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

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YCBK 78: Should You Hire an Independent College Counselor? Jul 25, 2019

Show notes

In this episode you will hear: (4:37) In this week's news, an article from Business Insider, "7 Admissions Officers Share the Things They Never Tell Applicants" by Joel Butterly. Butterly shares the results from asking admission representatives from Yale, Brown, Stanford, University of Chicago, MIT, and Princeton & University of Pennsylvania – what they would share with their applicants if they could guide them through the process. They highlight the importance of being kind, respectful of the admissions staff time and the importance of not having a mediocre application, among the 7 key things for students to consider. Mark and Anika discuss all seven of the things they wish they could tell applicants. Mark elaborates on each point by sharing stories from his experience. (37:22) We are in Chapter 78 of 171 Answers and Mark shares when it may or may not be necessary to hire an independent college counselor. Mark's position is that just like some people do test prep on their own very successfully, but others benefit from a tutor, the same is true for an IEC (Independent educational consultant) aka a private college coach. There is not a right or wrong answer as to whether a student would benefit from an IEC. We discuss the growth of the IEC and why this has occurred, but we also discuss the mixed results that IEC receive from the college community. We discuss what it is about IEC that make some college admissions officers love to work with them but we also share many reasons why some colleges are not receptive to working with IEC. One of the reasons this podcast was started was so a family would not feel they had to hire an IEC in order to help them with the college process. For a family that feels they would benefit from an IEC to help them with college list building, admission strategy or scholarship and financial need strategy, Mark shares what you should do in order to research an IEC you are considering hiring. (49:18) This week's question asks how a student athlete who wants to play in college can get the attention of college coaches. Mark shares six steps that a family in this situation can and should take in order to not only get the attention of coaches but to get the attention of the right coaches. (61:29) Mark moves into Part III of his interview with Dean of Admissions Greg Roberts in "Understanding the University of Virginia". Greg gives an overview of the University of Virginia so we understand what makes it distinct and different from other universities. Greg talks about the different schools within the University; he discusses the school of architecture and the McIntyre school of business; then the school of Engineering; Greg talks about the Architecture school and the Engineering school and the Curry School of Education and school of Arts and Sciences and then Greg talks about Nursing. Greg also talks about the Batten school of Engineering and the new Data Science school that will be opening up in the next few years. Greg talks about what went into the decision for UVA to offer Early Decision and he offers the history of Early Decision at UVA; Greg talks about the concerns that ED raises but he shares how UVA is committed to remaining student centric and to not abuse Early Decision (74:59) Mark's recommended resource of the week is put the college in Google and click the News link and the video link under the Google search. Start reading everything and watching all the videos. (1:29:04) Our College Spotlight for the week is University of Georgia (GA) Please complete our podcast survey so we can improve our podcast and meet your needs. Here is the link: https://tinyurl.com/YourCollegeBoundKid Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to questions@yourcollegeboundkid.com Every episode of Your College-Bound Kid will align with a chapter from the book 171 Answers to the Most-Asked College Admission Questions. To get a copy visit 171answers.com and if you want to see what future episodes will cover just click the red button "See exactly what 171 Answers covers.

YCBK 77: How are Transfer Students Evaluated? Jul 18, 2019

Show notes

In this episode you will hear: (3:36) In this week's news, an article from the Wall Street Journal, "Colleges Mine Data on their Applicants" by Douglas Belkin. Some colleges are tracking the online activity of prospective students to evaluate their demonstrated interest in the schools. From how fast they open their emails, if they click any links, to how long they spend reading the content. Belkin shares how schools, such as Seton Hall University in NJ, have a scoring system based on a student's online activity. Mark and Anika have a robust discussion about whether this is appropriate. They also discuss why there is so much blowback to this practice but they also converse about why colleges are reluctant to not employ some of these tactics to help them bring in their admitted class. (25:52) We are in Chapter 77 of 171 Answers and Mark shares how admission offices evaluate applicants who are transferring from another college. It is important to understand the wide range of approaches that colleges use, both from their admission processes, their admission rates and their dates and deadlines. Mark and Anika discuss this and so much more including what factors are often most important in the evaluation. We also discuss why using the Common Data Set is important for transfers. (38:27) This week's question is from a listener who wants to know how colleges view applicants that graduate a year early from high school. We discuss how colleges perceive these applicants. Are they hurt in the college process or the college transition? (42:37) Mark continues his interview with Admissions Dean Greg Roberts as they transition into "Understanding the University of Virginia". Some of the things Greg discusses in this interview include: · Why a large number of public schools do not do a holistic admissions review · How the Varsity Blues scandal is impacting admissions · The different vision that politicians have about what the role of public education should be. (51:44) Mark's recommended resource of the week is the book, The Blessing of a Skinned Knee, Using Timeless Teachings to Raise Self-Reliant Children by Dr. Wendy Mogel Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to questions@yourcollegeboundkid.com Every episode of Your College-Bound Kid will align with a chapter from the book 171 Answers to the Most-Asked College Admission Questions. To get a copy visit 171answers.com and if you want to see what future episodes will cover just click the red button "See exactly what 171 Answers covers.

YCBK 76: Mistakes Parents Make in the Application Process Jul 11, 2019

Show notes

In this episode you will hear: (5:03) In this week's news, an article from The Atlantic, "College Sports Are Affirmative Action for Rich White Students" by Saahil, Desai. African American males are known to dominate college football and basketball, but according to Desai, this is not a true reflection of who has access to college sports. It was found that 61 percent of student athletes in 2017 were white, and that percentage was even higher for elite institutions. Lower profile sports favored by white student athletes like the following 13 sports: sailing, golf, water polo, fencing, and lacrosse (let me add squash and equestrian, ice hockey, gymnastics, crew, field hockey, diving and skiing are where a lot of the preference is being given in college admissions, even though this falls under the radar. . And though they are low profile to the general public, athletes in these sports are often white and affluent but unlike the public perception, they are getting more preference than alumni, students of color or any other admission preference. The irony is that these sports are expenditure sports, meaning they cost the colleges money. Furthermore, they rarely gather crowds of students in a way that injects school spirit and brings the community together. (25:52) We are in Chapter 76 of 171 Answers and Mark shares the mistakes that parents make in the college application process. Parents do so many wonderful things but the parents who listen need to know where many of the errors are made. Anika admits to making many of these errors herself. Mark and Anika discuss about eight common errors that parents make. If this topic interests you, Mark interviewed Brennan Barnard on episodes 39, 40 and 41 about this topic and we discussed 20 errors for a conversation that lasted about an hour over three episodes. This is an abridged version of that discussion. (39:26) This week's question is from a listener who wants to find out which schools offer need blind or no loan financial aid that are not hyper-competitive. Mark starts out by explaining the difference between being need-blind and meeting full financial need, something that is often confused. No loan policies were introduced by Princeton in 2001. Mark shares the 19 schools that offer these plans for all incomes. He then shares many of the schools that do this for certain income caps and then Mark and Anika talk about some of the state plans that offer this. (58:16) Mark interviews Greg Roberts, Dean of Admissions, at the University of Virginia in "Differences Between Public and Private Universities". This is part 1 of a 4 part excellent interview. The first two parts focus a lot on the differences between public and private universities. Greg Roberts has also worked at Emory and Georgetown, so he draws off of the differences between private colleges and public colleges and universities. Greg is very transparent and genuine. He is willing to answer the tough questions. (69:31) Mark's recommended resource of the week is the book, The Price of Privilege: and the subtitle of the Price of Privilege is, How Parental Pressure And Material Advantage Are Creating A Generation Of Disconnected And Unhappy Kids, by Dr. Madeline Levine Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to questions@yourcollegeboundkid.com Every episode of Your College-Bound Kid will align with a chapter from the book 171 Answers to the Most-Asked College Admission Questions. To get a copy visit 171answers.com and if you want to see what future episodes will cover just click the red button "See exactly what 171 Answers covers.

YCBK 75: Reasons Why Colleges Rescind Acceptances Jul 04, 2019

Show notes

In this episode you will hear: (5:36) In this week's news, a NY Times article "4 Years of College, $0 in Debt: How Some Countries Make Higher Education Affordable" by Lara Takenaga of the New York Times. Student debt in the US has reached $1.5 trillion while many recent graduates in other countries have graduated debt free. Takenaga's article shares from a selection of over 800 college students from around the world who shared how they were able to achieve $0 to minimal debt from their college degrees. Some of respondents are from countries like Taiwan, New Zealand, Turkey, Ireland, Brazil, Philippines, Scotland, and Denmark. (25:35) We have some bonus content this week. It starts as we continue our conversation of hooks. We take a look at former IVY league admission officer Harry Bauld's theory that everyone in the applicant pool can be divided into two groups: those who have a built in lobby group in the admission office and what he calls, "Just Folks". We then transition to Chapter 75 of 171 Answers and Mark and Anika discuss the four main reasons why colleges rescind acceptances. (38:42) This week's question is from a listener who wants to know if there are any bad questions to ask an admissions counselor. Mark and Anika have a robust discussion of five or six different categories of bad questions. (51:46) Mark wraps up his interview with Steve Schwartz, host of the College of Admissions Toolbox podcast, in the final part of extracurricular activities and other factors that admissions offices use to decide who gets in. Steve has his own college admissions podcast and website which you can access here: http://CollegeAdmissionsToolbox.com https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/college-admissions-toolbox-podcast-college-applications/id1016715810 (67:41)Mark's recommended resource of the week is the book, "The Gift of Failure, how the best parents learn to let go so their children can succeed by Jessica Lahey. (1:20:19) Our College Spotlight for the week is Harvard Summer Admissions Institute Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to questions@yourcollegeboundkid.com Every episode of Your College-Bound Kid will align with a chapter from the book 171 Answers to the Most-Asked College Admission Questions. To get a copy visit 171answers.com and if you want to see what future episodes will cover just click the red button "See exactly what 171 Answers covers.

YCBK 74: What is An Admission Hook? Jun 27, 2019

Show notes

In this episode you will hear: (8:09) In this week's news, a Philadelphia Magazine article "Teenagers are More Stressed Than Ever. Who's to Blame?" by Tom McGrath. McGrath suggests that affluent parents play a large roll in teens who report that they are stressed all the time. As good hearted as their intentions may be, McGrath is saying that these families have loaded up their kids with over structured activities such as high end camps and lessons that are contributing to a "go-hard" mentality. This is translating over to teens that whatever their interests, they must strive to be the best at it, by any stressful and anxiety filled means necessary. McGrath doesn't believe parents are the only cause of the increased stress kids are experiencing; he includes the other factors that are contributing to the stressed out lives that students are experiencing. Mark and Anika have a lengthy and robust conversation about this article. Mark and Anika want the readers to read this outstanding article. (28:27) We are in Chapter 74 of 171 Answers and we're talking about admission hooks – what they are and why you should know if you have any. Mark and Anika discuss about 10 of the hooks but we they explain how these "hooks" vary from school to school. Mark and Anika talk about how in some cases, a student knows what their hook is and in other cases they do not know what their hook is. We also define hooks. We will start off episode 75 by having some more information on some of the most popular hooks. (44:11) This week's question is from a listener who wants to know where to find the data that shows the home states of enrolled students-for specific colleges.Mark shares this information and Mark and Anika talk about how a person may want to use this information. We come up with three reasons why a college student may want to know how many people from their state are at a particular college (51:52) Mark interviews Mr. Steve Schwartz, podcast host of College of Admissions Toolbox, and together they discuss how extracurricular activities impact college admissions decisions. This is a very informal conversation about how extracurricular activities can play a role in admissions decisions. This is part 2 of 2. (64:49) Mark's recommended resource of the week is There are two recommended resources this week. The first one is an outstanding 35 minute radio interview that appeared on NPR with Dr. Anthony Rostain and Dr. Janet Hibbs, a psychiatrist and a psychologist who wrote the book, "The Stressed Years of their Lives". We are putting the link to this outstanding interview in the show notes. I implore you to listen to this interview. https://www.npr.org/books/titles/727521972/the-stressed-years-of-their-lives-helping-your-kid-survive-and-thrive-during-the The next recommended resource is the book itself, "The Stressed Years of their lives". The subtitle of 'The Stressed Years of their Lives" is Helping Your Kid Survive and Thrive During Their College Years Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to questions@yourcollegeboundkid.com Every episode of Your College-Bound Kid will align with a chapter from the book 171 Answers to the Most-Asked College Admission Questions. To get a copy visit 171answers.com and if you want to see what future episodes will cover just click the red button "See exactly what 171 Answers covers.

YCBK 73: What Applicants with Disabilities Should Know Jun 20, 2019

Show notes

In this episode you will hear: (5:30) In this week's news, an Atlantic article "How to Rank College Ranking Sites" by Will Dix. Dix does an outstanding job of highlighting the fact that there is a huge market for college rankings and he goes on to list and describe 13 ranking sites that families use amongst the various rankings that are available. Dix says he personally believes that all college rankings are inaccurate because you can't quantity the imponderable, but he knows people are using them so he describes how the various rankings emphasize different things. (34:29) We are in Chapter 73 of 171 Answers and Mark shares his advice for students with disabilities. We talk about the kind of questions that students with disabilities need to ask when evaluating whether a college can properly serve them. We share where a student and parent should go on a college campus visit if the student has a disability. We also share a list of various disabilities and you will see how many different disabilities exist. A sizable portion of the population have a disability and this discussion is for you, but it is for all of us to better understand what a student with a disability should know. (45:23) For our question segment – we are responding to the breaking news around the College Board rolling out what they are calling the Environmental Context Dashboard. You may have heard this referred to as an "adversity score" or an "adversity index"; this is the label the media has put on this. This is the 4th and final part on the ECD and Mark is addressing the questions that remain unanswered and the controversies that will continue to loom. Mark shares a dozen different topics related to the ECD that are worth watching over the next few years. (62:35) Mark wraps up his interview with Dr. Josie Uribistondo in Preparation for the Personal Statement, Part 3. Josie and Mark have a great conversation as we compare notes as we talk about the most common errors we each see in our student's essays. Josie talks about the importance of communicating values and how to show your emotional intelligence in your writing Josie exhorts the listeners to start early on their personal essays Dr. Josie shares various ways to conclude your essay Then Mark puts Josie on the hot seat and I think you will find it interesting and even entertaining. (74:22) Mark's recommended resource of the week is the Twitter account @InsidehigherEd. If you want to follow the the latest breaking news, opinion, jobs, & resources for all of higher ed, this is a good a source as you will find. Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to questions@yourcollegeboundkid.com Every episode of Your College-Bound Kid will align with a chapter from the book 171 Answers to the Most-Asked College Admission Questions. To get a copy visit 171answers.com and if you want to see what future episodes will cover just click the red button "See exactly what 171 Answers covers.

YCBK 72: Advice for Undocumented Students Jun 13, 2019

Show notes

In this episode you will hear: (5:47) In this week's news, an Atlantic article "Does is Really Matter Where You Go to College?" by Derek Thompson. Applying to the most elite institutions is highly stressful for so many people because they feel it's the only way to get the absolute top notch instruction, to get connected to prestigious alumni and so they'll be identified by employers as having the best talent. This article spotlights a famous study by economists Stacy Dale and Alan Krueger that debunked those ideas. Their findings suggested that the individual talents and ambitions of students are worth more than the resources that any elite school could provide. A new study was more recently conducted to re-evaluate the Dale-Krueger findings and it reinforced the findings of the previous study. It found that selectivity does not make an earning difference for affluent white males but it does make a difference for students of color, First-Gen students and students of color. We discuss these two studies and two others and we give our theory on why the results for affluent white males was different than for others. (22:04) We are in Chapter 72 of 171 Answers and Mark shares his advice to undocumented students. We talk about what undocumented students need to know about the college process. We give our best advice to undocumented students, their parents and counselors who work with them. We share a helpful resource that can help undocumented students and we discuss just how widely the policies vary from state to state. (32:27) For our question segment – we are responding to the breaking news around the College Board rolling out what they are calling the Environmental Context Dashboard, but the media is labeling it an adversity score, and so far, that term is sticking. Mark addresses the case(s) that supports the new scoring system. This is the third of four segments we are taking to explain what Mark believes is a very significant development in college admissions. We strongly encourage you to hear part 1, where we explained what the ECD is the history of how it got here; part 2 looks at the case against the ECD. The ECD is highly controversial but in this episode, Mark makes a compelling case for why the ECD is a very good idea. (53:48) Mark continues his interview with Dr. Josie Uribistondo in Preparation for the Personal Statement, Part 2. Josie talks about exercises she uses when people have writers block Josie shares her 5 pillars of Identity exercises that she uses to help students with writers block Josie talks about how a student can involve others to help them in their writing Josie talks about how the essay has to sound like it is from an 18 year old I ask Josie whether she sees value to having students read other essays We end this section by asking Josie where she comes down on the controversial question, Are there topics that are taboo that students should be avoided Josie talks about the different options for the Introduction the student can employ Josie talks about how a student can showcase their critical thinking and she says part of her mission is get students to not just tell a pretty story Josie talks a lot about the power of reflection in the Personal Essay Next Dr Urbistondo talks about the power of symbols, synonyms, imagery and being multi-sensory Josie talks about what she does when her students writing is too shallow? We then turn our attention to health and writing, is there a correlation, Josie shares some thoughts on this? (62:41) Mark's recommended resource of the week is the Twitter handle @FAFSA. This is the official account of Federal Student Aid, an office of the U.S. Dept. of Education. This Twitter account provide updated information on grants, loans, & work-study funds for college or career school. We have a second recommended resource this week. It is a college board link that is a repository of resources for undocumented students: https://secure-media.collegeboard.org/digitalServices/pdf/professionals/repository-of-resources-for-undocumented-students.pdf Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to questions@yourcollegeboundkid.com Every episode of Your College-Bound Kid will align with a chapter from the book 171 Answers to the Most-Asked College Admission Questions. To get a copy visit 171answers.com and if you want to see what future episodes will cover just click the red button "See exactly what 171 Answers covers.

YCBK 71: 13 Things to Consider Doing if Waitlisted Jun 06, 2019

Show notes

In this episode you will hear: (6:28) In this week's news, a Wall Street Journal article "Colleges have been under pressure to admit needier kids. It's backfiring", by Catherine Rampell. A pair of university professors from Stanford and the University of Virginia have studied the disadvantages of schools who user certain "economic opportunity" measures to admit students. The results have been neglecting those families who don't show up as poor, but have a significant need for aid. Mark and Anika discuss whether we agree with the research conclusions. Mark and Anika discuss the history of the recent interest in attracting low income kids. Mark and Anika comment on the title of the article and they share whether they believe the authors proposals are realistic or utopic. (18:08) We are in Chapter 71 of 171 Answers and it's about what your child can do if they become waitlisted. Mark and Anika discuss about a half dozen ideas from Mark's book 171 Answers. The book looks at 13 reasons but Mark and Anika discuss their favorite responses in case you are waitlisted. Mark and Anika agree on about four ideas as their favorites and they each have a few of their own that they like. Mark clarifies that a student needs to request to be on the waitlist and he talks about how you do this has changes over the years. (30:01) For our question segment – we are responding to the breaking news around the College Board rolling out what they are calling the Environmental Context Dashboard (ECD) so Mark is addressing questions that he has been receiving and this week he reviews the cases against the ECD. In part 2 of this 4 part discussion, Mark will share about 8-10 of the strongest arguments against the ECD being a good idea. In part 3 of 4 Mark will share the reasons why the ECD is a good idea. We recommend listening to both part 2 and part 3 as you think through and decide whether you think the ECD is a prudent idea. (48:55) Mark Interviews Dr. Josie Urbistondo, a professor of writing at the University of Miami. In part 1 of 3, Dr. Josie Urbistondo gives her background including her education, her time as a professor at the University of Miami She shares her opinion on the greatest strength of the University of Miami Josie also talks about her company which is called, "Write your Acceptance" Josie talks about three common mistakes students make in their essays. The first is what she calls "the Resume roll call essay Next Dr. Urbistondo talks about the Apology Tour essay, Then she describes to the Rant and Rave diatribe After this we talk about "Essay Real Estate" Josie talks about the purpose of the Personal Statement Finally, Josie tells us what she means by "fan girling on yourself (60:43) Mark's recommended resource of the week is @commonapp because when you follow them on Twitter, you will get great tips on completing your application, and helpful information. Marks recommend their blog and you can see a link for their blog by going to their @Commonapp twitter account and you will see a tweet on May with a link to their blog. Finally, Mark also recommends their webinars Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to questions@yourcollegeboundkid.com Every episode of Your College-Bound Kid will align with a chapter from the book 171 Answers to the Most-Asked College Admission Questions. To get a copy visit 171answers.com and if you want to see what future episodes will cover just click the red button "See exactly what 171 Answers covers.

YCBK 70: How to Handle a Weakness in Your Admissions Application May 30, 2019

Show notes

In this episode you will hear: (6:22) In this week's news, a Wall Street Journal article "Temple University Settles Suit Over Fudged Data on MBA Ranking", by Kelsey Gee. Temple agrees to pay nearly $5.5 million to current and former business school students after the university acknowledged that their online MBA program's top spot in a nationwide ranking was based on false data. The school admitted to no liability or wrongdoing as part of the settlement. We discuss how common it is to see colleges fabricate data for the rankings. We talk about the interest that students and parents have in rankings and we talk about the interest colleges have in the rankings. This produces a perfect storm. We encourage students and parents to have a healthy degree of skepticism when it comes to taking rankings as gospel. (18:12) We are in Chapter 70 of 171 Answers and it's about how your child can avoid automatic denials if their high school file contains red flags. We discuss the five big areas where a student can have negative information in their file. Admissions officers often refer to this as "red flag" or just a "flag". We share what these flags are and we also discuss what you can do to avoid having these flags sink your ship. We emphasize honesty and authenticity and we acknowledge that sometimes when you communicate a very plausible reason for the mishap, it still will not prevent a denial but the point is, that you want to give yourself the best possible chance while simultaneously being completely honest and truthful. We share how to do this and we also share how you can strengthen your case for addressing a flag/weakness/concern/risk factor by bringing in outside corroboration. (34:19) For our question segment – we are responding to the breaking news around the College Board rolling out what they are calling the Environmental Context Dashboard (ECD) so Mark is addressing questions that he has been receiving over the last week. Mark feels this ECD is one of the most profound potential changes to college admissions so Mark and Anika will take the next four weeks to talk about some component of the ECD. The outline for the next four weeks is as follows: Week 1) (this episode) What is the Environmental Context Dashboard and why is the College Board rolling it out? 2) What is the case against the Environmental Context being a good idea? 3) What is the case for the Environmental Context dashboard being a good idea? 4) What are the things to watch over the next few years regarding the rollout of the ECD, the reaction to the ECD and the impact of the ECD? If you want a detailed understanding of this new supplemental information that will appear alongside each student's SAT score, this four part series should answer most if not all of your questions. We encourage you to tell those in your social circle about this four part discussion we are having. (55:00) Mark interviews Mr. Yancie Davis, Admissions Officer at Macalester College in Part III of Using Non-Cognitive variables to help with admission decisions. Yancie continues explaining to us what these 8 non-cognitive variables are. (66:00) Mark's recommended resource of the week is the Twitter account @CollegeBoard. Mark will be sharing some of his favorite college admissions and college related Twitter accounts throughout the summer. To kick off this Twitter series, Mark starts out with the powerful organization that is in the news every day; it's the collegeboard and the twitter account is simply, @CollegeBoard. These guys own the SAT and AP exams, and the CSS PROFILE, which means you'll get an easy way to stay on top of test dates and deadlines. Plus: practice questions and tips for test day, advice on narrowing down your college list, and testimonials from students on their experience applying for admission and financial aid. If you want to follow the latest with the Environmental Context Dashboard, or ECD, I know of no better Twitter account to follow than @CollegeBoard Another resource we referenced in the podcast is the following article, "Obsession With Academic Rankings Leads to Cheating by Colleges" This appeared in the Daily Breeze on Feb 5th, 2012 Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to questions@yourcollegeboundkid.com Every episode of Your College-Bound Kid will align with a chapter from the book 171 Answers to the Most-Asked College Admission Questions. To get a copy visit 171answers.com and if you want to see what future episodes will cover just click the red button "See exactly what 171 Answers covers.

YCBK 69: What You Need to Know about College Interviews May 23, 2019

Show notes

In this episode you will hear: (4:20) In this week's news, a Hechinger Report article "Non-degree badges are booming, are they useful?", by Matt Krupnick. While there is a general consensus on what a college degree represents, there is confusion over new online credentials and if they are useful to employers and job seekers. Thousands of credential classes have been born to improve specific skill sets, and colleges have responded by adding non-degree programs of their own. We discuss the differences between badges and certifications. Mark and Anika discuss microcredentials and macrocredentials; what is the difference and are they worth pursuing? (16:35) We are in Chapter 69 of 171 Answers and it's what you need to know about college admissions interviews. What are the different type of interviews? How can you know which type of interview is being conducted? Where are these interviews conducted? How should you dress for these interviews Who will be doing these interviews? Are you responsible for setting them up or will you be contacted? Why do some schools not have interviews and others do? All of these things will be discussed in this segment of our podcast? (31:35) This week's question is from a mom who wants to know if she can be refunded for SAT or ACT, if her child no longer needs to take the test. We discuss the policies for the SAT and the ACT in these instances and we also discuss some of the many other fees that people do not know about. Mark does not hold back his thoughts about how the College Board and the ACT handle such instances. (41:13) Mark interviews Mr. Yancie Davis, Admissions Officer at Macalester College in Part II of Using Non-Cognitive variables to help with admission decisions. Yancie continues explaining to us what these 8 non-cognitive variables are. (47:51) Mark's recommended resource of the week is the website campusreel.org. Campus reel prides itself on being the youtube for college admissions. Students give their perspective of what they like and what they don't like about their college experience. They also discuss any unique aspects of their college. I commend any attempt to get a more natural understanding of what campus life is like, to cut through the marketing. Campus reel still needs to add more colleges and they could use some upgrades on their website. They could also use some more quality control on the volume of some of their settings for their videos but I like where this website is going and In the next two years they can be at a whole different place from where they are now. They are adding more colleges and more videos every month. I still recommend you check them out now but YouTube will still be a primary source as they have more videos, but it is nice to have something that is exclusively for college that takes you beyond college marketing and statistical info. Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to questions@yourcollegeboundkid.com Every episode of Your College-Bound Kid will align with a chapter from the book 171 Answers to the Most-Asked College Admission Questions. To get a copy visit 171answers.com and if you want to see what future episodes will cover just click the red button "See exactly what 171 Answers covers.

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