In this week’s episode…

In the News (2:30): “Feeling Suicidal, Students Turned to Their College. They Were Told to Go Home’, a recent article written in the New York Times by Anemona Hartocollis.

Mark and Anika discuss the mental health pressure students are under and the dilemma that colleges face about how to handle when a student is struggling with serious mental health challenges on campus. This article was written on August 28th, 2018. (Length 9:15)

In this week’s book discussion we are in Chapter 39 of 171 Answers (11:45): We are in Chapter 39 of 171 Answers Mark is breaking down the history and the various sections of the ACT standardized test. Mark and Anika also compare and contrast the ACT and the SAT.

The ACT was founded about 30 years after the SAT and it was founded in the Midwest. The intent was to be dratically different than the SAT and to actually measure different things. The ACT has stayed fairly consistent in what it attempts to measure in the more than 70 years it has been in existence. (Length 7:00)

This week’s question (18:45) is from an anonymous listener from West Chester, Pennsylvania and she asks what would happen if a former spouse is listed as the custodial parent on the FAFSA application because that spouse make less money, even though the child lives with the parent that makes more money.

Jessica understands that the custodial parent is the one who is supposed to be listed on the FAFSA but what she is really asking is, “will I be in legal jeopardy is this information is falsified on the FAFSA”. (Length 7:45)

This week’s interview is with Brennan Barnard (26:30) is Part 1 of 3 with Brennan Barnard. Brennan is a prolific writer, writing for the Washington Post, Forbes and the Huffington post, but Brennan also serves as the Director of College Counseling at the Derryfield school in New Hampshire.

Mark and Brennan worked for months on coming up with a list of 20 common mistakes that parents make in the college process and they share seven of those mistakes in part 1 of 3 of this interview. In this interview Mark and Brennan discuss six mistakes that involve “Inappropriate Parent Involvement” in the college process. (Length 23:50)

Mark’s recommended resource of the week (45:42) is The FAFSA Walkthrough by Step Up Utah. You can access this 24 minute walkthrough on YouTube.com