Getting In: A College Coach Conversation

Michelle Jones, founder of Wayfinding Academy, joins this weeks show to offer her thoughts on how Wayfinding is approaching college from a different perspective. We will also discuss this years changes to the Common App and talk about how you can prepare your college bound student for the financial challenges ahead.

There are a lot of early admissions deadline options, early action, early decision one and two, priority admissions, restrictive early action, etc. How do you know which, if any, is the right choice for you? We will help you figure that out. We will also help you figure out the college bill that is coming your way, and discuss what makes a college a safety, i.e., a school where you have a better than 90 percentage chance of being admitted.

Ever wonder if what your high school does not do, like offer many (or any) AP or IB courses or rank students, might actually hurt you or your student in the college admissions process? We will share our thoughts on how this works. We are also answering your college finance and admissions questions in our Office Hours segment.

Now that the dust has settled on the 2018-2019 admissions season, we're looking at the changes we're seeing in college admissions that will likely impact the upcoming year. We'll also explore the differences between federal work study and student employment, and discuss what subject tests are, how to decide which ones to take, and who actually needs to take them.

Dear Debt's Melanie Lockert paid off $81 thousand in student debt in just a few years. She'll join us to talk about how she got to $81 thousand in the first place, what she would do differently if she could do it all again, and what led to the creation of her Dear Debt blog (now also a book). We're also discussing how to choose your Common App prompt and what Common App supplemental essays are all about.

Taking a mindful approach to the college application process can help students have a healthier, happier, and more fulfilling high school experience. Rachel Simmons, author of Enough As She Is, which focuses on helping girls move beyond impossible standards of success, joins the show this week to help us take just this approach. In another in our Kindness Matters series, we'll look at ways in which kindness can have financial benefits to students in the form of merit awards.

Owning your own business can impact the financial aid process. Tune in to learn more about how that works. We'll also help rising seniors evaluate where they are in the testing process and determine whether or not they need to take any more of those tests at this point. Finally, we're taking a closer look at how institutional priorities can impact admissions decisions.

Contemplating a liberal arts degree but concerned about how that will translate into your career? Convinced that your child must major in a pre-professional area if they're ever going to make a living? We get it: college—and life—are expensive, and these are important concerns. That's why we're exploring the value of a liberal arts degree when it comes time to actually get a job. We're also talking through the impact of owning real estate on the financial aid process.

Its summer! Time for ice cream, blockbuster movies, and college visits and essays! Join us for insight into making the most of your college visits in preparation for writing supplemental essays in the fall. Speaking of essays, we're taking you through the Common App essay prompts for fall 2019. And finally, we have suggestions for how to research information about paying for college on those institutions' websites.

Heard about The College Board's new adversity score that will be accompanying test results at a pilot group of colleges this fall? We'll share our thoughts about the score, including information about what it's based on, why it was created, and what the impact will be for applicants this year. We're also offering suggestions for getting the most out of your summer experience, whether a job, internship, course, or something else, and we're answering your questions in Office Hours.