In this week’s episode you will hear

In the News (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. (11:40)

Chapter 71 of 171 Answers (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 changed over the years. (Length 11:53)

This week’s question (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. (Length 18:54)

This week’s interview (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 (Length 22 minutes)

Mark’s recommended resource of the week (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

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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”.