Getting In: A College Coach Conversation

Students who are turned down by their first choice college sometimes hatch a plan to take a gap year and reapply in the hopes of a different decision. We'll discuss the pros and cons of this approach. In Office Hours, we'll be answering your college finance and admissions questions.

You were deferred. Wondering what to do next? We've got you covered in this week's Office Hours, when we discuss next steps for deferred students. We'll also be talking about summer programs to consider, and how you can actually use good on-campus advising as a method to help control your college costs.

If you have aspirations of earning an MBA, you know that leadership is important. But do you know what constitutes good leadership experience from a business school admissions perspective? A former Wharton graduation admissions officer will join us to share her thoughts. Most saving for college segments focus on what parents should be doing when their kids are young, but we have some advice for parents of high school students who haven't yet started to save. And in Office Hours we'll talk through Columbia's supplemental essay questions.

If there was a group of colleges focused on a personalized, student-focused college experience, would you be interested? Well Colleges That Change Lives is that group, and executive director Maria Furtado joins us to share more about their mission. We'll also go inside the St. Olaf financial aid office and help students and families prep for early round results in Office Hours.

Regular decision deadlines are approaching. This next set of deadlines is important for both students getting a later start—it's certainly not too late!—and for students who submitted one or more applications in the early round. Tune in to get tips for thinking through the regular decision college list. In Office Hours, we'll be answering your college finance and admissions questions.

Net price calculators are an important part of figuring out if a college is a good fit—it doesn't make sense to consider a school if you can't afford it without going into debt. We'll help you understand how net price calculators work so that you can best use this important tool. Wondering if senior year grades matter as part of the college process? Wonder no more—we have the answer! And we'll look at the University of Southern California's supplemental essay questions in Office Hours.

Curious about what happens to your FAFSA and/or CSS Profile once you press submit? We'll take you behind the scenes in this week's show and offer some insight into what goes on once your application has been received. We'll also talk about honors colleges, including what they are, what to expect as a student, and who should plan to apply. Office Hours will take on the supplemental essays for the University of Virginia.

Over the past few weeks, we've been going through the different ways in which students can stand out in competitive college applicant pools. In our latest installment of the Standing Out series, we cover the impact of college major choice. While not as widely known as the FAFSA, the CSS Profile is an important financial aid document required by some colleges and universities. We'll discuss how to fill it out in this week's show. And finally, we'll go over the supplemental essays for Lehigh and Lafayette in Office Hours.

Our latest in the Standing Out series looks at how the choice of where to apply to college can be a big factor in helping students stand out in the applicant pool. We're relying on you for this week's Office Hours—it's all about listener college finance and admissions questions.

You're working on the FAFSA and you have questions. You're in luck, because we have answers! Tune in to this week's show for information on completing the FAFSA. In the second in our Standing Out series, we'll tackle extracurricular activities and how they can help students stand out. Finally, in Office Hours we'll discuss how to know when you're ready to press send on your college applications.