In this week’s episode you will hear

In the News (32:03) : In this week’s “In the news” segment, a November 9th, 2021 article by Emma Whitford of “Inside Higher Ed”, “A New push to create a 3-year degree option”. Mark and Dave discuss a new 3-year degree. Is this a good idea or not? Which students are likely to take advantage of this? Mark and Dave discuss this and so much more. Part 1 of 2 (Length 9 minutes)

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/11/09/colleges-explore-new-three-year-bachelor%E2%80%99s-degree-program

This week’s question (41:25) Mark was asked in our questionnaire what trends he is observing for the future concerning college admissions, Mark and Lisa discuss 15 different observations Mark has made about where he sees admissions trending over the next 5-10 years.

In Part 3 of 4 Mark and Lisa discuss four more trends. (Length 22 minutes)

This week’s interview (1:03:46) (01:03:46) Mark interviews two financial aid experts: Michael Ireland, Associate Director of Financial Aid and Courtney Hatch Blauvett, the Director of College Counseling at Miss Hall’s school and the former financial aid officer at four different colleges. Michael and Courtney answer 13 questions that listeners to YCBK sent in over the last three months on all topics related to paying for college, financial aid, scholarships, etc. This is part 3 of 5. Preview Part 3-preview : (1) Courtney has a great idea that will help families and will be appreciated by some financial aid officers that she shares, (2) Courtney takes the lead on the following question: I’ve had schools tell me that Net Price Calculators tend to be inaccurate when someone owns their own business or if a student is coming from a family where the parents are divorced, separated or were never married, do you agree with this? Also, are there any other times that Net Price Calculators are not that reliable?

(3) Courtney answers this and she shares another group for whom the net price calculators are useless, and Michael adds a fourth category where calculators may not always be accurate. (4) Michael takes the lead on the following question: Our child intentionally applied to colleges that say they meet full demonstrated need, we completed seven net price calculators and a few schools were more than double the best offer. I double checked my work so I know we never made a mistake, how can financial offers vary so much for schools that claim they meet full demonstrated need?
Courtney adds some great tidbits to Michael’s answer (Length 18 minutes)

Mark’s recommended resource of the week (1:09:40) Our recommended resource for episode 204 is a great source for research on Canadian universities and it is Macleans annual college edition: https://www.macleans.ca/hub/education-rankings/

College Spotlight (1:21:28) : is University College London (UCL) and Kevin Newton (our international university specialist) delivers the Spotlight. Part 1 of 2 (Length 22 minutes)

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”.