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

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YCBK 189: 2U buys Edx to expand online courses Sep 09, 2021

Show notes

In this episode you will hear: (13:45) In this week's "In the news segment, a June 29th, 2021 Harvard Crimson article by Nate Herpich looks at why 2U bought Edx for 800 million dollars, what changes does 2U plan on making, and how will the money from the sale be used. Mark and Dave explain who Edx and 2U are. They discuss many of the frequently asked questions that this article tackles. Online courses are growing and this purchase of Edx by 2U will not only help bridge the gap between well-resourced and under-resourced students but it will allow Edx to stay cutting edge with their offerings for all students. Edx has been around since 2012 when MOOC (Massive Open-Online courses) really took off but in recent years it has fallen behind Coursera. This purchase by 2U is going to help learners from all income brackets. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/06/edx-acquired-by-education-technology-company-2u/ (24:14) Mark and Lisa answer the following question: Our son loves computer science and programming but also is a voracious reader of literature, history and pretty much everything. We've only recently learned about 3+2 programs where a student could do a few years at a liberal arts college and then finish up at a university for CS. Have you done an episode on this topic? If not, we'd be interested in hearing more! If you can couple that with a discussion of the schools that participate (seems like Dartmouth and Columbia team up a lot), that would be great. Also, I can't tell if students apply as incoming freshmen or have to apply once they get to the liberal arts school? For example, if a student gets into say USC for CS as well as a great liberal arts college but won't know if they can get into a companion engineering program if they are supposed to apply as a rising Sophomore, then it seems really risky to go to the liberal arts college Mark and Lisa discuss the pros and cons of 3/2 engineering programs. (45:00) Mark interviews Eric Furda, who spent over 25 years in high level leadership at both Columbia and Penn. This will be a three-part interview. In Part 2 of 3, Mark asks Eric the following questions: Preview for Part 2 Eric answers several questions about institutional priorities and he gives an ingenious way for our listeners to know what a school's institutional priorities are Eric gives advice to any teacher listening about what to focus on when you write a teacher recommendation What is a good AP score? What AP score should a student not submit versus submit? We stay on the topic of test scores and I ask Eric when should a student submit their ACT or SAT scores, and when should they choose to apply test optional? (56:54) Recommended resource: Dr. Lisa Rouff shares another great resource she introduced Mark to named, Corsava. It is a card sort online test that helps identify the qualities in a college each student will thrive at. Mark and Lisa have Corsava subscriptions and we use this test with all of the students that we counsel. Students enjoy this and it takes only about 12 minutes. https://corsava.com/ (01:10:37) Our college Spotlight goes to Spokane Washington to do a deep dive on Gonzaga University https://www.gonzaga.edu/ Follow Mark Stucker on Twitter to get breaking college admission news, and updates about the podcast before they go live: https://twitter.com/YCBKpodcast Feel free to pass this podcast on to others who you feel will benefit, even if they are not a YCBK listener. Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: questions@yourcollegeboundkid.com. 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! Music is by SENA HERO/Victor-Alan Weeks.

YCBK 188: Why apps are way up at HBCUs Sep 02, 2021

Show notes

In this episode you will hear: (09:58) In this week's "In the news segment, a Feb 2nd, 2021 Inside Higher Ed article by Greta Anderson looks at a research study that explains why so many students are applying to HBCU's these days. Mark discusses this article with someone very special to the YCBK podcast family. Dave is off this week as he takes his daughter back to Yale. Dave had gone 82 weeks in a row without missing an episode. Mark and our surprise co-host discuss whether they agree with the findings in this article. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/02/03/more-hate-crimes-led-increased-black-student-enrollment-hbcus (33:42) Mark and Lisa answer the following question from a mom from Wisconsin: Not sure if this is a topic for you or not, but I have heard every episode and I do not believe you have talked about the emotional side of kids leaving college, or leaving the parents, and since Moms are a big part of your audience and you have Lisa now, maybe she could say a few words about it. I am just really struggling with having my daughter go so far away. I know she is so ready to spread her wings, but I am going to miss being so connected to her. Around my area, it is so not the norm to go far away where we live, so I don't have a lot of mom friends who can relate. Most kids go close to home, and the high achievers just go to UW Madison which is close! If it's not admissions-related enough, no problem, I understand - I just was thinking of it since it would be a"new" topic that I don't believe you addressed. Mark and Lisa each give their best advice for parents who are struggling with being separated from their child as they go off to college. (01:03:35) Mark interviews Eric Furda, who spent over 25 years in high level leadership at both Columbia and Penn. This will be a three-part interview. In Part 1, Mark asks Eric the following questions: Preview for Part 1 Eric shares what he has learned from going from an admission Dean to a college counselor Eric answers Mark's question about how colleges are handling challenges like: increased costs, the demographic cliff and the birth dearth that threaten to decrease the pool of applicants Eric answers the question, how do colleges project their yield (the percentage of accepted students who enroll) (01:12:48) Recommended resource: Dr. Lisa Rouff prepared for our question this week by reading the book: The Naked Roommate: For Parents only. We recommended the student edition around two years ago but now Lisa shares what she learned from reading Harlan Cohen's book: The Naked Roommate: For Parents Only: Calling, Not Calling, Roommates, Relationships, Friends, Finances, and Everything Else That Really Matters when ... Goes to College (Student Parenting Book) (01:25:30) Our college Spotlight goes to Temple University in Philadelphia, PA (https://www.temple.edu/) Great news! Even if your child didn't sign up for the SAT or ACT, Jed Applerouth and Ginger Fay are inviting all YCBK listeners and those who you refer to attend their one hour question and answer session about anything and everything about the ACT, the SAT or applying to college. Ginger Fay worked in admissions at Emory and Duke and Phillips Andover, and she was also an independent college counselor; she will join Jed. Jed will do a 15 minute overview of how the ACT is different from the SAT and then they will take your questions for 45 minutes. Just type your questions in the chat box. Now if you want to attend this you need to sign up. Here is a link to sign up: https://www.applerouth.com/signup/?scheduleid=457794 Go to September 8th at 8:30pm and you will see our event. Enter the following code to reserve your spot: M457794. Follow Mark Stucker on Twitter to get breaking college admission news, and updates about the podcast before they go live: https://twitter.com/YCBKpodcast Feel free to pass this on to others who you feel will benefit, even if they are not a YCBK listener. Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: questions@yourcollegeboundkid.com. 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!

YCBK 187: The Future of the Campus tour Aug 26, 2021

Show notes

In this episode you will hear: (17:23) In this week's "In the news segment, a July 21st, 2021 Inside Higher Ed article by Scott Jaschik about how colleges tours have changed in the age of covid. The article looks at six colleges in different regions of the country and it looks at how they have made significant changes to how they do tours. Dave and Mark discuss these changes and they chime in with their thoughts. https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2021/07/26/future-campus-tour (37:05) Mark and Lisa answer the following question: Where do late bloomers go to college? When I read about college admissions and listen to your podcast, the featured examples are usually solid high school students with good GPAs and test scores. What about amazing kids who bloom later and perhaps don't show as well in high school? (57:13) This is the first time we ever have a double interview on the podcast. We start with Eric Furda who spent over 25 years in high-level leadership at both Columbia and Penn, but this week I ask Eric a series of questions about his recently released book that he co-authored with Jacques Steinberg entitled, "A College conversation: A Practical Companion for Parents to Guide Their Children Along the Path to Higher Education" (01:31:26) Our second interview is an update from Kristen Mosley about how her scholarship search is going now that she is at Spelman. Kristen has a big announcement for all of us. (01:27:28) Recommended resource: Look at the poll results at niche.com to their question, what one word best describes your school. Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: questions@yourcollegeboundkid.com. 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!

YCBK 186: Simple FAFSA pushed back to 2024 Aug 19, 2021

Show notes

In this episode you will hear: (13:50) In this week's "In the news segment, a June, 2021 Washington Post article by Daniel Douglas Gabriel about how the Simplified FAFSA will no longer be implemented in 2023. Mark and Dave discuss what the Simplified FAFSA is and they have a dialogue about what the implications of this change will be. https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/06/11/education-department-delays-fafsa-changes/ (25:56) Mark and Lisa discuss a question from Michele in Michigan who wants to know whether colleges will take into consideration a few lower than average grades that were caused because of the disruptions that covid brought on. (48:30) This week's interview is with a student, Kristen Mosley, a student at Spelman College. Student worked diligently to win 10 outside scholarships. In Part 3 Kristen discusses the following topics: Kristen talks about what she is doing to win scholarships while she is in college We discuss sweepstake scholarships Kristen talks about her experience targeting scholarships from places of worship Kristen breaks down all of her scholarships that she won Kristen talks about something so important that my interview would not have been complete if this topic didn't come up Kristen tells us about what makes Spelman special to her I put Kristen on the 'hot seat" and we get to know Kristen outside of the college search. I close by asking Kristen if her GPA was a 2.8 would she have still won scholarships (58:02) Recommended resource: https://www.collegevine.com, a tremendous free resource for many things including (01:11:23) College Spotlight: College of Charleston https://cofc.edu/ Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: questions@yourcollegeboundkid.com. 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!

YCBK 185: Colleges split on requiring vaccine shots Aug 12, 2021

Show notes

In this episode you will hear: (16:40) In this week's "In the news segment", a June 21st, 2021 article in the Washington Post by five authors entitled, "Colleges want students to get a coronavirus vaccine. But they're split on requiring the shots" Dave and Mark discuss which schools are requiring vaccines and which ones are not. They discuss the pressure colleges feel when they are at odds with their governor and they discuss some creative work-a rounds some schools are using. Dave presents a powerful medical case for why there is no justification for vaccine resistance. https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/06/23/colleges-covid-vaccine-mandates-divide/ (42:15) It is bonus content week, every fifth episode Mark uses the question time to share something on his heart. This week continues a series that Mark and Lisa began on episode 175 when they discussed, what to do if your child is in elementary or middle school. In episode 180 they looked at what your child should do if they are in the 9th or 10th grade and this week they took 40 minutes to discuss what you should be doing now if you are in the 11th grade. (01:22:52) This week's interview is with a student, Kristen Mosley, a student at Spelman College. Student worked diligently to win 10 outside scholarships. In Part 2 of 3, Kristen discusses the following topics: Kristen shares some other scholarships that she won and she shares why she feel that she won these scholarships We talk about looking at other high schools for scholarships We talk about whether Kristen used book and websites in her search We talk about workplace scholarships Kristen has a lot to say about deadlines Next we talk about the importance of recommenders, how to get them and how to be efficient with them Kristen tells us how many scholarships she applies to in total and every week. Then we talk about whether Kristen used an accountability partner to help her with her search. Finally, we talk about what Kristen is doing to win scholarships now that she is a student at Spelman (01:33:30) Recommended resource: Hear from Eric Furda (former Dean of Admissions at U Penn) in his own words about his SiriusXM's show,The Process, the monthly program serving students and families with valuable insight into the college search, can be heard on SiriusXM Stars (Ch. 109) on Saturdays and Sundays, as well as On Demand Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: questions@yourcollegeboundkid.com. 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!

YCBK184: Withholding transcripts over unpaid bills Aug 05, 2021

Show notes

In this episode you will hear: (11:00) In this week's "In the news segment", a June 17th, 2021 article from Jon Marcus of the Hechinger report entitled, "Colleges fight attempts to stop them from withholding transcripts over unpaid bills" Dave and Mark discuss whether it is appropriate for colleges to withhold transcripts from colleges graduates because they have a financial balance. Mark and Dave agree about 75% but the more they talked the more it became apparent that their perspective slightly differs. Mark and Dave discuss how politicians are getting involved and weighing in on the legitimacy of this practice. They also talk about which students are the ones that this practice impacts the most. https://hechingerreport.org/colleges-fight-attempts-to-stop-them-from-withholding-transcripts-over-unpaid-bills/ (27:00) Tony from Illinois has a great question about how his junior son who has POTS should communicate this to colleges. Lisa explains what POTS is, and then Mark shares four options that Tony's son has in how to communicate his POTS. Mark says all four ways make sense in different situations but Mark shares his two favorite ways of the four. (50:08) This week's interview is with a student, Kristen Mosley, a student at Spelman College. Student worked diligently to win 10 outside scholarships. In Part 1 of 3, Kristen discusses the following topics: Kristen gives her backstory, including what she was involved in during high school She tells us what it is like being a student during the pandemic Kristen talks about how important her relationship was with school counselor when it came to winning scholarships Kristen talks about some of the scholarships her school counselor told her about and she shares the details of these scholarships. Kristen talks about how she floundered when she first started applying scholarships and she explains why she struggled so much Next she shares a few changes she made and how she starting experiencing success Finally, Kristen discusses Sorority scholarships (01:01:09) Recommended resource: Get Real and Get In: How to Get Into the College of Your Dreams by Being Your Authentic Self by Dr. Aviva Legatt (01:14:55) Our college Spotlight is Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (https://www1.lehigh.edu/) Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: questions@yourcollegeboundkid.com. 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

YCBK 183: Colleges hunt for kids who left HS Jul 29, 2021

Show notes

In this episode you will hear: (18:18) In this week's "In the news segment", a June 19th, 2021 article from Melissa Korn of the Wall Street Journal entitled, "Hunt is on for high school students who left the college path" The article shares the stats about how many kids veered away from college since graduating from high school. The article shows some of the very creative ways colleges are attempting to lure them back. Dave and Mark discuss how the actions these colleges are taking and they do some forecasting as to whether this is atypical of what we can expect in the future. "https://www.wsj.com/articles/hunt-is-on-for-high-school-graduates-who-left-the-college-path-11624095000." (34:34) Kim from Illinois wants to know when her son should start applying and complete his applications. Mark five of the most common college applications in the country and Mark and Lisa discuss when you should start and finish your application for these schools. (01:10:29) 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. This week Christina continues to answer questions that students, parents and college counselors who are listeners to our podcast submitted to us. The Barnard interview with Christina went almost an hour, so we divided this into Part 1 and Part 2. (01:23:08) Recommended resource: Malcolm Gladwell's Revisionist History podcast did two episodes on the college rankings. The first is called Lord and the Rankings and the second is called Project Dilliard. Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: questions@yourcollegeboundkid.com. 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

YCBK 182: Plummeting birthrates impacts colleges Jul 29, 2021

Show notes

In this episode you will hear: (20:41) In this week's "In the news segment", a May 22nd, 2021 article from Jon Marcus of the Hechinger Report entitled, "Colleges face a reckoning as plummeting birthrate worsens enrollment declines." " The article includes statistics that show the indisputable proof that colleges are experiencing an enrollment decline. Dave gives us an accurate and insightful overview of the article, and then Mark and Dave share the five things colleges are doing to combat this enrollment decline. https://hechingerreport.org/colleges-face-reckoning-as-plummeting-birthrate-worsens-enrollment-declines/ (46:39) 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 Mark decided last week to take this episode to do a deep diver into this unique program. This week Lisa and Mark talk about what other programs out there are similar to Trinity College and Columbia University dual degree program. (01:07:05) 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. This week Christina gives us a detailed overview of Barnard College. Christina also answers a few of the nine questions that we selected that you are our listeners sent in. The Barnard interview with Christina went almost an hour, so we divided this into Part 1 and Part 2. (01:21:10) Recommended resource: https://poetsandquants.com/ This website is an excellent source of information for anything related to the best business schools in the US and abroad. It covers undergrad business programs and MBA programs. Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: questions@yourcollegeboundkid.com. 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

YCBK 181: Why so many men are not in college Jul 15, 2021

Show notes

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. https://hechingerreport.org/the-pandemic-is-speeding-up-the-mass-disappearance-of-men-from-college/ (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: questions@yourcollegeboundkid.com. 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

YCBK 180: 1st state to ban alumni admissions Jul 08, 2021

Show notes

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" https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2021/06/01/colorado-bars-public-colleges-using-legacy-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: questions@yourcollegeboundkid.com. 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

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