid awarded by colleges to the best applicants in their pools, a handful of selective scholarships require an application process. We'll explore the requirements for Morehead Cain and talk about other selective scholarships in today's podcast. On the finance side, we're talking through the buy now, pay later programs that are seemingly sweeping the world—and getting some college students into trouble.

The college search process can be daunting for all students, but LGTBQ+ students may find it particularly challenging as they search for spaces where they will feel comfortable and safe. In honor of Pride month, we're talking through how these students can best approach this part of applying to college. In Office Hours, we're answering listeners' college finance and admissions questions.

As you prepare to pay for college, you may be finally tapping your college savings accounts. We have advice about how to best approach this. The Common App recently released a report on the 2021-2022 admissions cycle. We've pored over the findings and will share highlights with you. Finally we're looking at what it's like to be at a college with a Christian name—and not be Christian.

Rising seniors already know that this summer is an important time to get ahead on their application work. One important component of that is finalizing your list and noting important submission deadlines. And understanding those options is key to your success. With that in mind, we'll discuss early decision one and two, early action, restricted early action, priority, regular decision, and rolling decision. For those with tuition bills due, we have advice for securing financing for the upcoming year. And in Office Hours, we're all about starting your activity list for the Common Application.

It's Pride Month, and we're covering LGBTQ+ scholarships in celebration. We're also talking about student research—why you might do this and what it can look like. Finally, in office hours we're reviewing how to decide if using an independent counselor is the right path for you.

Students these days are frequently involved in as many activities outside of the classroom as classes they're taking inside it. A social worker and teen parent joins today's show to discuss how cutting back can help improve mental health. In Office Hours, we're answering listeners' college finance and admissions questions.

No summer plans? No problem! There are so many interesting things students can do with their summers that don't need to be planned way in advance. Tune in to learn more. Interest rates are rising, and we're discussing what that might mean for college financing and savings. Finally, we have advice re: asking for letters of recommendation, including who, when, and how to ask.